There are lots of reasons to invest in hardy Doc Marten boots, but the process of actually breaking them in? Extremely painful. Last December, I found myself hobbling back to my apartment with new-Doc battle wounds — a cut on my ankle and swollen, blistering feet. On a lark, I used the supposedly miraculous CBD lotion from Lord Jones. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it worked.
CBD is a cannabis-derived, nonpsychoactive (meaning it won’t get you high) hemp product that’s purportedly good for anxiety and relaxing muscles. The problem is that often you don’t know how much CBD you’re getting in whatever given product. Lord Jones, though, has been touted by everyone from Michelle Williams and Olivia Wilde to Katy Perry for foot relief during big awards shows (where brand-new heels reign). I got a sample from LJ and tried it — skeptically — after Bell told Strategist that she’s been hooked and trying to get everyone she knows onboard.
I rubbed some on my feet, and the surface-level pain went away, almost as if lightly numbed. I could wear my Doc Martens again with zero pain, even though my feet still looked, um, not great. I was shocked, especially because other CBD balms I’ve tried — like Leef Organics, Charlotte’s Web, and Mary’s Nutritionals — never had much of an effect. Even other top-rated CBD topicals from Purekana (and sister brand Kushly) never really did the trick. LJ does use activated hemp extract in a broad spectrum formula that includes the whole plant, helping to retain all of the plant’s original terpenes and phytocannabinoids, minus the THC (though that might not explain all of it, since other CBD options I tested use the whole plant, too). I’m no scientist, but I know my dogs stopped hurting.
I wouldn’t recommend the Lord Jones cream for deep tissue pain so much as surface-level aches: When I’m feeling pain on the pads of my feet, I rub a pump or two of this stuff on the area, which feels almost like applying lidocaine, except the lotion smells danker. My mother, who’s morally opposed to anything remotely weed-related, even took to it after I slipped her some for her painful, cracked winter hands. When I explained later what CBD was, she said, “Oh,” and after a beat, “I guess I did wonder why I stopped feeling anything.”
There’s evidence that CBD cream can be helpful for other skin maladies like eczema and psoriasis, too. My colleague raved to me recently that her husband rid himself of a patch of eczema on his hand after a few days of using the stuff, and confided, “I’ve been using some of it for neck pain, too, but he is very stingy with it.”
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