Topical Cannabis Healing Salve

The hemp salve is a universal healing preparation with multiple effects. It is combining the effects of an antibiotic ointment with the effects of a salve efficiently relieving arthritic and rheumatism pains. Among others, it has proven to be extremely efficient for the treatment of burns (even of 2nd degree), certain types of eczemas, psoriasis and fungus. *Just pay attention to one thing – the salve should never be used on fresh bleeding wounds!

Recipe via NORML – Jeana Goodwin’s Cannabis Salve Recipe
Editor’s Notes

For lip balm, take a few teaspoons of the canna-coconut oil while it’s still hot and mix with about 1/4th to 1/5th the amount of melted beeswax, adding the oil from 1 vitamin E tablet.

If you use smoking-quality bud, one batch of the oil can make skin cream, lip balm AND chocolate medicine or other edibles. (We never waste a cannabinoid!)
Save the strained plant matter, reheat in a pan with more coconut oil, enough to moisten and make into a very wet paste. Add 1 bar Ghiradelli 60% Cocoa per 1/8th cup plant matter. You can usually melt the chocolate by taking pan off of the heat, and pressing each piece against the bottom and sides of pan. Careful, too much heat can burn the chocolate; usually the heat from the hot oil is enough to melt the chocolate. Add shelled Hemp Seeds from the health food store, chopped Macadamia nuts or toasted almonds (masks any crunchies from the bud). Chill in greased pan.

A doctor’s note on Cannabis Salve:

Cannabinoids and possibly other healing components of the plant are absorbed directly through the skin; the anti-inflammatory properties are outstanding, reducing recovery time from injuries and promoting healing of lesions. Topical cannabis has also been used by my lupus patients and rheumatoid arthritis patients to increase the function of joints and decrease nodule formation. – Frank Lucido, MD

Some background and uses list from Hemp Info:

Cannabis can be used for the fabrication of various medicinal preparations. One of the most powerful hemp preparations is the hemp [cannabis/marijuana] salve. Its efficiency was proven already in the 50s at the Olomouc University Hospital, where Prof. Jan Kabelik carried out his famous research on the antibacterial effects of cannabis indica.

About the history of hemp salve

One of the hospital pathologists cut his finger during an autopsy, bacteria resistant to antibiotics infected the wound and it seemed that an amputation was going to be inevitable. Then someone had the idea to ask for help Prof. Kabelik, who was known for his research on the medicinal use of cannabis. [Recommended: Integral text of the Study – PDF] He applied his hemp salve and two days later the wound was already healing and the amputation was avoided.

Due to the fact that in my country is the preparation of medicines on the basis of cannabis illegal, it was not possible to make any official analyses or clinical experiments. So I had to collect the testimonies of my friends and many other persons, who over the years used this salve for the treatment of their diseases and health problems. The hemp salve is a universal healing preparation with multiple effects. It is combining the effects of an antibiotic ointment with the effects of a salve efficiently relieving arthritic and rheumatism pains. Among others, it has proven to be extremely efficient for the treatment of burns (even of 2nd degree), certain types of eczemas, psoriasis and fungus. *Just pay attention to one thing – the salve should never be used on fresh bleeding wounds!

Some healing or relieving effects of the salve

anti-inflammatory effects
analgesic effects
relaxing effects on muscles and other body tissues
muciparous decongesting effects
regenerative effects on body tissues

Which diseases the salve heals or relieves as a complementary medicine

all kinds of superficial wounds, cuts, acne pimples, furuncles, nail incarnations, corns, certain nail fungus
ragged commissure of lips, fever blisters, herpes
certain types of dermatitis (including atopical) and psoriasis
rheumatism and arthritic pains (up to the 2nd degree of arthritis)
torticollis, back pains, muscular pains and cramps, sprains and other contusions
phlebitis, venous ulcerations
hemorrhoids
menstruation pains
cold and sore throat, bronchitis
asthmatic problems with breathing
chronical inflammation of larynx (application in the form of a Priessnitz compress)
migraine, head pains

Research on the anti-inflammatory effects of topical cannabis

“Topical Pot: Skin allergies may be the next reason to use marijuana”

Scientists have long suspected that marijuana, used for recreational purposes and to help fight chronic pain, nausea and even some mental disorders like anxiety and depression, also had anti-inflammatory effects in the body.

Now they think they know why.

In a study published in the current issue of the journal Science, researchers show exactly how they think that works, elucidating how the body’s own cannabinoids, compounds that are similar to the ones found in marijuana, reduce inflammation.

Mice had a harder time healing from wounds caused by ear tags used to identify them when researchers blocked their internal cannabinoids, said Dr. Meliha Karsak, lead author and scientist in molecular neurobiology at the University of Bonn in Germany. Cannabinoids are involved in many of the body’s daily functions, scientists believe, but they’re still trying to figure out how.

Mice also healed faster from skin allergies with topical THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and other plants, she said.

Dr. Frank Lucido, a Berkeley physician who was not involved in the study but regularly recommends medical marijuana, said the plant’s anti-inflammatory effects didn’t surprise him. He has had patients who say their psoriasis, an immune disease that affects the skin and joints, and asthma get better when they smoke marijuana.

In the 1980s, scientists discovered receptors in the body that respond to active compounds in cannabis, Karsak said. Once activated with THC and other chemicals from marijuana, the receptors had effects downstream, for instance changing a person’s mood and perception. Since then, two main receptors have been studied: One is more prevalent in the central nervous system, the other in the periphery.

