I can't think of any main-stream medicinal products that will spell it all out for you on their website. There may be some, but I haven't seen any. I want you to know ahead of trying BC Bud Rub that you are getting a solid product that will work. Knowing more about how BC Bud Rub does what it does may even lead to some well reasoned experiments. What will you discover it does? The following is a detailed description of what BC Bud Rub does and how it works. Check back as this section is likely to change over time. I may find new research supporting anecdotal reports, or I may hear of something else The Rub is used for through this site or in my own home.
What's in BC Bud Rub?
BC Bud Rub is a complex mix of many components that work together and alone to relieve symptoms. The rub contains the following ingredients:
- Hemp seed oil*
- Almond oil
- Bees wax
- Hemp essential oil
- Rosemary essential oil
- Bergamot essential oil
- Tocopherol (Vitamin E)
*The hemp seed oil used in making BC Bud Rub is enriched with a higher than normal cannibinoid content with BC Bud. The added cannibinoids contribute to its enhanced anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Please note, even though real BC Bud is used in making this product, it can not under any circumstances be used to get high. I will describe each of these ingredients one at a time and detail why they are included in the formulation.
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Hemp seed oil
Hemp seed oil is the primary ingredient and the foundation upon which the rest of the salve is built. As was mentioned on the What's the Rub page, BC Bud Rub did not start life as a salve, but as tincture. That was short lived. The primary purpose behind ethanol in the tincture was to act as a medium for the cannibinoids. Hemp seed oil does that too and has many advantages over ethanol. Hemp seed oil does not dry and burn skin when applied and that was the first reason to move from being a tincture to a salve, but not the only one. Some of the additional benefits include emollience, and EFAs.
As I mentioned, the primary reason I wanted to apply cannibinoids topically was to treat my wife's cold sores. I knew cannibinoids would inhibit the reproduction of the herpes virus, and have analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. This made a cannabis tincture an ideal treatment for cold sores, except for the unpleasant side-effects caused by the carrier, ethanol. I switched to using oil simply to avoid these effects. The oil, however, once thickened with beeswax was much easier to apply. At that time I put Bud Rub in lip applicators since that was still the only reason I prepared it.
Shortly after preparing this first incarnation of BC Bud Rub (It wasn't called BC Bud Rub yet. I didn't live in BC and the Bud was Alberta bud.) the salve, I tried something new. I had, every cold Calgary winter, an outbreak of eczema over my superficial to my facial sinuses. They were unsightly, itchy, and often ended up bleeding when the crisp -20 C (or colder) air had its way with my skin. Like many people I had been handed a prescription for topical corticosteroids by my condition, but if I dared miss an application, the eczema returned with a vengeance. I reasoned that all the prescription was supposed to do was reduce an inflammatory condition, so why not try the Rub on my face? What did I have to lose? It worked wonderfully. Not only did it reduce the inflammation and return my skin to its normal healthy state. Better than that, it did not fight back when I skipped applications. Here was another use for BC Bud Rub! I didn't know it then, but I was to learn later that the benefits bestowed on my skin were also due to the EFAs present in the hemp seed oil, and not simply the anti-inflammatory effects of the cannibinoids.
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One of the rides up the highway near our Kootenay home. |
This story now needs to back up a step. My wife and I were arrested for my work with this plant and once the dust settled we decided to move to BC's interior. I'm an avid cyclist, and one day while out on the highway I discovered just how stressful the whole experience of being arrested and assaulted left me. I felt a terrible itch on my lower back. I scratched it and received some sharp pain for my trouble. Upon returning from my ride I tried to take a peek in the mirror at the mysterious itchy patch. Seeing the the indistinct red blotchy patch I did not know what to think, so I went to a doctor. He told me I had shingles. Shingles is created by the Herpes Zoster virus manifesting in this form when the host (me) is unduly stressed. Guess what I did? My instincts told me the Rub would be a helpful treatment for the inflamed skin and might help block the virus reproductive cycle. The itch was gone for four hours at a time, and the entire patch was gone in a matter of weeks. So the Calgary Police did help discover another use for Cannabis!
Hemp Essential Oil
While living back and forth between Calgary and the Kootenays I began exploring a new idea. I wondered what value the different compounds that made up the various fragrances different strains of Cannabis possessed. It didn't take long to discover that there had already been work done in other parts of the world on hemp essential oil. It will likely be a long time before anyone will be able to work with strains such as Kush, or Jack Herer, or Blueberry in this manner, but hemp essential oil was available and legal. One of my goals was to give BC Bud Rub more of a "bud" fragrance. It was to serve as a base for creating the BC Bud Rub fragrance, but Hemp Essential Oil (HEO) did more than add to the bouquet. Right away I found articles suggesting HEO had valuable medicinal properties. This should be of no surprise since many essential oils can make this claim.
Almond Oil
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Blackberry thorns did their worst after setting a trap by growing across the trail I was riding. |
I love the feel of almond oil. It is richly emollient and changes the character of the Rub's feel on the skin. Other than that, there was little else that motivated my first adding the oil to the Rub. Almond oil does have a some widely recognized properties that do make it a worthy addition to this salve. An article in the London Lancet published in 1879 describes its value to the skin in treating eczema in a salve. Currently, almond oil is a favorite for massages because of its light colour, and soothing effects. Like hemp seed oil, almond oil also contains linoleic acid, an EFA.
Bees Wax
Bees wax is, of course, what gives BC Bud Rub its viscosity. Bees wax gives stability to the blend of ingredients and allows the skin to breath when spread on the skin. Like honey, bees wax also has anti-biotic properties adding to the Rub's protection over scrapes and cuts. This stuff is great to put on the type of scrapes created by unexpected exits from a bike, and the beeswax gives the Rub an added edge.
Rosemary and Bergamot Essential Oils
These essential oils, of course, contribute to the salve's unique and characteristic fragrance. Every batch of BC Bud Rub is tuned to arrive at the same fragrance. Some tuning is required given the variability the fragrance of each strain of Bud. Care is made to select Bud that stays within a fairly narrow fragrance range leaving each formulation relatively similar in composition. Practitioners of aromatherapy ascribe properties to these componentsand I will be including a write up on this topic in the near future. One regular user of BC Bud Rub did claim the Rub not only relieves his arthritis pain, but improves his mood as well. Bergamot is reputed to lift spirits and Rosemary is similarly reputed to elevate the spirit.
Tocopherol
Tocopherol is included for its antioxidant properties. Not only is this good for you, it helps preserve the Rub, keeping the oils from turning rancid.
During the years of 2003 to 2005, BC Bud Rub enjoyed considerable growth in sales and exposure. The Rub was sold in several stores on Vancouver Island and was carried in both a Calgary and Winnipeg store. BC Bud Rub was sold through magazine ads in Cannabis Health and customers in the US were able to receive their orders in spite of expected customs difficulties. This website represents a fresh start towards expanding the customer base of this fine product again. My goal is to make BC Bud Rub available in retail stores across Canada by 2014.