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CBD Nasal Sprays: Do They Work?

11/25/20

https://www.bloomandoil.com/cbd/cbd-nasal-spray/


Some people are switching to CBD nasal sprays instead of using regular CBD oil. But do these products work? What are their advantages? We take a look at the science behind applying CBD intranasally.

What is CBD Nasal Spray?

A CBD nasal spray is an aerosol product that delivers CBD into your body through the nose.

You’ve likely heard of this way of administering drugs before as it’s frequently used by decongestants, antihistamines, and other medications aimed at relieving nasal symptoms 1 . However, this intranasal route can also be used to deliver active substances systemically, which means that they can reach the bloodstream and benefit your whole body 2 .

While it may not sound particularly pleasant, administering drugs through the nose has several advantages, such as relative ease of use, immediate effects, and effective absorption.


How Does CBD Nasal Spray Work?

A CBD nasal spray is sprayed directly into your nasal cavity, administering the CBD onto the nasal mucosal membrane.

This membrane is not only thin but lined with many blood vessels. This makes it easy for CBD to absorb across the membrane directly into your bloodstream, leading to fast effects. According to research, this method of administering CBD works within 10 minutes 3 .

The intranasal method has a lot in common with the sublingual (under-the-tongue) route used by regular CBD oil tinctures. Both of these drug administration routes seek to deliver CBD to your mucosal membranes, which line the mouth (oral mucosa), nose (nasal mucosa), and other parts of the body. Whereas a CBD spray targets the nasal mucosa, regular CBD oil is aimed at its oral counterpart, particularly the sublingual mucosa found under the tongue.

This is mainly done to avoid what’s called first-pass metabolism, a phenomenon where the concentration of the substance you take — like CBD — is significantly reduced in the digestive system before it can be absorbed 4 . This not only makes CBD more effective by increasing its absorption rate but also makes it work faster.

To illustrate this, multiple studies have shown that the oral bioavailability — the percentage of a substance you take that’s actually absorbed and has an effect — of CBD is only about 9-19% 5 6 . This means most of the CBD (80+%) you ingest orally is lost before it becomes active. In comparison, animal studies suggest that CBD administered by nasal spray has a bioavailability ranging from 34% to 46%, which is much higher 7 .

Effectively, this means that you can use a much smaller CBD spray dose to achieve the same effects as an oral CBD product like capsules or gummies.