REVIEW: Sweet Releaf Dry Oil – Pain Relief

When it comes to chronic pain, breaking the cycle of pain is key to giving your body a chance to heal.

In the past, a common way to do this was high doses of ibuprofen taken for a limited amount of time. These days, cannabis can interrupt pain cycles to provide not only relief but the ability for your brain – and body – to re-program an overstimulated nervous system.

I had the chance to try Sweet Releaf’s Comfort Cools™ Dry Oil. This formula comes in a convenient roll-on making application easy and mess-free. Roll-on applicators make it easy to reach some hard-to-reach spots such as middle of the back.

My Daily Pain

I’ve got a pain in the neck. Apparently, I have something called “Military Neck” (no natural curve in my cervical spine), plus my C5 vertebrae is misaligned, generating some referred pain in my mid-back and under my rib cage.

Not one for taking painkillers – or even high doses of ibuprofen – I’ve opted for a CBD tincture daily and cannabis topicals. While I’ve tried a lot of CBD topicals for pain relief, I often wonder if it’s the added ingredients that provide most of the relief such as arnica or even menthol for that cooling sensation.

What I’ve heard from cannabis experts – especially doctors – time and time again is that CBD can reduce inflammation which, in turn, can reduce pain. However, CBD pain relief topicals are far more effective with at least some THC. That’s why a full spectrum CBD that contains more than .03% THC is recommended by cannabis doctors. Also, having added ingredients that help with absorption of cannabinoids can make a topical more like a transdermal, penetrating more deeply.

I recently tried Sweet Releaf’s Comfort Cools™ Dry Oil with a 14:1 THC/CBD ratio. Sweet Releaf also carries Comfort Warms™ Dry Oil. Both have Ayurvedic properties. For this review, I rolled on Sweet Releaf’s Comfort Cools™ Dry Oil on both sides my neck and the back of my neck. It was subtly cooling, not like the more intense cooling effect of menthol. The scent was also very pleasant.

And it worked for me.

Often I wonder if there is a bit of placebo effect when I try various topicals, however, I can say that each time I tried it, I noticed a noticeable reduction of pain.

The relief I felt was predominantly focused on easing the pain from tight and spasming muscles on either side of my neck.

Finding any amount of pain relief with a natural remedy is, well, a relief. With less pain, I’m able to function better throughout the day and also sleep better, something that helps with my overall wellness and ability to handle life stressors. Sweet Releaf’s Comfort Cools™ Dry Oil is definitely my go-to pain relieving topical at the moment.

A Conversation With the Founder

We caught up with Didi Davis, founder of Sweet Releaf, and asked her about her products.

ELLEMENTA: What inspired you to include Aryuvedic properties in your topicals?

DIDI: We recognize that individual metabolism can vary, so one formula might not fit everyone. Some folks generally tend toward feeling “cool” e.g. often have cool/cold hands or feet. Others generally feel “warm” e.g. may have circulation issues like sweating a lot. Having both formulas available allows folks to check in with themselves and try the one which seems appropriate for their “type.” If not sure, then they should address what they want to use it for.

ELLEMENTA: How do those properties aid in the efficacy of your products?

DIDI: Cannabis works in synergy with other botanicals. Our most active ingredients are oil soluble. The oils chosen are very well received by the dermis which helps the cannabinoids and terpenes go thru the epidermis and deeper into the skin for enhance healing.

ELLEMENTA: When might one use the cooling oil versus the warming oil or is that just personal preference?

DIDI: The choice can be determined by the type of injury you are treating. For instance:

• Use Comfort Cools for new injuries like a sprained ankle (which feel hot from inflammation) to help cool the area down.
• Use Comfort Warms for chronic or older “stuck or frozen” situations (like muscle tension) to relax muscles & stimulate circulation

ELLEMENTA: Your products have THC, and that is an important aspect of your topicals. Could you elaborate on that?

DIDI: We learned from personal application and from athletes who use cannabis for pain that THC has very strong analgesic effects that CBD does not. Now studies are emerging (University of New Mexico, for one) that confirm this:

You get much better pain relief when THC is a main ingredient than when it is not.

Both CBD and THCA are fantastic anti-inflammatories that relieve pain as the inflammation goes down. But for pure deep pain relief, you must have THC in the formula. 1 to 1 THC to CBD is good for relief, but we’re focused on heavy duty chronic pain relief, so our formula is 14 to 1, THC to CBD. It’s an industrial dose, but it does the trick!

FYI, when THC binds at the receptor sites, its first action is to send a blocking signal to the brain saying “you are not in pain now.” Then THCA and CBD begin reducing inflammation so healing can occur and everything begins to feel better.