Dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO, comes from a substance found in wood and is produced as a by-product of making paper.  DMSO has been used as an industrial solvent since the mid-1800s. From about the mid-20th century, researchers have explored its use as an anti-inflammatory agent. DMSO is primarily used by applying it to the skin. DMSO is easily absorbed by the skin. It’s sometimes used to increase the body’s absorption of other medications. DMSO is available without a prescription, most often in gel or liquid form. It can be purchased in health food stores, animal feed and seed shops, and on the Internet. DMSO is used topically to speed the healing of wounds, burns, and muscle and skeletal injuries.

  Why am I telling you about DMSO?  

Our skin contains a large amount of cannabinoid receptors. When cannabis is applied directly to the skin, cannabinoids should be absorbed quickly into the affected area without wasting time metabolizing or breaking through the blood/brain barrier. This means that the body can utilize more cannabinoids without the risk of overconsumption, but it has to penetrate the skin.  Because cannabinoids cannot penetrate much past the upper epidermis there is little uptake unless accompanied by a carrier agent like DMSO, which could be used to enhance the penetration into the skin.  
  
  When you smear most CBD oils or creams onto your skin, little, if any, of the ingredients reach the cannabinoid receptors in our bodies. In using CBD this way, much simply goes to waste. Generally, human skin is not very permeable. It blocks the majority of substances to prevent them from entering the body. Skin does not absorb cannabinoids very well. Absorption rates are very low. This is why, for topical CBD products to work, you have to apply them very generously, with much of the CBD going to waste. This method works best if lotions, salves and balms contain very high levels of CBD. However, utilizing DMSO solves the transdermal delivery problem. With CBD NOW Cream you get targeted, deep delivery into the specific area it is applied. The skin absorbs CBD so that it can interact with cannabinoid receptors nearby. Until recently, the only topical CBD products able to penetrate the skin and enter the bloodstream have been transdermal CBD patches. Transdermal, by its very definition, means able to cross the dermal barrier to reach the blood as DMSO does so well. 

There is a considerable interest in the skin as a site of drug application both for local and systemic effect. However, the skin, in particular, the stratum corneum, poses a formidable barrier to drug penetration thereby limiting topical and transdermal bioavailability. Skin penetration enhancement techniques such as DMSO have been developed to improve bioavailability and increase the range of drugs for which topical and transdermal delivery is a viable option. We use DMSO to achieve transdermal application to maximize the amount of MSM and CBD that is delivered where our cream is rubbed into the skin.  

The U.S. Library of Medicine discusses a study (Hammell et al, 2016),  that proves the ability of CBD to be efficiently absorbed via transcutaneous methods. Studies demonstrate transdermal administration of CBD has long-lasting therapeutic effects without psychoactive side-effects. The study states that the use of topical CBD has potential as effective treatment of arthritic symptomatology. At present, one in five (21%) adults worldwide are diagnosed with some form of arthritis by their physicians (Helmick et al., 2008). The data presented suggests transdermal CBD is a good candidate for developing improved therapies for these debilitating diseases. DMSO is the delivery vehicle for our CBD that facilitates transdermal absorption and effectiveness of our CBD  NOW Cream because the CBD is not left on the surface of the skin, unable to be absorbed. We want you to get what you paid for - CBD that penetrates deeply into muscles and joints.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a molecule with a long history in pharmaceutics and is now well established as a penetration enhancer in topical pharmaceutical formulations. It is currently used for this purpose in diclofenac sodium topical solution (approved in the United States to treat signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis) and idoxuridine topical solution (approved in Europe for the treatment of herpes zoster). Studies of efficacy and safety in clinical use of pharmaceutical-grade DMSO as a penetration enhancer is supported by the robust data that have accumulated over the past 3 decades demonstrating the favorable safety and tolerability profile. Dimethyl sulfoxide is a safe and effective mechanism for facilitating the transdermal delivery of both hydrophilic and lipophilic medications to provide localized drug delivery.  

  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22030943   

One word of caution: wash hands and the application site well - but don't use soap - warm water only. This is done to make sure you aren’t introducing anything chemical into your body when using DMSO, which will deliver anything that is on your skin into your body and bloodstream. Also wash hands with warm water and dry with a clean towel after applying.

Would you like even more awesome information?  Click the link below.

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/dimethyl-sulfoxide