Medical Cannabis for Nerve Damage in Canada

Living with nerve damage can significantly impact your quality of life, causing persistent pain, uncomfortable sensations, and functional limitations that affect everyday activities. Nerve damage can affect a number of different areas depending on what nerves are affected, leading to a wide range of symptoms that can be challenging to manage with conventional treatments.

Neuropathic pain—pain caused by damage or disease affecting the somatosensory system—is often described as burning, shooting, electric, or stabbing. Unlike nociceptive pain that results from tissue damage, neuropathic pain can persist long after an injury has healed and may become chronic, significantly impacting quality of life.

Many Canadians with nerve damage have found that traditional treatments don’t always provide adequate relief or come with unwanted side effects. Medical cannabis has been known to help alleviate some of the symptoms and pain associated with neuropathy, offering a potential alternative or complementary approach to conventional treatments.

Nerve damage, also known as neuropathy, involves injury or dysfunction of one or more nerves, leading to a range of symptoms depending on which nerves are affected.

Types of Nerve Damage

Neuropathy can be classified based on the location and types of nerves affected:

Peripheral Neuropathy

• Affects nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
• Most common type of neuropathy
• Can affect sensory nerves, motor nerves, autonomic nerves, or a combination
• May cause numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain in the hands and feet

Focal Neuropathy

• Affects a single nerve or nerve group
• Often caused by pressure or trauma
• Examples include carpal tunnel syndrome, Bell’s palsy, and ulnar neuropathy

Autonomic Neuropathy

• Affects the nerves that control involuntary functions
• Can impact heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and bladder function
• May cause problems with sweating, digestion, and sexual function

Proximal Neuropathy

• Affects nerves in the thighs, hips, buttocks, or legs
• Often causes pain and weakness in the affected areas
• More common in older adults and people with diabetes

Common Causes of Nerve Damage

Neuropathy can result from various conditions and circumstances:

• Diabetes (diabetic neuropathy)
• Physical trauma or injury
• Autoimmune diseases (Guillain-Barré syndrome, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy)
• Infections (shingles, Lyme disease, HIV)
• Chemotherapy and other medications
• Alcoholism and nutritional deficiencies
• Exposure to toxins
• Vascular disorders
• Hereditary disorders (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease)
• Tumors that press on nerves

Common Symptoms of Nerve Damage

Symptoms vary depending on the type and location of the affected nerves but may include:

• Pain (often described as burning, stabbing, or electric-shock-like)
• Numbness and tingling sensation
• Increased sensitivity to touch (allodynia)
• Muscle weakness or paralysis
• Lack of coordination
• Heat intolerance
• Digestive problems
• Changes in blood pressure
• Excessive or insufficient sweating

These symptoms can significantly impact quality of life, affecting sleep, mood, ability to work, and social interactions. Chronic neuropathic pain in particular can lead to anxiety, depression, and reduced physical activity, creating a cycle that further impairs overall health and wellbeing.

Research into cannabis for neuropathic pain has shown promising results. Mark Ware, a pain clinician at McGill University in Montreal, has done research on cannabinoids (CB) and how they can affect neuropathic pain. His results have shown that medical cannabis has been successful in producing the desired effect.

The effectiveness of cannabis for nerve damage may be linked to several mechanisms:

1. Endocannabinoid system interaction: The body’s endocannabinoid system plays a role in pain modulation. Cannabis compounds interact with this system, potentially helping regulate pain signals.
2. Neurotransmitter blockade: Cannabinoids are able to block certain neurotransmitters, including pain-producing pathways, helping reduce the harmful effects from lingering nerve damage.
3. Anti-inflammatory effects: Some cannabinoids demonstrate anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce inflammation around damaged nerves.
4. Neural protection: Emerging research suggests certain cannabinoids may have neuroprotective properties, potentially slowing nerve damage progression in some conditions.
5. Pain signal disruption: THC and CBD may alter the way pain signals are processed in the brain, providing relief even when the underlying nerve damage remains.

Several clinical trials have evaluated cannabis-based medicines for neuropathic pain, with many showing moderate to significant improvement in pain scores compared to placebo. A 2018 review in the Canadian Journal of Pain found that cannabis was at least as effective as existing treatments for certain types of neuropathic pain.

For Canadians struggling with nerve damage and neuropathic pain, medical cannabis may offer several potential benefits:

Primary Symptom Management

Many patients report improvements in neuropathy-related symptoms, including:

• Reduced pain intensity
• Decreased burning or shooting sensations
• Improved sleep quality
• Less muscle spasticity
• Reduced anxiety associated with chronic pain
• Better overall comfort and quality of life

Complementary Therapy

Others find cannabis helpful as a complementary treatment to address the limitations or side effects of conventional treatments:

• Alternative for those who cannot tolerate anticonvulsants or antidepressants
• Reduced reliance on opioid pain medications
• Management of side effects from other neuropathy medications
• Option when other treatments have provided inadequate relief