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Does CBD help pain?

Trials say no for CBD on its own. In 15 of 16 randomised trials, pharmaceutical-grade CBD was no better than placebo for pain.

Facts checked 13 November 20263 min readHow we research

On the evidence from controlled trials, no. When CBD on its own has been tested against placebo for pain, it has almost always failed to do better. We grade this as trials show no benefit.1

What did the trials find?

A 2024 review gathered every randomised trial of pharmaceutical-grade CBD that measured pain. There were 16. In 15 of them, CBD was no better than placebo.1

Three of those trials show the range of doses tested.

Trial People Dose Result
Low back pain, Melbourne emergency department2 100 Single 400 mg dose Pain at 2 hours was 6.2 with CBD and 5.8 with placebo. No difference
Hand osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis3 129 analysed 20 to 30 mg a day for 12 weeks 22% improved on CBD, 21% on placebo
Knee osteoarthritis4 86 600 mg a day for 8 weeks Pain fell 2.5 points with CBD and 2.4 with placebo

In the knee trial, raised liver enzymes were more common with CBD (15 people compared with 5). The authors wrote that the results “do not support the use of cannabidiol as an analgesic supplement”.4

What about medicinal cannabis more broadly?

That is a separate question, because most “medicinal cannabis” studied for pain contains THC. Even there the findings are weak. A Cochrane review update reported in January 2026, covering more than 20 trials of cannabis-based medicines that mostly contained THC, found no high-quality evidence that they reduce nerve pain more than placebo.5

A trial showing that a THC product eased pain is not evidence that CBD does.

What do pain specialists say?

  • The Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists says the evidence for cannabinoids in chronic non-cancer pain “remains insufficient to justify endorsement of their clinical use”. It recommends against prescribing them for this purpose outside a registered clinical trial.6
  • The International Association for the Study of Pain does not endorse general use of cannabinoids for pain, citing a lack of high-quality evidence. It adds that this is not meant to dismiss patients’ own experience.7

Does a CBD cream work for sore joints or muscles?

No good trial shows that it does. Little CBD passes through the skin into the body, and two randomised pilot studies of CBD cream or gel found no meaningful effect on muscle soreness.89 See CBD creams and topicals.

Why do so many people say it helps?

Pain responds strongly to expectation. In trials, people given a dummy treatment often improve a lot. That improvement is real to the person, but it is not caused by the CBD.

If you live with ongoing pain, a GP or pain specialist can explain the treatments that have held up in trials.

Read the full guide: CBD for chronic pain and CBD for arthritis.

Footnotes

  1. Moore RA, Straube S, Fisher E, Eccleston C. Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Journal of Pain, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2023.10.009 ↩ ↩2

  2. Bebee B and others. The CANBACK trial: cannabidiol for acute low back pain. Medical Journal of Australia, 2021. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/cannabidiol-no-better-placebo-low-back-pain ↩

  3. Vela J and others. Cannabidiol treatment in hand osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/cannabidiol-treatment-in-hand-osteoarthritis-and-psoriatic-arthritis-a-randomized-double-blind-placebo-controlled-trial/ ↩

  4. Pramhas S and others. Oral cannabidiol as add-on to paracetamol for painful chronic osteoarthritis of the knee. Lancet Regional Health Europe, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10682664/ ↩ ↩2

  5. ScienceDaily. Report of the updated Cochrane review of cannabis-based medicines for neuropathic pain, January 2026 (secondary report). https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260118233547.htm ↩

  6. Faculty of Pain Medicine, ANZCA. Medicinal cannabis. https://www.anzca.edu.au/patient-information/about-pain-medicine/medicinal-cannabis ↩

  7. International Association for the Study of Pain. Position statement on the use of cannabinoids to treat pain, 2021. https://www.iasp-pain.org/advocacy/iasp-statements/iasp-position-statement-on-the-use-of-cannabinoids-to-treat-pain ↩

  8. Review of topical and transdermal cannabinoid delivery. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11172078/ ↩

  9. Randomised pilot study of topical CBD for muscle soreness. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38980809/ ↩

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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