CBD for pain: effective or placebo?

Thanks to its purported effects as a stress reducer, skincare treatment, and pain reliever, cannabidiol, or CBD, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Among the benefits highlighted by this product is also an anti-pain action. Faced with the lack of scientific evidence on this point, American researchers from Syracuse University have studied the issue by examining the influence that the placebo effect could have. Their results, presented in the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacologydo not state with certainty a reduction in pain but suggest that CBD strongly reduces pain discomfort.

Untangling the true from the false of the placebo

The question of the placebo is important in the effects of CBD as some seem to swear by it only when others shout at its ineffectiveness. “It’s a good question, because we know that simply telling someone that a substance has the ability to relieve their pain can actually lead to significant changes in their pain sensitivity. This is called waiting effects.”, specifies Martin De Vita, principal author of the study.

Surprising results

To truly understand the effects of CBD, researchers conducted the first-ever comprehensive review and meta-analysis of experimental studies evaluating the effects of this cannabis-based drug on pain. In addition, they conducted a series of experiments on participants on whom they induced thermal pain, which allowed them to assess how the recipient’s neurological system reacts to it. “Then we administer a drug, like pure CBD or a placebo, and then reevaluate their responses to pain and see how they change depending on the substance administered.”, adds Martin De Vita.

The team then told some participants who had taken the placebo that they had received CBD, while others who had actually taken CBD were told that they had received the placebo. “This way we could determine if it was the medicine that relieved the pain, or if it was the expectation that they had received the medicine that reduced their pain.says Martin De Vita.

Pain, a multidimensional phenomenon

“What we found after measuring several different pain outcomes is that it’s actually a bit of both.says the researcher. That is, we found improvements in measures of pain caused by the pharmacological effects of CBD and the psychological effects of simply expecting to have obtained CBD. It was quite remarkable and surprising.”

Further research is needed to understand this phenomenon. “Pain is a multidimensional phenomenon influenced by both biological and psychological elementscontinues the main author of the study. Pain intensity, for example, denotes a ‘sensory’ element of pain, while discomfort suggests an ‘effective’ or mental element of pain. If you think of pain as the harmful noise coming from a radio, the volume can represent the intensity of the pain, while the station can represent the discomfort.”