How to Use CBD Oil: A Complete Guide

Jason Thompson • January 4, 2019 • About CBD, FAQ

CBD (which stands for cannabidiol), is growing more popular by the day as more people try it out to see if the stories about its medicinal properties are true. With this influx of people interested in using CBD, it stands to reason that many of them may be wondering how they can use it, and CBD oil is one of the most popular forms it comes in.

CBD oil is more versatile than other kinds of CBD, and you can consume it in several ways depending on your preference. Throughout this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to use CBD oil, from how to get the dosage right for your condition to picking the right delivery method.

The Legality of CBD

For many first-time CBD users, a concern is the substance’s tenuous link to marijuana, but you can rest assured that most legal CBD on the market is derived from hemp. Hemp is a part of the same plant family as marijuana, but that’s where the similarities end.

The major difference between hemp and marijuana is that hemp doesn’t contain a significant amount of THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Thankfully, in most places, laws are catching up to medical research, and CBD has been legalized in several countries, including South Korea, and the US Congress has recently approved a measure to make growing hemp legal for the first time in 100 years. Take a closer look at the CBD laws in your jurisdiction if you want to learn how to use CBD oil safely and legally.

Where and How to Buy CBD

If you’ve decided to take the plunge and try out CBD for yourself, you may be wondering where you can get it. Where you can find CBD will usually depend on where you live, but in legal states, you can find it at brick-and-mortar retail locations, and you can also order it online.

Brick and mortar locations include health food stores and other places where you can find natural medicine, as well as dispensaries that specialize in other marijuana-related products. As long as it is made from hemp (meaning that it contains less than 0.3% THC), CBD oil can be purchased without a prescription, as it is considered a food supplement.

(To make things easy for you, we’ve reviewed many of the companies that produce CBD products, as well as curated lists of the best products for specific needs).

Potential Benefits of CBD

How to use CBD oil and discover its benefits

If you’re wondering how to use CBD oil, then you’ll need to get acquainted with its potential benefits. Many refer to CBD oil as a miracle cure, and while that is a little dramatic, it can certainly be used to solve a wide range of ailments.

Some of the advantages of using CBD include pain relief and help with seizures, cancer, diabetes, and glaucoma. Keep in mind that CBD can also cure mental conditions that include severe forms of anxiety and more.

Even if you just feel a little more stressed out than usual, you can use a little bit of CBD oil to provide you with the relief that you need. For those who suffer from trouble sleeping, including insomnia or sleep disruptions, CBD can often offer some much-needed relief or simply enhance the overall quality of sleep.

Depression can also be aided using CBD oil, though its effectiveness will depend on the severity of the condition. Keep in mind that research into CBD is still ongoing, so it may be effective for a range of conditions for which research hasn’t yet been conducted.

Choose Your Delivery Method

When beginners consider how to use CBD oil, it is normal to feel a little overwhelmed by all of the options available. There is no shortage of creams, edibles, pills, and more, all of which contain CBD, and choosing the right one may be a bewildering proposition for a first-time user.

There are several aspects of CBD use that are affected by the delivery method you choose, including how fast it will take action, and how pleasant it is for you to use. For example, some people may prefer vaping their CBD because of how fast it takes effect, while others will find it too harsh for their lungs.

In this section, we’re going to look at the four primary techniques you can use to consume CBD oil:

Ingestion
Sublingual absorption
Topical options
Vaping

Ingestion

Ingestion is one of the most popular methods for those learning how to use CBD oil, and with good reason. Depending on your dosage, you may not even be able to taste the CBD oil that you’re consuming, meaning you can put it on food without even noticing it’s there.

If you don’t want to take your CBD oil while you eat, you can even swallow the oil directly, just make sure that you have your doses measured out beforehand. If the idea of raw CBD oil (on your food or otherwise) doesn’t appeal to you, there are also plenty of pre-made edible options.

For example, you can purchase CBD oil-infused candies, brownies, or even capsules. When compared to other delivery methods, ingestion takes longer to take effect because the CBD oil will need to pass through your digestive system.

Sublingual

Sublingual absorption is a technique that works well when used with pure CBD oil, and it provides a faster-acting method when compared to traditional ingestion. While it may seem similar to ingestion, sublingual absorption uses a different technique to get the CBD oil into your bloodstream.

There are small blood vessels (capillaries) in the mucous membranes underneath your tongue, and when you hold CBD oil under your tongue, it gets absorbed into them. This brings the CBD directly into your bloodstream, which means that your body will process it faster and you will begin to feel the effects sooner.

You will only have to hold the CBD oil under your tongue for about a minute or two for it to be fully absorbed, and anything that isn’t will end up swallowed. This will provide you with additional long-term relief.

Topical CBD Oil

Topical CBD oil solutions will usually provide relief to the area that you apply them to. While this kind of CBD oil can be used to reduce pain, it can also help improve the overall health of the skin that you use it on. For example, topical CBD oil can help slow the spread of acne and other skin conditions.

You can also use CBD oil to help with dry and flaky skin, which will quickly revitalize it with continued use. If you have any rashes or bumps on your skin that are causing your discomfort, a topical CBD oil will usually help counteract any pain that you feel.

Keep in mind that there are also many CBD oil creams and lotions that are meant for topical application, and they can often work better than pure oil alone.

Vaping

If you’re considering how to use CBD oil and you prefer something that takes action faster, you could try vaping. However, this method is usually recommended for those who have some prior experience smoking or vaping. Vaping has the benefit of quicker action than techniques like ingestion, but it can sometimes irritate the lungs and cause coughing. Vaping may also carry some long-term health risks, even when using high-quality CBD oil.

CBD oil for vaporizers is usually sold in replaceable cartridges. There are several types of CBD oil vaporizers available, including larger models for home use and small products which allow you to use CBD oil on the go (provided outdoor use is legal in your area).

Vaping is one of the most efficient ways to use CBD oil, as most of the oil will end up in your bloodstream with relatively little waste compared to ingestion and topical application. However, it’s important to be aware of the health risks and the fact that the safety of vaping CBD hasn’t been well studied.

Conclusion

There is no best way to use CBD oil, as that will depend on your preferences as well as the reason you are taking CBD in the first place. We hope that this guide has been able to shed some light on how to use CBD oil and what you need to do to make the most of it.