For decades, marijuana enthusiasts have bragged about the plant’s supposed merits as a pain reliever. Now, a new study suggests the drug’s main ingredient may in fact reduce certain types of pain, especially when it’s ingested in pill form.

Dronabinol

A team of psychiatrists from Columbia University in New York recently conducted a study which tested dronabinol pills to see if they offered pain-relieving benefits. Also known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, dronabinol is the main ingredient in marijuana and the same one that gives it its psychoactive qualities. Currently, dronabinol pills aren’t approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a pain reliever; however, they have been approved to treat low appetite, nausea and weight loss associated with HIV/AIDS and chemotherapy. That said, many believe the drug should be available to people who suffer from chronic pain.

To see if their arguments have merit, the Columbia University research team asked several volunteers to take either dronabinol pills or placebos. Each participant then submerged his or her hand into a tank filled with icy water. Ultimately, subjects who had ingested dronabinol demonstrated a greater pain tolerance, which appears to suggest that the drug does in fact offer some level of pain killing value.

A Good Remedy for TMJ Pain?

While dronabinol may offer some medicinal value, the researchers admit that it appears to only work for certain types of pain. What’s more, just like marijuana itself, dronabinol comes with serious side-effects, including paranoia, dizziness, psychoactive effects and mental impairment.

Ultimately, whether it’s in the form of marijuana or a pill, THC is a poor treatment for TMJ disorder, which demands a treatment that focuses on the root cause of the problem: a misaligned bite. Even the best pain medications only temporarily blunt symptoms associated with this enduring condition, allowing them to return in full force after a short amount of time.

Get Permanent Relief

If you suffer from TMJ disorder, forget pills which only offer only temporary relief and unpleasant side-effects. Instead, call (303) 691-0267 at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado, to learn about an effective non-medicinal treatment for TMJ disorder which offers permanent relief.