Now that winter has arrived in full force here in Muskoka, one may feel the affects of the cold weather, in their muscles & joints. Aches and pains can be made worse by the frosty cold days leading into the evenings.  We get asked quite often what can one do to help with this issue? Our first answer, get yourself a topical. There are many different types of topicals on the market, so which one is the best?

Well, that is up to the consumer to decide as cannabis is always a personal choice. There are individual cannabinoids options such as CBD, or THC or a blend of both cannabinoids. We are even seeing CBG being used in topicals as studies have found to reduce inflammation, similar to CBD. Another choice you will get to make is do you want a lotion, salve, transdermal, spray or a roll on.

So, those are a some of the first decision you must make is what you are comfortable applying to your skin. Keeping in mind that topicals including THC will not impact how you feel or physically functioning.

Topicals using transdermal have their own added benefits as they contain carrier agents that allow penetration through the skin getting the cannabinoids deeper into our skin, so they can be more effective. If you’re not a fan of topicals there are many different products to try including transdermal patches, that one could apply, and they work as a slow release over a couple of hours.

Speaking of winter, we can all get affected by the lack of sunlight and get the winter blues. One of the best ways to fight this can be with laughter, especially on a dreary day. Laughing 100 times has been found to be like 15 minutes of working out. Laughter also can help release stress, anger etc., because when one is laughing, they are boosting their blood flow to the front temporal lobes, the two main areas associated with laughter. Cannabis has also been shown to stimulate these two areas of our brain, making it easier for one to laugh.

If laughing more is an interest to you, then look for strains containing certain terpenes like linalool and limonene, these terpenes have been found to elevate ones mood, they can also offer stress release, reduce anxiety etc.

I hope this helps you get through this winter, and if you have any questions, we are here for you, just stop by our cannabis store in Port Sydney and ask.