My Patient Uses Cannabis for Chronic Pain: Best Practices for Rehabilitation Therapists

PT, PTA, OT, OTA, SLP – this podcast may help you meet your continuing education requirements. Access Relias Academy to review course certificate information.   

As more states legalize medicinal marijuana, rehabilitation therapists are seeing cannabis as a viable alternative for managing chronic pain. How will cannabis impact patients’ clinical presentation and plan of care? How do they know what type to use, and how much? In this episode, Ellen Anderson, PT, PhD, and Lori Zucker, PT, DPT, MA, discuss clinical cases where a patient participating in rehabilitation therapy used cannabis to therapeutically manage chronic pain.

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(03:44) Key Takeaways from Today’s Discussion
(05:24) Pharmacokinetics of Cannabis
(09:23) The Endocannabinoid System
(15:11) Dosing Guidelines Overview
(26:35) Case Example: Chronic Low Back Pain
(35:16) Balancing Education and Recommendations
(37:14) Case Example: Multiple Sclerosis Neuropathic Pain
(43:50) Case Example: Neuropathy Secondary to Chemotherapy
(51:47) Considerations and Red Flags: Using Clinical Judgment
(57:44) Conclusion

The content for this course was created by Ellen Anderson, PT, PhD.

The content for this course was created by Lori Zucker, PT, DPT, MA.

The content for this course was created by Tiffany Shubert, PT, PhD.

Here is how Relias can help you earn continuing education credits: 

Access your Relias Library offered by your employer to see course certificate information and exam;  
or  
Access the continuing education library for clinicians at Relias Academy [link to be updated to the correct Relias Academy URL by CPM at Finishing.] Review the course certificate information, and if eligible, you can purchase the course to access the exam and receive your certificate. 

Learn more about Relias at www.relias.com.   

Legal Disclaimer: The content of Stretch: Relias Rehab Therapy Education is provided only for educational and training purposes for healthcare professionals. The educational material provided in this podcast should not be used as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others. 

Resources 

Consensus Recommendations on Dosing and Administration: https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42238-021-00073-1

PTcannabisinfo.com: https://www.ptcannabisinfo.com/ 

State Medical Cannabis Laws: https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: The Health Effects of Cannabis ad Cannabinoids: https://www.nationalacademies.org/ocga/briefings-to-congress/the-health-effects-of-cannabis-and-cannabinoids-the-current-state-of-evidence-and-recommendations-for-research