At cbdMD, we’re always developing new CBD topicals to suit different needs. Our product lineup includes moisturizing lotions, body and lip balms, and bath bombs: a perfect repertoire for your daily self-care routine.
But one of the most popular uses for CBD topicals is pain relief. While CBD itself isn’t formally approved as a painkiller, its soothing properties make it a great complement to other ingredients with proven powers against aches and discomfort.
cbdMD’s Recover is a CBD pain relief cream that combines our unique broad spectrum CBD formula with a set of powerful ingredients for maximum relief. So let’s break them down, and you’ll understand why Recover may be the best CBD cream for pain.
Using Histamine Dihydrochloride for Pain
The key ingredient in our Recover CBD pain relief rub is histamine dihydrochloride. That’s kind of a mouthful, so let’s call it HD.
Histamine is a compound involved in your immune responses, such as inflammation and itching, and dilates blood vessels. This is why antihistamines are used in allergy medicines. By reducing histamine, they shrink the blood vessels in your nose and sinuses and generally dampen your immune response.
HD is a salt derived from histamine. In recent times an injectable form of it has actually been used to fight leukemia, but that’s very different from its topical effects. When you apply it outwardly, its main effect is the blood-vessel dilation and mild irritation.
Irritation might not sound like something you’d want in a pain cream, right? But this is actually an old trick. Many of the most venerable folk remedies, such as camphor, eucalyptus oil, and turpentine oil, are what medical people call “counterirritants.” When you mildly irritate your skin at the surface level, it distracts your nerves from the deeper pains, making you feel better overall.
Not all counter-irritants are the same, though. Menthol, the chief component of our CBD Freeze Pain Relief Gel, is also a counter-irritant, but it feels cold instead of hot, partly because it doesn’t have the vessel-expanding effect. So Recover can be handy if you’ve got a sore spot that could use better circulation.
For instance, I have an Achilles tendon that gives me constant problems, partly because its lack of blood supply makes it slow to heal. (This is a common problem with Achilles tendons, according to my doctor.) If I’ve been sitting around for a while, it can get very stiff and sore. But applying some Recover can help loosen it up.
Many people also use products with HD for arthritis pain. In this respect, it’s like capsaicin, another “hot” counterirritant. But many users find that capsaicin is a little too hot, to the point of burning. HD can achieve similar results with less discomfort.
That said, it still is an irritant, so you should still be careful when using HD for pain. Don’t apply it more than four times a day, and don’t put it on skin that’s broken or already irritated in some way. If it does burn, maybe you should try Freeze instead. We have a 60-day money-back guarantee if it’s not working out for you!
Arnica and Vitamin B6
Arnica montana is a European wildflower that has the badass common names of wolf’s bane and leopard’s bane. While we highly doubt it can fend off wild predators, we did choose it for its more common traditional use: fighting pain and inflammation.
There’s been some promising research supporting use of Arnica montana for pain, especially arthritis pain. So it pairs well with HD on that front. However, unlike HD, arnica isn’t FDA-approved, so we’re not allowed to say that much about it.
Rounding out our special ingredient list is vitamin B6, which also helps to fight inflammation. Though usually, you get the benefits of vitamin B6 from food, it affects your skin too – lack of it can lead to dermatitis. So it’s a common part of creams for itchy rashes.
We’ve combined all these ingredients in a richly moisturizing base of coconut oil and shea butter. And that’s another key difference between Recover and Freeze; Freeze is a gel, it dries quickly but doesn’t moisturize skin.
Choose Your CBD Topical
We’ve made our case for Recover being the best CBD cream for pain, but that also depends on your personal needs. As mentioned above, our CBD Freeze gel uses menthol to make a cooling CBD rub for pain, especially good for “hot” inflammation. If you don’t need something that strong, you can also try out our Revive lotion or our CBD body balm. And watch this space for our new line of CBD skincare products, launching next month!
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