Can CBD Cause Burning in the back of the Throat?

We'll occasionally get this question from clients.

It's usually a panicked email that comes over with the following:

"I took CBD and the back of my throat was burning. Is that normal?"

We've actually experienced this ourselves and so we were equally curious in the beginning.

We're talking CBD isolate oil...not vaping or smoking.

What is going on here?

The answer is actually pretty interesting when we dove deeper into it and a giant review we did on psoriasis of all things shed some light.

That's a strange segue but stay with us.

We'll cover it all with the following:

• Can CBD cause a burning feeling in the back of the throat and why?
• The importance of this burning sensation for other issues including autoimmune
• Why the quality and type of CBD matters

Let's get started.

Can CBD cause a burning feeling in the back of the throat and why?

Yes! We typically hear this from new customers but it can also pop up later on in use.

We take CBD daily and about once every 2-3 months, we'll have the burning sensation right behind the uvula (the fleshy piece that hands down in the back of the throat).

Our product is CBD isolate with MCT oil from organic coconut so about as clean as you can get.

Why would this cause a burning sensation and only occasionally?

Here's where it gets interesting.

Right behind your tonsils is a major immune system hub. Think of it as a lookout station for bacteria/viruses etc that gain entry via the mouth.

It's a primary immune system station for the body that acts as a first responder to all the nasty things that WILL get through your mouth.

Your mouth actually has a complex microbiome of billions of bacteria, most of which are beneficial, which is the first line of defense to nasty pathogens that hitchhike with our food or from our hands.

That's the connection between gum health and heart health in terms of inflammation and bacteria that leaks into the bloodstream from inflamed gums only to be attacked elsewhere in the body (such as the heart).

Back to CBD's burning sensation.

CBD is actually a powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial agent in its own regard.

This was achieved in 1976, where it was found that CBD is bacteriostatic as well as bactericidal against a panel of Gram-positive pathogens (see below)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7400265/

Gram-positive just means the nasty versions of bacteria.

Think of strep which hits the same area of the throat.

CBD was active against several S. aureus and Streptococcus isolates, with MICs in the order of 1–5 μg/mL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7400265/

Essentially, the burning sensation is the result of CBD interacting with a low-level infection in that "hotspot" of the immune response.

This is why it generally doesn't repeat after one to two uses.

It's killing the bacteria! Think of the burning sensation when antiseptic is applied to a skin wound.

Again, we'll get this effect every now and then when we're fighting something and we'll definitely use more CBD if we feel that initial tingle of strep in the back of the throat.

Of course, this is just the surface level effect but we like to go deeper.

It's much more important long-term than just throat infections.

The importance of this burning sensation for other issues including autoimmune

Why the quality and type of CBD matters

Many people have low-level infections in the back of the throat or mouth for years or decades and never realize it.

This state of semi-permanent inflammation can be very detrimental to the body and immune system response.

We first stumbled upon this whole process in our big review of CBD and psoriasis.

There's a known tie between low-level infection in this same part of the throat and psoriasis...an auto-immune disease of the skin.

Psoriasis is strongly associated with a streptococcal throat infection, and patients have increased occurrence of such infections.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19781993/

That's strange!

What drives this?

If that area of the throat is constantly under duress from fighting a "cold war" with strep bacteria, it starts to misrecognized little protein strips of strep to a very similar protein strip in the cells that make new skin call keratinocytes.

It's called protein mimicry and it's at the heart of many autoimmune diseases.

The immune system because overzealous and it's a systemwide player after all.

This is why the "burn" is so important.

If you didn't use CBD, you might have a low-level infection at that throat site which eventually makes its way to other parts of the body (skin, heart, islet cells, etc).

We cover this whole process in our CBD and autoimmune with a big focus on the gut (our primary weak link for bacteria entry).

So...don't worry...enjoy the burn. You're actually supporting your bodywide immune response.

This all assumes we're using good CBD. Let's touch on that quickly.

Why the quality and type of CBD matters

There's another type of reaction that may not be so great.

Currently, there's lots of junk CBD on the market and a large majority is full or broad spectrum.

This is CBD with much more of the plant material and even other cannabinoids.

The problem with this is histamine response.

Histamine response is the driver of allergic reactions and it's the way the body getting foreign entities out FAST.

Roughly 40-60% of the population has histamine issues and this number goes up as we get older and for women (thanks for leaving progesterone).

A whole host of side effects from full-spectrum CBD or bad products can occur including sore throats or stomach issues.

We tried 3-4 of the biggest CBD brands and had clicking in the back of our throat and other issues.

CBD isolate actually calms immune response and the side effects went away.

That's how we found it to begin with.

We go through CBD isolate versus full spectrum here but you can see the differences in our reviews where many people had the same response.

Of course, CBD should have the following qualities:

• Organically grown in the USA at FDA registered farms
• CO2 processed
• 3rd party testing (ours is available at top of each page)
• No Pesticides
• No solvents
• No heavy metals
• No bacteria
• No mold

This is so important as there is a great deal of bad product on the market.

If you have clean CBD isolate, the burn is a good sign that low-level infection in the back of the throat is being addressed!

Try our first50 code for 50% of the first order!

Be well. Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.

Always work with a doctor or naturopath with any supplement!

The information provided here is not intended to treat an illness or substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified healthcare provider.