Study: cannabis can help chronic pelvic pain sufferers

A study entitled «Use of cannabis for self-management of chronic pelvic pain» published last month in the Journal of Women's Health, revealed that 23% of the patients who participated in the research reported using cannabis to alleviate their symptoms.

«The majority used [cannabis] at least once a week... Most users... reported improvement in symptoms, including pain, cramps, muscle spasms, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, libido and irritability,» wrote the authors of the study.

The researchers reported that nearly a quarter of participating patients «report regular use of cannabis as an adjunct to their prescribed treatment» and that, despite most reported side effects, most also reported that cannabis improved their symptoms.

«To our knowledge, this is the first study in the United States, which has evaluated the prevalence of cannabis use in women with chronic pelvic pain. Our results show that a clinically significant percentage of women use cannabis in addition to or as an alternative to traditional therapy for chronic pain,» the authors wrote.

«Consumers reported that cannabis improved symptoms related to chronic pelvic pain, decreased physician use and helped reduce opioid medication use. Our results provide important additional evidence, and we hope to pave the way for the acceptance and consideration of cannabis as a therapeutic option for patients suffering from incapacitating pain to improve their quality of life.»

Pelvic pain, cannabis and opiates

This study is not the first to show that patients who use cannabis to treat certain conditions end up reducing their opioid consumption. Various studies revealed that the administration of medical cannabis led to a reduction in opiate prescriptions, emergency room visits and hospital admissions for chronic non-cancer pain, compared to people without medical cannabis use.

Another study published in the spring revealed that «behavioral economic evidence that access to cannabis can slightly reduce the demand for opioids among people in pain».