While the premium-grade whole flower is my favorite form of cannabis consumption, the culmination of a last-minute train trip up to Seattle and a persistently tweaked lower back has led me to dip my toes into the world of topicals for the very first time.
The world of topicals sometimes feels like the black sheep of the legal cannabis market, easily getting lost in the wash of the surf that are the hyper-photogenic luscious buds and candy-like extracts.
In this write-up, we’ll explore the world of topicals and their real-world benefits and dig deep into one of the most popular 1:1 THC salves on the west coast.
If you’ve ever been curious about topicals but have been waiting for a first-hand account in regards to what they’re good for, how they work, and whether or not they’re worth the money, well, wait no longer, friend!
Table of Contents
The Test Subject: My Busted Back & Stiff Neck
If you go to the gym or participate in any rigorous sport on a routine basis and are over the age of 30, you are bound to have some muscle bodies decide they need a break eventually. This can often happen quite suddenly and painfully.
Sometimes this takes the form of simple muscular fatigue that quickly dissipates, but other times muscles can lock up entirely. They spasm, they ache, and they generally really throw a wrench in your ability to move around throughout the day without intense pain.
The best I can guess is I tweaked my lower right latissimus dorsi muscle doing probably heavier deadlifts than I should have been doing after an extended absence from my routine.
The day after my workout, my back was tight. Despite trying to stretch it out, it seemed to get tighter and tighter to the point where the muscle seemed to lock up, and I struggled mightily to do things like eat, take a shit, get out of bed, put on my socks, and most importantly sit at my desk to do my day job.
While stopping over at The Green Door dispensary in Seattle for a couple of pre-rolls, I saw the sexy red packaging of Ceres Super Strength 1:1 Dragon balm sitting neatly on the shelf.
The helpful homie behind the counter said they moved a good amount of it, and seeing as this batch was less than a month old, I figured now was as best time as any to give topicals the ole freshman try.
What IS Dragon Deep Tissue Salve?
This topical ointment combines age-old natural pain relief ingredients such as camphor and menthol oil with moisturizing cocoa butter and the healing power of nano-emulsified cannabis extract to provide a tissue balm for the 21st century.
Ceres makes a wide variety of topicals and edibles that are actually quite innovative, including things like terpene-enriched soft gel nano-emulsified THC pills with mood-boosting Rhodiola extract and even suppositories.
I like the innovative way Ceres is approaching the needs of the community. Yes, cannabis is fantastic, but there is a wide range of other proven natural herbal remedies out there, and there’s no reason these two worlds should operate in isolation.
Cere’s makes two versions of its deep tissue salve. There was the red labeled “super strength,” which I picked up, as well as a sexy-looking black labeled version that was, like, super duper extra strength, which I figured worth testing only after first giving the OG super strength a go.
The Super Strength 1:1 I bought contains 200mg of THC, 160mg of CBD, 20mg of CBN, and 20mg of CBG. Yeah, Ceres is leveraging a variety of cannabinoids here, and I’m all about it. Too many brands get hung up solely on THC or CBD and neglect all the other medicines available from the plant, which results in a less effective final product.
So you have 200mg of THC, and then if you add up the other CBD, CBN, and CBG cannabinoids, you get another 200mg of pure cannabinoids, resulting in the legendary 1:1 ratio so common in such herbal therapeutics.
The cannabinoids are “nano-emulsified” for “3x faster bioavailability,” which isn’t just marketing hype as I’ve learned with Magic Number’s delicious nano-emulsified Mega Drops that easily hit me in under half the time of traditional edibles.
There’s a nice breakdown of the terpenes contained in Dragon Deep Tissue 1:1 Salve as well, with a balanced ratio of Nerolidol, Myrcene, Pinene, Humulene, and Caryophyllene, all of which have studies indicating some level of pain relief or anti-inflammatory effect.
The packaging is gorgeous and reminds me of the tissue salves sold throughout Asia, like Tiger Balm, White Flower, and Hisamitsu’s Salonpas. I’ve used all three, and while they obviously aren’t prescription drugs, they provide noticeable relief to tight, stiff, and achy muscles.
The Outcome: Legitimate Pain Relief
I waited until I was back from my trip and in my apartment to lather on some of the salve as Monday was soon approaching, which would require a day’s worth of sitting behind a computer which even with my ergonomic desk chair was frightening given how tight my lower back still was.
