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I'm a believer: CBD has helped my knees—and my sleep
Roger Spooner
I wish I could say my golf injury was exciting, but I didn’t hurt myself hacking out of the gorse at Carnoustie, leaping one of the streams at Shadow Creek or clocking my 36th hole of the day carrying my bag at Bandon Dunes. No, I partially tore the meniscus in my left knee 10 years ago taking a bad step on the side of a hill during a photo shoot at Kapalua, in Hawaii. I didn’t know it at the time—it was just a sore knee until it didn’t go away, and I got the official diagnosis.
But years of attempted rehab and more than a little limping around turned into full-blown meniscus surgery three years ago, and arthritis in the other knee from the irregular gait the injury had caused.
To play golf, tennis and paddle—and to play with my kids on the floor and walk without a limp—I needed to find something that would reduce the daily inflammation that made my knees stiff and sore every time I sat down for more than five minutes.
I tried cryotherapy, hyperbaric treatments, leg-compression sleeves, every topical cream you can name, and averaged three Aleve a day for six months. But I didn’t get real relief until I found some samples at the PGA Merchandise Show and combined taking a daily CBD capsule with treatments and workouts assigned by my terrific sports-movement specialist in Fairfield, Conn., Dr. Andrew Yaun.
I take one 25-milligram capsule a day from the Functional Remedies EndoSport line and do what Dr. Yaun says to stretch and strengthen my legs
to create more space in my knee joint. I’m not small, and I’m never going to be fast, but now the soreness is limited to the day after a particularly aggressive court game or the few minutes after being stuck in one position on a plane or in a meeting for too long. I haven’t experienced any side effects beyond improved sleep.
A bottle of capsules a month isn’t cheap—about $80—but for the equivalent of one green fee a month, I can stay active enough to hopefully put off more surgery for at least 10 years. Functional Remedies also makes a liquid tincture and a salve that comes in what looks like a giant tube of lip balm, but the capsules were the easiest and most effective for me. I just take it in the morning along with my regular multivitamin.