How Do Topicals Work?

Topicals provide therapeutic/medicinal benefits by interacting with your body’s endocannabinoid system, specifically cell receptors called CB1 and CB2 receptors. These receptors are involved in a wide range of biological functions in the body, including pain relief and the reduction of inflammation.

When you put a topical on your skin, the cannabinoid can bind directly to the CB1 receptors in your skin, muscle tissues, and nerves. That provides relief directly to the area. Slowly, some of the cannabinoids also make their way down into the bloodstream, where they interact with the CB2 receptors. Not all of the cannabinoids make it into the blood and those that reach the blood do so slowly.

Topicals can be CBD- or THCA-based, and these do not have any intoxicating side effects. THC-based topicals may cause some euphoric effects, but these are not as strong as the effects felt from smoking or ingesting the cannabis. It’s important to ask your budtender to be sure the topicals you are buying are CBD/THCA-based, as some of the THC-based products could produce some degree of a “high.”