Vaping for Chronic Pain

There are a variety of ways to bring the healing effects of Cannabinoids into your body. One of the fastest ways to benefit from the effects of Cannabis, is through vaping or smoking. Its effects are almost instant as you are inhaling into your lungs. Vaping for chronic pain  is also the most cost effective way of using cannabis. Vaporizers today are so much more efficient at the getting most out of your bud or concentrate than when smoked in a blunt or joint.

A vaporizer does a better job of extracting the medicinal chemicals out of Cannabis than smoking does. The beneficial components of Cannabis are released at temperatures around 347F (175C), while the temperatures of smoking a joint or blunt reach 1000F (537.7C). The high temperatures involved in smoking is called combustion. Combustion releases and creates toxins that are less desirable to be inhaled. These toxins are irritants to the lungs and over time, can be unhealthy for your body.

Vaporizers, with their lower temperatures, also extract the flavours and scents from the terpenes of the herb, without destroying them in combustion. You could compare it to gently baking a food at a lower heat, as opposed to cooking food over an open flame.

The second fastest way to absorb the effects of Cannabis is put  a concentrate of either Hemp or Marijuana under your tongue using a tincture or distillate. You have to be more careful with Marijuana or Cannabis concentrates that contain THC, as they are potent and psychoactive. Read about my experience of having a ‘bad trip on Cannabis‘ from Phoenix Tears concentrate. Everyone who is an experienced Cannabis user, states to start off with the smallest amount of concentrate, then wait an hour to see how it affects you. Choose a product that has the  lowest amount of THC with a higher CBD ratio.

Concentrated CBD oil from Hemp, provides the same benefits as Marijuana, except that Hemp contains only a trace amount of THC. Hemp can also be vaped, but is hard to find as a dried herb as opposed to Marijuana. Hemp is vaped by using the wax concentrate or ejuice, just as Cannabis is.

Eating cannabis in foods, is the slowest way, as the Cannabinoids have to make their way through your  digestive system and ultimately your liver to get to your bloodstream. Always start off with the smallest amount of an edible too, whether it’s a gummie or cookie or whatever. If you have never tried them before, be cautious.

As I entered the world of vaping

I soon began to see that it was important to do a little research before buying a vaporizer. There are a few types, and depending on what you plan on using, dry herb or concentrate, you have to buy the right vaporizer for the job. Before you begin, here are some things you need to know.

First, there is the choice of having a Vaporizer powered by rechargeable battery/USB charging, electric plug in (Tabletop models), Butane powered and even flame powered.

Next, you must decide whether you want a Vaporizer that uses Conduction, or one that uses Convection to heat the herb or concentrate.

Conduction– the heating coils are wrapped around the cartridge containing the herb or concentrate. The herb closest to the heating coils can reach combustion temperatures. Conduction units are generally better for concentrates. Vaping Pens, due to their small size, use conduction heating.

Convection– requires a flow of air, that is heated and then passed through the herb or concentrate chamber. The heating chamber has no direct contact on the herb chamber. Some convection heated units can vape all three three, herb,wax or oil/liquids, while others are single product use. Convection heating is the most efficient method of vaporizing due to even heat distribution.

The largest Vaporizers are Tabletop units

in Digital, Analog (knob style control) or a Press style (more hands on). These Tabletop units will be either whip, forced air or a combination of these.

Whip style– vapour produced by the machine is inhaled through a siphon tube. Basically hot air is drawn over and through the herb as the user inhales. There is no fan, inhalation produces the draw of vapors towards the user’s mouth.

Forced air style– a fan blows hot air over and through the herb, into a special balloon where it cools. The balloon is disconnected from the vaping machine when it’s full and it’s contents inhaled from one end of the balloon by its users.

Steamrolling– Through an airbubbler attachment to the Tabletop unit, the herb is further purified and moisturized during the vaping process.

Multi-functional– incorporates both whip and forced air balloon, for the users’ choice.

Tabletop units are the most efficient at getting the best vapor out of the herb. They have multiple temperature settings to get the most of the cannabis herb, keeping the herb at a consistent temperature. However, they are obviously not very portable.

For Portable Vaporizers, you have a choice of many different sizes, colours, functions and the list goes on. Portables are designed to heat either as conduction units or convection, but there are also hybrids of the two. They are generally sized to fit into a pocket, for discrete vaping (depending on the size of the pocket of course). Portable vaporizers are usually powered by rechargeable batteries, powered up with a USB port.

