One of the funny things about the practice of medicine is that no treatment or therapy enjoys a 100% success rate. Not even Medical Cannabis. We do our best to educate patients who come to us for help with obtaining a new card and managing their medications. We would hate for anyone to assume that getting a Medical Cannabis Card equals a guarantee that their problems will be solved.
There is little doubt that Medical Cannabis is an effective treatment for a variety of conditions. Persistent pain is at the top of the list. But there are no guarantees that consuming Medical Cannabis will ensure a pain-free life. It is also unlikely that a medical provider will recommend cannabis exclusively. In so many cases, obtaining a Medical Cannabis Card is just one part of a broader treatment strategy.
Medical providers frequently encourage patients to combine Medical Cannabis treatments with other strategies. The goal is never to just get a patient onto a particular medication and nothing more. At least it shouldn’t be. There is so much more to feeling better than taking medications of any type.
One of the first things any medical provider should point out to patients is that obtaining a Medical Cannabis card does not preclude all other medications. More than one patient has benefited from combining Medical Cannabis with other prescriptions previously recommended. A patient should never just assume that Medical Cannabis will be the only medication they ever need.
By the way, this illustrates why medication management is such an invaluable service to patients. Patients taking multiple medications do not always have the knowledge or skill to manage them effectively. A medical provider willing to help can go a long way toward maintaining patient safety and maximizing symptom relief.
Aside from other medications, medical providers are likely to consider other treatments in addition to Medical Cannabis. For instance, a patient experiencing persistent pain might be encouraged to undergo physical therapy. Another patient might be encouraged to try occupational therapy as a way of returning to what would be considered ‘normal’ life.
Something else to consider are lifestyle changes. Medical providers go down that road because they know how lifestyle choices can impact health and wellbeing. A classic example is recommending that an arthritis patient works on losing excess weight.
Extra weight just puts more stress on already painful joints. Lose some of that weight and you reduce the stress. In turn, this should lead to at least some measure of pain relief.
That same arthritis patient would probably benefit from regular exercise as well. Exercise can strengthen muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Increased strength provides more support for the joints. That leads to additional pain relief.
Weight loss and exercise will probably not eliminate the patient’s pain entirely. This is especially true if the patient is dealing with osteoarthritis. But losing weight and exercising can enhance the benefits of using Medical Cannabis to manage persistent arthritis pain.
What we are trying to express here is that patients should maintain an open mind. An open mind has led us to discover just how beneficial Medical Cannabis can be to treating conditions like persistent pain. But that same open mind dictates looking at other possibilities.
If you have a Medical Cannabis Card, has your medical provider recommended other strategies as well? Sometimes that is how it goes. Sometimes, the Medical Cannabis Card is just one part of a much broader strategy for improving patient wellness.
