After a wave of legalization and product development, cannabidiol (CBD) has only recently begun to hit the market in a big way. For many people interested in a new way to manage health issues like insomnia, appetite loss, or chronic pain, CBD is an excellent and safe solution that has been shown to be able to treat symptoms that other medication cannot. However, if you are thinking about a CBD treatment, you may feel overwhelmed by the different types on the market; from raw hemp to edibles to creams to oils, there are a lot of types of CBD, and not all will work best for you. Which forms are most effective?

CBD Oil

Perhaps the most popular form of CBD today is oil, the pure concentrate of hemp plants, rich in both CBD and terpenes.

CBD oil is useful because it is versatile: many people simply take oil with a tincture by placing drops beneath their tongue, or add it to food or drinks to mask its less-than-pleasant taste. CBD strips also make it easy to take, much like breath strips: place on the tongue and wait for them to melt.

While digesting an edible may take hours before the CBD kicks in, pure oil more quickly moves through your metabolism and into your bloodstream, meaning that relief comes relatively quickly once you’ve administered it.

One key advantage of oil is that it affects all parts of the body, whether you want it for anxiety relief, pain relief, or tight muscles. A CBD user who wants multiple types of relief will benefit most from an oil, since they may not receive all of the same benefits from a cream.

CBD oil is also perhaps the easiest form to measure. For many CBD users, a precise dose is needed to manage their health issues, and too little means not enough relief. Using a mechanism like a tincture makes it possible to measure out the oil and the quantity of CBD to the exact milligram, something that other forms do not offer. 

CBD Edibles

The cannabis plant has a long history of being turned into edible foods. CBD edibles range from gummies to brownies to smoothies and provide all of the great benefits of CBD, without the THC of marijuana that you’d get from a pot edible. Like oil, CBD edibles are easy to dose, because their manufacturers must specifically measure out the quantity of CBD in each serving. They taste better than oil itself, as they are combined with sweet or savory treats to go down smoothly. 

Edibles do take time to kick in, which can be a benefit or a drawback. Eating a CBD gummies an hour before a flight means that you will feel more relaxed and less stressed by the time you get to the security line, but if you need immediate relief, edibles may leave you wanting more. 

One additional advantage of CBD edibles is that they can be used for both people and pets. Pet CBD treats are a huge trend in the industry and if your dog or cat has issues with anxiety or appetite, a CBD treat can be the perfect solution to a health concern.

CBD Creams

Marketing your products is sometimes easy when your products do one specific thing. CBD creams may not melt away stress in the same way that an oil dose does, but it provides instant relief to a hurt body part because the skin absorbs CBD very quickly. As such, these creams are often marketed for sore joints, pulled muscles, and sports injuries. Persons looking for CBD relief from pain may benefit the most from creams because they can be applied to a specific area instead of being “spread out” to the entire body.

Creams, furthermore, can be combined with other herbal treatments to provide more relief than other CBD forms. A cream with lavender or eucalyptus will augment the natural healing power of CBD for further soothing and relaxation. One drawback of creams is that they tend to be more expensive than other applications because the process of extracting and processing the CBD is more complex than in a simple oil or edible.