Portables include Pen Vaporizers, which are the smallest and thinnest of the portables. They are called Pen vapes because they are about the size of a Pen. Pen Vapes use conduction heating and are preset regarding temperature.

Due to their small size, Pen Vapes use wax  or e liquid. Herb Pen Vapes do exist, but due to preset temperatures on the Pen Vape, would not be as efficient. Like the larger Portables, Pen Vapes are powered by rechargeable batteries, powered up via USB port (like your smart phone).

This gives you a simple and brief outline of vaporizers

Maybe you are a more visual person and all this information is making your choice harder. Here’s a brief video on choosing your vaping device. I hope it helps.

Vaping with Herb or concentrate-it’s your choice

If you are new to Cannabis and vaping, you will have to decide whether you want to vape only in the comfort and privacy of your home or will you be using it while you are out and about? For vaping at home with the herb, a tabletop model would seem to be the better choice for you. The quality of vape is the best with the tabletop vaporizers, with many features that you won’t find on a portable.

Your choice of vaporizer will also depend on whether you want to use the Herb itself or will you be using the concentrates as in shatter, wax or e liquid/oil?  Recreational cannabis users usually prefer the herb itself so they can pick and choose the flavours and scents from the Terpenes (that are associated with different strains).

Herb users can also choose the percentages of THC versus CBD from different strains. Many medicinal users also prefer the Herb for those same reasons. Marijuana strains have been bred for a wide variety of flavours, from Citrus to chocolate, I kid you not! If you have decided on the Marijuana herb, then you will be wanting to buy the herb vaporizer models in either the tabletop or portable.

A herb grinder will also be needed, to grind your plant material into a finer product to be used more efficiently by your vaporizer. The grinders are inexpensive hand devices, from plastic, to wood to metal in varying colours and sizes, not that different from a pill crusher.

Vaping also requires periodic cleaning of your vaping devices, so you will want to get some basic cleaning tools and supplies for that.

Regarding Marijuana, if you decide that you don’t want to fuss with any plant material… then concentrates would be your choice. Concentrates also come in various flavours, but not nearly the choices that you’d get from buying the herb. Concentrates are also more expensive, but are easier to use. Most Portables are made for concentrates, the Pen vapes too, so the choices are almost endless!

Remember, that going for the cheapest is not the way to go if you are planning on using it for years. Portables are exposed to a lot more abuse than a tabletop like falling to the floor, squished into your pockets or purse or even stepped on! If you just want to try vaping first, without spending a lot of money, then I can see the logic of buying a cheap unit. For long term use however, spend the money on a more expensive model with a higher warranty.

How do you use vaping for chronic pain relief?

Once you have picked out your Vaping device, whether it be the crème de la crème of a Tabletop model or a nifty and cool Portable vaporizer, or a simple cheap Pen Vaporizer… you will most likely have chosen your source too- Herb, concentrate or ejuice. Now what?

If you are a smoker or have smoked at one time, you will know what to do. Inhale! If you are not a smoker and have never smoked….it might be a bit scary, and confusing. First, follow the directions for use, for whatever device you have chosen. Regardless of what  source you have chosen, herb, concentrate or ejuice, the method of inhaling is the same.

Some users over the years say that taking in a deep inhale, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling is the right way. Yet others say that holding your inhale does nothing more than make you uncomfortable. Who is right?

If you’ve read the article, then you’ll know a lot more than most people do, about how and why this inhalation technique is better.  The next question is regarding dosage. Each inhale is called a ‘hit’ or a ‘toke’ or ‘pull’. Each hit or toke provides a certain amount of Cannabinoids to your system. My intent here is not to instruct you in how many tokes you might have to take to get you ‘high’, but rather how many inhales or tokes are NEEDED to serve the purpose.

The purpose is to relieve your pain right?  Experts in pain relief through vaping cannabis, advise to start with one inhale or hit, wait for 10 to 20 minutes to see how it affects you. After 10-20 minutes, take another if there has been no effect. The point here is to start really slow!

If you are vaping a Hemp product, with no perceptible THC levels, then you don’t need to be so careful. However, you also don’t want to waste your vape either, so with a little experimentation, you will figure out how much you NEED to vape. Vaping for chronic pain is mostly trial and error, because everyone is unique.

Micro Dosing with Vape or supplements

For healing purposes, you really don’t need a lot of cannabis or hemp product. Micro Dosing… what is it? The video below is wonderful in explaining  micro dosing. The human body responds well to very small amounts of cannabis. Mega or large doses are needed for getting your euphoric highs, but much less can be very effective as medicine.