How Coronavirus Stress Causes Inflammation & Hemp Oil Helps

The coronavirus outbreak is an ongoing global-level public health emergency and, as such, the situation changes daily. The best way to stay safe is to stay up-to-date about and adhere to public health officials’ recommendations, regulations, and restrictions in your area. For more information about the outbreak, hand washing, face masks, and other coronavirus prevention tips, see the CDC and WHO’s COVID-19 outbreak information and prevention guidelines.

Coronavirus Stress Is Real…

Given everything that’s happening with the coronavirus outbreak and all its economic and social impacts, it’s no surprise we’re all stressed. Health experts agree that this kind of situation is very likely to cause chronic stress, depressive symptoms, and high anxiety for many people[1].

Coronavirus Stress Induced Inflammation Is A Real Health Threat

The frightening thing is that depression, anxiety, and stress don’t just reduce your quality of life, they diminish your resilience in the face of adversity and can even compromise your immune system. That means you’re more susceptible to illness and more severely impacted by any illness you do get [2].

Consequently, coping with coronavirus anxiety is a major part of maintaining and protecting your health right now, especially considering the ways that chronic stress causes inflammation (which causes pain and is the most likely culprit for diminished immune function) [3].

That said, sometimes stressors and their physical side-effects end up having a compounding, somewhat cyclical relationship. Chronic stress causes inflammation, which causes pain, which increases stress levels, which makes inflammation more severe, which makes pain more severe, and so on. So sometimes the best way to treat stress-induced inflammation is from the outside-in, as reducing stress-related inflammation both mitigates the symptoms of anxiety/depression and empowers you to focus more of your mental energy on alleviating your mental anguish [4].

The Relationship Between Stress And Inflammation As We Know It

Physicians and health researchers have known for a long time that there’s a strong relationship between acute psychosocial stress and people’s peripheral inflammatory pathways [5]. That is, emotional stress — especially prolonged and severe stress — causes inflammation that is literally and measurably present in the body. More recently, we’re learning that the relationship between stress and inflammation is so strong that inflammation may actually be among the first signs that a person’s stress is nearing an unmanageable level [6].

Understanding The Benefits Of Hemp Oil For Inflammation

When it comes to minimizing stress-induced inflammation and all related pain and stress, sometimes topical, natural anti-inflammatory therapy makes an ideal first step, both for minimizing pain and for coping with coronavirus stress (as well as other types!). That’s because nutraceutical ointments — especially those containing essential and aromatherapeutic oils and hemp oil — can reduce stress-related inflammation more than NSAID medications [7].

What’s more, topical, natural anti-inflammatory treatments made with hemp oil show a lot of promise (both empirically and anecdotally) for use in the treatment of hard-to-target pain and neuropathic inflammation [8]. The benefits of hemp oil for inflammation, then, are multifold: primarily, it reduces the inflammation, but it also minimizes the pain that comes after inflammation and can help relieve tension that comes before it.

That makes using hemp oil for inflammation a kind of end-to-end solution when the inflammation is stress-induced.

Why Managing Stress-Induced Inflammation Really Matters

More than just a matter of pain-relief, treating the physical manifestations of your stress is an important act of self-care. And self-care is critical during crises like the ongoing coronavirus outbreak [9].

Generally speaking, self-care — and the kind of self-awareness and self-directed kindness that accompanies it — is one of the first things people set aside when faced with stressful situations. But acts of self-care, founded on self-love and self-awareness (you deserve to feel pain-free; just because there are big things happening doesn’t make your everyday experiences any less valid), are a vital tool for coping with coronavirus stress. Not only does it make you feel better, but it also helps you be more productive, more effective in your interactions, and more decisive in the actions you take when navigating a crisis [10].

That’s why we recommend our hemp oil ointments, like Extreme Recover, for use in treating stress-induced inflammation: you’ll feel better and actually be better, to boot!

Our Extreme Recover Pain Balm Targets Stress-Induced Inflammation, Keeping You Healthier Longer

Containing both high-quality hemp oil and seventeen high-purity essential oils, our Extreme Recover topical ointment is a natural anti-inflammatory and pain reliever that’s well-suited for use to treat coronavirus stress related inflammation and pain.

The fact of the matter is, stress-induced inflammation is a common thread among many different diseases, including heart and liver disease [11]. So finding ways to relieve inflammation is important, and finding ways to reduce inflammation while also co-treating feelings of stress is essential. And that’s what makes the benefits of hemp oil for inflammation (combined with essential oils) so unique. Not only does this type of topical ointment reduce stress-induced inflammation; it reduces the stress!

Click here for more information about our Extreme Recover (Broad Spectrum Hemp) Pain Balm, or to purchase your first jar.

Sources:

1. https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/stress-anxiety-and-depression-associated-with-the-coronavirus-covid-19-disease/
2. https://www.rn.com/featured-stories/stress-inflammation-immunity/
3. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-happens-when-your-immune-system-gets-stressed-out/
4. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/expressive-trauma-integration/201905/inflammation-and-mental-health-symptoms
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453018306954
6. https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article/14/7/997/767119
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30058555
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/
9. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/millennial-media/202003/practicing-self-care-in-the-face-coronavirus
10. https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/news/news-detail/2020/03/30/the-importance-of-self-care-planning-during-coronavirus
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5476783/