The one in the periphery seems to respond to cannabinoids in inflammation and is found in cells of the immune system, said Dr. Donald Abrams, a San Francisco General Hospital physician who has studied the effects of marijuana use in HIV patients.

“Most people have believed for some time that the cannabinoid system is involved in modulating the immune system,” he said.

We also recommend looking at this recipe for ideas. ( The Holy Anointing Oil used by Jesus is incredibly powerful, perhaps some of the ingredients actually increase absorption. )

The study by Manuel Guzman of Madrid Spain found that cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor.

The Guzman study is very important according to Dr. Ethan Russo , a neurologist and world authority on medical cannabis: “Cancer occurs because cells become immortalized; they fail to heed normal signals to turn off growth. A normal function of remodelling in the body requires that cells die on cue. This is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. That process fails to work in tumors. THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die.”

“But, that is not all,” explains Dr. Russo: “The other way that tumors grow is by ensuring that they are nourished: they send out signals to promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. Cannabinoids turn off these signals as well. It is truly incredible, and elegant.”

There really is massive proof that the suppression of medical cannabis represents the greatest failure of the institutions of a free society, medicine, journalism, science, and our fundamental values,” said MarijuanaNews.com editor Richard Cowan.

Top Health Benefits

It’s no surprise that the United States has decreed that marijuana has no accepted medical use use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin. Accepting and promoting the powerful health benefits of marijuana would instantly cut huge profits geared towards cancer treatment and the U.S. would have to admit it imprisons the population for no cause. Nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States are for marijuana.

According to MarijuanaNews.com editor Richard Cowan, the answer is because it is a threat to cannabis prohibition “…there really is massive proof that the suppression of medical cannabis represents the greatest failure of the institutions of a free society, medicine, journalism, science, and our fundamental values,” Cowan notes.

Besides the top 10 health benefits below, findings published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers have now have now discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS.

Recent studies have even shown it to be an effective atypical anti-psychotic in treating schizophrenia, a disease many other studies have inconsistently found it causing.

1. Cancer
Cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals and also kill cancer cells. Western governments have known this for a long time yet they continued to suppress the information so that cannabis prohibition and the profits generated by the drug industry proliferated.

THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.

2. Tourette’s Syndrome
Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition characterized by uncontrollable facial grimaces, tics, and involuntary grunts, snorts and shouts.

Dr. Kirsten Mueller-Vahl of the Hanover Medical College in Germany led a team that investigated the effects of chemicals called cannabinols in 12 adult Tourette’s patients. A single dose of the cannabinol produced a significant reduction in symptoms for several hours compared to placebo, the researchers reported.

3. Seizures

Marijuana is a muscle relaxant and has “antispasmodic” qualities that have proven to be a very effective treatment for seizures. There are actually countless cases of people suffering from seizures that have only been able to function better through the use of marijuana.

4. Migraines

Since medicinal marijuana was legalized in California, doctors have reported that they have been able to treat more than 300,000 cases of migraines that conventional medicine couldn’t through marijuana.

5. Glaucoma

Marijuana’s treatment of glaucoma has been one of the best documented. There isn’t a single valid study that exists that disproves marijuana’s very powerful and popular effects on glaucoma patients.

6. Multiple Sclerosis

Marijuana’s effects on multiple sclerosis patients became better documented when former talk-show host, Montel Williams began to use pot to treat his MS. Marijuana works to stop the neurological effects and muscle spasms that come from the fatal disease.

7. ADD and ADHD

A well documented USC study done about a year ago showed that marijuana is not only a perfect alternative for Ritalin but treats the disorder without any of the negative side effects of the pharmaceutical.

8. IBS and Crohn’s

Marijuana has shown that it can help with symptoms of the chronic diseases as it stops nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

9. Alzheimer’s

Despite what you may have heard about marijuana’s effects on the brain, the Scripps Institute, in 2006, proved that the THC found in marijuana works to prevent Alzheimer’s by blocking the deposits in the brain that cause the disease.

10. Premenstrual Syndrome

Just like marijuana is used to treat IBS, it can be used to treat the cramps and discomfort that causes PMS symptoms. Using marijuana for PMS actually goes all the way back to Queen Victoria.

Mounting Evidence Suggests Raw Cannabis is Best

Cannabinoids can prevent cancer, reduce heart attacks by 66% and insulin dependent diabetes by 58%. Cannabis clinician Dr. William Courtney recommends drinking 4 – 8 ounces of raw flower and leaf juice from any Hemp plant, 5 mg of Cannabidiol (CBD) per kg of body weight, a salad of Hemp seed sprouts and 50 mg of THC taken in 5 daily doses.

Why raw? Heat destroys certain enzymes and nutrients in plants. Incorporating raw cannabis allows for a greater availability of those elements. Those who require large amounts of cannabinoids without the psychoactive effects need to look no further than raw cannabis. In this capacity, it can be used at 60 times more tolerance than if it were heated.
Raw cannabis is considered by many experts as a dietary essential. As a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, raw cannabis may be right u there with garlic and tumeric.

Sources:
safeaccessnow.org
gsalternative.com
bigbudsmag.com
berkeleypatientscare.com
washingtonpost.com

Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy.