Cramps and Cannabis Marijuana.

Recently, I risked writing an Allbud.com article about cannabis and menstrual cramps. It’s not a field in which I have a first-person experience. But, I did my best to appear informed and empathetic.

However, muscle cramps appear as symptoms of other medical conditions, and cannabis plays a role in their management, too.

What’s in a muscle cramp?

Well, there’s pain, sometimes mild and sometimes severe. They may reward a day of healthy exercise or warn of serious medical issues.

A muscle cramp is an involuntary contraction of one or more of your muscles. Long periods of exercise, physical labor, or medical conditions can cause muscle cramp. They are most often treated with home cures or over-the-counter remedies. But, cannabis and cannabis-derivatives can make a difference, too.

What you might call “the average cramp” or exercise-related muscle cramps (ERMC) is caused by dehydration, muscle overuse, or muscle strain. But, they may also come from nerve compression, mineral depletion, or poor blood supply according to the Mayo Clinic:

Scientific American says these causes have little scientific validity. “These proposals, however, have been shown to have minimal scientific value. More recent developments indicate that the cause of cramps most likely involves hyperactivity of the nerve-muscle reflex arc. In this scheme, some of the normal inhibitory activity of the central nervous system (CNS) reflexes is lost as a result of CNS fatigue or overuse of feedback communication with muscles.”

And, these findings by Mark A. W. Andrews, associate professor of physiology and associate director of the Independent Study program at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, should make you reconsider some of the traditional therapies.