Does CBD oil help with Psoriasis?

CBD oil is beneficial in helping people who have psoriasis. This article focuses on how CBD oil helps with psoriasis, how to choose CBD oil for psoriasis and the side effects of using CBD oil.

Psoriasis is a skin disease that is a sign of a chronic inflammatory condition connected to the immune system. Red, scaly patches of the skin and inflammations on different parts of the body can evidence it. Most patients with psoriasis also have psoriatic arthritis that shows symptoms of joint pain, swollen fingers, fatigue and nail changes. Psoriasis patients can suffer a stroke, respiratory problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep problems. There is an increased occurrence of this disease in Europe, even though some other parts of the world do not know about this disease.

Causes of Psoriasis

There is no complete knowledge of the real causes of psoriasis though some risk factors can lead to suffering from this disease. Risk factors include obesity, bacterial infections, smoking and stress. According to Unissa et al. (2019), the following factors can also trigger psoriasis:

• Taking certain medications
• Deficiency of vitamin D in the body
• Injury
• Taking too much alcohol

Psoriasis affects more people in areas far from the equator. In western countries, psoriasis is estimated to affect about 2-4% of the population. Its occurrence also varies depending on age. Psoriasis can affect eyelids, mouth, skin folds, lips, hands, feet and nails.

How Psoriasis Is Treated

Psoriasis is a chronic condition that appears and then disappears. At the moment, there is no cure for this disease. Though it has no cure, some treatment methods reduce skin proliferation. The use of topical is effective in reducing scaling, inflammations, and removing dead skin cells. Besides using topical and oral prescription medications, light therapy and injection medications have also been used. CBD oil use in the treatment of psoriasis is becoming popular. This is happening because, as stated by Baswan et al. (2020), CBD has shown an ability to reduce inflammations and the severity of some skin conditions like acne, including psoriasis. CBD oil for treating psoriasis has also become popular because CBD, unlike THC, causes no psychoactive effects to the user.

How CBD Oil Help With Psoriasis

Patients who have psoriasis seem to benefit from using CBD oil. However, more research needs to be done to confirm that CBD oil can treat the disease. After taking CBD oil, CBD interacts with the body's endocannabinoid system by regulating the functioning of the immune system. According to Pertwee (2014), CBD prevents psoriasis by activating CB2 receptors controlling the influence of the immune system. CBD controls the overactivity of T cells. According to Habib et al. (2021), CBD also reduces tumour necrosis factor -alpha, affecting people with psoriasis.

How To Use CBD Oil for Psoriasis

There are main methods of using CBD oil, including taking it orally or using topicals. Using CBD topicals can help to reduce skin rashes and pain. The CBD topical can significantly affect areas affected by psoriasis. Taking CBD oil orally involves putting CBD drops in under the tongue area for it to be absorbed into the bloodstream. This method enables CBD to interact with the endocannabinoid system to help reduce disease symptoms. The benefits of CBD oil in treating psoriasis depend on the quality of the oil. CBD oils that contain quality hemp extract have proved to be more effective in reducing psoriasis symptoms. When the concentration of CBD is low, its effect seems not to work well with psoriasis.

Choosing CBD Oils for Psoriasis

If you intend to buy CBD oil, doing research is very important. Since the selling of CBD products is unregulated in the UK, there is a high possibility that there are CBD oil products in the market that do not meet quality standards. Try to identify the best product in the market. Make sure you try to find the ingredients used in manufacturing the CBD oil you wish to buy.

Third-party Laboratory Testing

You should consider checking third-party laboratory test results to know about the ingredients. If you notice that the brand does not provide a third-party test report, avoid buying their products. Their failure to provide this critical information either means that the product may contain potentially harmful ingredients or the CBD content in the oil is very small, or the product may not contain CBD at all.

Brand Reputation

 It is recommended to buy CBD products from a reputable company. You can identify such brands by reading through customer feedback. If a brand gets numerous positive reviews, you can buy from them.

Consult with Your Doctor

The most important thing to do before buying CBD oil for psoriasis is to consult your doctor. The doctor will consider your medical history, current medication, and the severity of the disease in your body. The doctor assesses every situation and gives you the best advice. Taking it orally is highly recommended for the best effect of CBD oil for psoriasis. The oral method of consumption helps to have an effect on the skin from the inside, therefore, having a better effect than CBD oil topicals.

Side Effects of Using CBD Oil

If you use CBD oils correctly, you have a lower risk of experiencing side effects. In most cases, users experience side effects by taking a high dosage of CBD, interacting with other medication and taking CBD oils containing harmful ingredients. According to Elias (2019), the most common side effects of taking CBD oil include the following:

• Dry mouth
• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Reduced appetite

You can prevent most of these side effects if you buy the right CBD oil product and by consulting your doctor before buying CBD oil products.

Conclusion

Most psoriasis patients have reported the benefits of using CBD without adverse effects on the skin. The use of CBD oil helps in reducing skin itching, redness and other skin conditions. When more research on the effect of CBD oil is complete, we can confirm whether it can eliminate psoriasis. When taking CBD oil, starting with a low dosage and then increasing it with time is advisable. This enables you to determine the most effective dosage for your body without experiencing side effects associated with too much CBD oil. You can either buy CBD oils from a physical shop or online. Remember to check the labels before buying.

References

Baswan, S. M., Klosner, A. E., Glynn, K., Rajgopal, A., Malik, K., Yim, S., & Stern, N. (2020). Therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD) for skin health and disorders. Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology, 13, 927.

Elias, R., Raheb, M., Istasy, M., Mekhaiel, D., Sidhu, G., Warren, D., ... &Sadek, G. (2019). Knowledge of cannabinoids among patients, physicians, and pharmacists. Archives of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 2(1), 25-28.

Habib, G., Khazin, F., &Artul, S. (2021). The Effect of Medical Cannabis on Pain Level and Quality of Sleep among Rheumatology Clinic Outpatients. Pain Research and Management, 2021.

Pertwee, R. G. (Ed.). (2014). Handbook of cannabis. Oxford University Press, USA.

Unissa, R., Kumar, P. M., Pasha, M., Begum, S., &Maheswari, B. (2019). Psoriasis: a comprehensive review. Asian journal of research in pharmaceutical science, 9(1), 29-29.