The Athlete's Guide to CBD by Scott Douglas

Author:Scott Douglas [Douglas, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale
Published: 2019-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

CBD and Specific Athletic Injuries

“I think of CBD being effective wherever inflammation is involved, whether that’s the brain or the gut or the joints,” says Hector Lopez, MD. “For athletes, that’s where I’m most excited about CBD’s potential—keeping inflammation under control.”

Philip Blair, MD, also spoke broadly when I asked what sports injuries CBD might be most effective on. “You’re being really specific in asking about joints and ligaments versus muscular injuries,” he said. “I’m looking at it as impingement, where you’re getting an inflammatory response. CBD can relieve that and improve functionality, and allow people to sleep at night, which is going to speed recovery.”

Podiatrist Charlton Woodly was more specific, citing CBD’s effectiveness at treating Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. (He uses only topicals, personally and professionally.) Charles Bush-Joseph, MD, a professor of orthopedics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, says, “I have found that patients receive benefit from topical use of CBDs with overuse tendon injuries of shoulders, knees, and ankles. While specific research on the use of CBD in this instance is lacking, many believe that it helps prevent muscle and collagen breakdown.” The general consensus: CBD might be most effective in relieving site-specific inflammation and pain associated with standard overuse injuries, while also potentially lowering overall inflammation.

For those in contact sports, Blair says, “CBD might be able to prevent a lot of long-term problems from brain injuries. I put concussions in that category of mini-traumatic brain injury, because some of the same mechanisms are involved. CBD could stabilize that condition and advance recovery from those injuries.”

Even more speculatively but equally intriguing, Lopez says CBD might have promise in healing bone injuries: both ones suffered acutely, like a broken collarbone from a bike crash, and stress fractures, which develop over time.

“There’s preliminary data from rodent studies that CBD can improve bone remodeling after injury,” he says. “The mechanism hasn’t been elucidated completely, but the hypothesis is that the endocannabinoid system plays a role in the balance of osteoclasts [cells that break down old bone] and osteoblasts [cells that build new bone] responsible for healthy bone metabolism.”

What typical sports injuries might CBD be less effective in addressing? Bush-Joseph says he’s seen no benefit in patients with acute injuries such as muscle and ligament tears. From his realm, Woodly cites severe sprains, saying, “Nobody’s rubbing anything on a person in that situation.” Ashley Mayer, a naturopathic doctor in Scottsdale, Arizona, who works with a lot of athletes, says she hasn’t seen an effect on runners and triathletes once they develop delayed-onset muscle soreness. (Whether CBD can help lessen the chance of developing delayed-onset muscle soreness is for Chapter 6.)

The idea of CBD being less effective on sudden sports injuries meshes with my experience. A few months after CBD seemed to provide significant relief to a months-long knee problem (more on that below), I wrenched my lower back while lifting weights. Running was impossible; even walking was problematic for a few weeks. I increased my CBD intake and regularly massaged my back and surrounding muscles with CDB topicals, to no avail.

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