No one likes to live with pain, but on-going doctor appointments can seem like drudgery. One option might be to investigate alternative health remedies.
That’s what Alexandra Miller did for chronic pelvic issues related to endometriosis – and she is a young woman. In fact, she went one step further and developed her own line of CBD-based body care products that she sells at Creative Market in West Rehoboth, various farmer’s markets in and around Sussex County and several shops in the area.
According to the website Healthline, there are several benefits to using CBD oil, such as reducing physical pain and symptoms of some mental heal disorders, but there also can be some side effects such as diarrhea, changes in appetite and weight, and fatigue.
The primary federal law that allowed businesses to start marketing CBD products is called the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. This Act legalized the farming of industrial hemp, which, as defined by the Act, contains less than 0.3% THC (the chemical in cannabis that gets people high).
GoodRX Health offers a sound explanation between the use of cannabis-based products for medical purposes compared to recreational use. The site explains that “cannabis ‘refers to a group of three plants with psychoactive properties. When the flowers are harvested and dried, what remains is one of the most common and one of the oldest medicines in the world.
Medical cannabis is growing more popular in the U.S. as dozens of states legalize the substance’s medical use which is not to be confused with recreational marijuana. Millions of Americans, including Delawareans, currently us medical cannabis to treat conditions like chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and nausea from chemotherapy.
In 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but the recreational use of the substance is not legal in Delaware. Currently, 17 states have legalized both the recreational and medical use of marijuana. ( MedicalNewsToday explains the difference between CBD and THC.)
Miller started her CBD business in Colorado but moved to Delaware in 2018, the same year that the Agriculture Improvement Act passed.
Her goal is “to provide high-quality, affordable CBD body products to share with other individuals with chronic illness and chronic pain,” according to Miller. They include bath bombs and soaks, honeysuckle salve and patchouli salve.
All of Miller’s products are 100% vegan & handmade using Colorado lab-tested, hemp-derived CBD Isolate. She uses the CBD Isolate because it contains zero THC, and is therefore legal to ship to all 50 states in the U.S.
She says the most popular product among seniors is her topical salve. She finds that topical products seem “safer” and “less scary” to most people trying hemp CBD for the first time and especially among her senior customers.
“They do not need to ingest it,” she says, “so therefore, there is no need to worry about potential medication interactions. They can apply it to wherever the pain is located.”
Miller also admits that cost is a factor among seniors. “Paying for a natural product is more expensive than picking up a pharmaceutical with a co-pay”, she says. “Some folks base their decision on cost and not what is actually best for their bodies.”
Miller’s Alni CBD Body Care website provides information about her products. Most Farmer’s Markets and the Creative Marketplace will continue through October. Ocean Pines is year-round. So, enjoy that market when the traffic thins and it’s just us year-rounders. AND if you’re interested, why not drop by Miller’s stall to sample her salve.
By Mary Jo Tarallo, Guest Journalist
Mary Jo Tarallo spent much of her career in public relations with various non-profits and spent 40 years involved with the ski industry as a journalist, public relations director for a national trade association and as executive director of the Learn to Ski and Snowboard initiative. Prior to her ski industry involvement she worked for the Maryland International Center in Baltimore and United Way of Central Maryland. She won a Gold Award for TV programming for a United Way simulcast that starred Oprah Winfrey. She has been cited for her work by numerous organizations. Mary Jo grew up in Baltimore, attended the University of Maryland and Towson University, lived in Washington, DC for 21 years and has been a full time resident of Rehoboth Beach and Milton since May 2019.