The directions for Dragon Salve state to “apply liberally and massage into the skin.” They also stated, “Wait 20 minutes before reapplying”. As such, I was a little concerned I would get high as a kite, so I prudently followed these instructions.
The salve itself is quite hard, so you need to use the edge of your finger or your nail to scoop some out. It then helps to warm it up in your hands to soften the salve before rubbing it onto your skin.
For patients who may lack dexterity, Ceres also has a roll-on applicator which is a really smart product and shows the developers are thinking about their patients when developing these formulas. Mucho respect Cera gang if you’re reading this!
After applying, I patiently waited, and sure enough, the pain in my back quite rapidly decreased in the intensity with which it struck. Was I 100% pain-free after a single application? No.
However, if I were to surmise, I would estimate conservatively at least a 50% drop in pain. Just like with stiff necks, my back was so tight that even the slightest bend laterally left or right or tilt forward or backward would send hot shoots of pain up the length of the muscle.
The Dragon Salve seemed to calm the muscle down so that while I was still cognizant, my back wasn’t healthy and needed rest. In a way, the Dragon Balm turned the volume down on the sheer intensity of the pain so that my pain moved from the forefront of my mind to, no pun intended, the back of my mind.
It’s worth noting that I didn’t feel high at all. If there was a calming effect of the THC and cannabinoids in my bloodstream, it was hella mild, so soft that you can easily function in society, go to work, whatever it may be, while having a bunch of dragon salve working its magic into your back.
A couple of weeks after my back healed, I developed a stiff neck that ran from behind my left ear down through my trapezius muscle. The Ceres Deep Tissue Salve worked fantastic at reducing the tightness in my neck, allowing me to move my head left-right without as much pain more easily.
In fact, I would say the pain improvement for my stiff neck and trap was more noticeable than when I’d tweaked my lower back earlier. Maybe it had something to do with the size of the muscle or the amount of pain it was tackling.
Regardless, I’m happy to have a go-to for the inevitable stiff neck that isn’t a liver-processed drug like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, which I prefer to save as a last resort.
Topicals Are For Pain Relief, Not Getting Blazed
Given how potent cannabis is becoming and how popular dabbing is, I had assumed that topicals were another expression in the pursuit of flying as high as possible via as many mechanisms of action as possible.
Regarding the red “Super Strength” Deep Tissue Dragon Salve from Ceres, at least the product did its job in relieving my tight spasmodic lower back. It allowed me to get along with my day without experiencing agony at every change in angle my spine made, so I give this product a solid two-thumbs-up recommendation.
Who knows, maybe some topicals out there are so potent they will get you blazed. Heck, maybe if you have hyper-porous frog skin, simple products like this Dragon Salve will have an impact on you.
Perhaps my existing baseline THC tolerance insulated me from a subtle high that non-experienced patients would feel. With this in mind, it’s probably best to follow the instructions, waiting 20 minutes after application before renewing, just like with edibles, to avoid getting higher than you want (although I personally Cere’s balm didn’t cause that for me).
If you’re a regular toker, though, know that the whole aim of this product isn’t to get you ripped. Sorry. Instead, it’s designed to rapidly alleviate persistent muscular pain and discomfort, and in regard to that mission, it performs excellently.
This Dragon Salve performed so admirably, in fact, that now my mind is fantasizing about entire deep tissue massages with infused salves or oils. Spas are already so effective at providing relaxation that if they simply (or legally were allowed to) introduce these types of products, it would inject a whole new therapeutic aspect into the industry. It would be nothing short of legitimate revolutionization.
But back to this product review, I really can’t complain about anything. With the packaging, the simple formula, and the transparent labeling, Ceres has executed quite well here. It excites me to try some of their other products and for the topicals industry as a whole.
While topicals may not enjoy quite the same media hype or industry glorification as flower or flower-derived smokable extracts, I’ve been converted to a believer.
The prospect of having an easy OTC solution to muscle pain is fantastic, as Dragon Salve builds upon centuries of muscle analgesic progress (menthol and camphor) by adding cannabinoids to the equation.
What about you? Do you partake in the topicals? Do you prefer to just nuke your entire system with THC via a bong? Have you been curious about topicals but just lack the education and background to take the plunge?
