Love the great outdoors? It’s summertime, don't you love it? There are so many things to like about the outdoors and summer fun. Except for the bugs, bugs, bugs!
Those nasty spiders, mosquitoes, wasps and bees, and biting black flies. Not to mention the fire ants are annoying! Getting “bugged" stung or bitten by any one of them can be painful and irritating.
Typically, we treat bug bites and stings with home remedies — like rubbing the area with alcohol, putting a baking soda paste over a bee sting, icing the affected area, or taking an antihistamine to control the itchiness. Some of these methods may not be entirely effective.
CBD might be an alternative. Recent research has indicated that CBD can help with the pain, swelling, and itchiness resulting from a bite or sting. Research suggests CBD may help to control these symptoms when applied topically and taken orally.
Insect bites and stings can be incredibly painful, uncomfortable, and annoying. The bite or sting may lead to an infection, allergic reaction, serious illness, or death. However, a bite or sting will most likely cause relatively minor symptoms, including pain, swelling, itching, redness, burning, tingling, and even numbness.
An immune system response happens when a bug bites or stings you, because of the saliva or the venom that they inject. Usually, the first response is redness and swelling, followed by itching and soreness. However, if you experience an allergic reaction to an insect's venom, such as difficulty breathing, fainting, or chest pain, you should immediately seek medical attention.
What is CBD?
CBD is one of the more than 100 cannabinoids produced by the cannabis plant. CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system (ECS), an internal system responsible for maintaining homeostasis. Some of the functions the ECS regulates are anxiety, stress, mood, appetite, temperature, sleep, and pain. This system is now recognized as the 12th internal system in humans and mammals. This vital system consists of receptors located throughout the brain and body. These receptors are known as CB1 and CB2. CB1 is (more abundant in the brain) directly related to neurological ailments. CB2 (more abundant in the immune system) is connected to pain and inflammation. The CBD compounds appear to trigger your body to use more of the cannabinoids it produces naturally, leading to therapeutic effects. CBD isn’t the same thing as medical marijuana. Although CBD oils are made from cannabis and hemp, they do not always contain THC, as does medical marijuana. THC is the component that makes users feel “high” or “stoned” when smoking marijuana. A broad-spectrum CBD does not contain THC. CBD Wild Leaf's products are broad-spectrum, so they are THC free! Full-spectrum CBD products derived from hemp do contain a minimal amount of THC (0.3 percent or less), so they can cause psychoactive effects in some people who are THC sensitive.
As described above, getting "Bugged" often causes pain and swelling due to the body’s inflammatory reaction to venom or saliva. Research Scientists have determined that CBD may help to reduce both pain and inflammation.
Research studies have found CBD to be useful in pain reduction and pain management, with no adverse side effects. Scientific studies have found that applying CBD topically reduced pain and inflammation in affected joints and muscles.
Research has also shown that CBD can help with a range of skin issues from acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, and dry skin. In 2014, scientists determined that CBD reduces skin inflammation, especially itchy skin. This study supports the use of CBD for insect bites and stings. Keeping CBD topical products around is a good idea!
Considering CBD? We Can Help.
CBD Wild Leaf offers several high-quality products that may be helpful for bug bites. Our tinctures are an optimal way to ingest CBD oil, and our topicals help reduce pain, inflammation, and itching. One other particularly important thing you should do if you are considering using CBD for bug bites and stings is to make sure your CBD is quality CBD. The FDA tested several CBD products and found some products that did not contain the CBD levels that the manufacturers claimed, and others tested positive for unsafe contaminants. Another study of 84 companies found that almost 25% of the products had zero percent CBD and only 31% had the amount of CBD on the label. Other products that used imported oils tested positive for heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial. CBD Wild Leaf only uses CBD Oil grown and harvested in Colorado. We post the Certificate of Authenticity on the website and have begun embedding them into the QR codes. We advise avoiding those that do not follow this procedure.