How Is Kratom Helping MMA Fighters Deal With Pain?

Mixed Martial Arts, commonly abbreviated as MMA, is one of the most competitive and entertaining sports.

Although MMA is often discussed alongside boxing, the two sports have significant differences. The primary difference between MMA and boxing is that you’re only allowed to use punches and aim your opponent above the belt in boxing. In MMA, pretty much anything goes. You can punch, kick, and wrestle your opponent, as well as deploy other special fighting skills like jiu-jitsu.

Being a close-combat sport, and coupled with the fact that its rules are a bit flexible, MMA is, therefore, one of the riskiest sports that anyone can engage in. There’s a litany of injuries to contend with, including bone fractures and muscle sprains.

What makes the situation even bleaker is that MMA fighters never seem to realize the extent of damage they’re exposing their bodies to in the heat of the fight. It’s not until a few hours later that excruciating pain sets in.

How Bad Can MMA Injuries Get?

Pain in bone structures, muscle sprains, migraines, and bruises is the immediate consequence of mixed martial arts. In some cases, fighters might also experience inflammation due to sustained tissue injury.

Studies also suggest that the persistent blows to the head that characterize MMA could also lead to brain injury, increasing the risks of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  Some of the common symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy include memory impairments, poor concentration, mood oscillations, and behavioral disorders.

You can avoid all of these side effects by staying away from mixed martial arts. But what if it’s the sport that pays your bills or gives you the kicks?

Well, you don’t need to stay away from your major hobby or income-earner on account of the inherent medical risks. Not when you can use kratom to manage MMA-induced pain and soreness. All you need to do is purchase the best quality from konakratom, then use kratom to mediate pain and a host of other MMA side effects.

But What Is Kratom?

Kratom is a tropical evergreen tree belonging to the coffee family, native to various countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Also known by its scientific name Mitragyna speciosa, kratom is mostly popular for its opioid-like effects. And since the herb belongs in the same family as coffee, it also comes with stimulant properties.

In countries where kratom is indigenous, the herb has been used from time immemorial in traditional medicine. Traditional kratom users claim that chewing kratom leaves might help to relieve a wide range of medical conditions. Examples of such conditions include musculoskeletal pain, coughs, low energy levels, low libido, loss of appetite, mood swings, and digestive issues like diarrhea and intestinal worms. Users also claim that kratom might help escalate the wound healing process if applied topically as a local anesthetic.

As pain is a common denominator in MMA sports, supplementing with kratom can make a difference in healing and recovery, thereby boosting MMA fighters’ athletic performance in the ring.

How Kratom Manages Pain for MMA Fighters

Kratom contains several biologically active compounds, most of which are medically beneficial alkaloids. The two main active compounds in kratom include mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine. These compounds help to manage pain by binding to the opioid receptors located in your brain, producing the same pain-relieving effects that you experience after administering regular opioid drugs.

But what makes kratom different from conventional opioids like morphine and codeine?

Many synthetic opioids are capable of relieving pain. However, these drugs tend to leave the user nursing a host of unpleasant side effects. That’s mainly because these drugs are full opioid agonists, which means that they bind to opioid receptors fully.

As synthetic opioids bind fully to opioid receptors, they produce absolute mind-altering effects, consequently increasing users’ risks of addiction and dependency.

On the other hand, kratom is a partial opioid agonist, which implies that it has partial effects on your brain’s opioid receptors. So, besides being highly effective against MMA-induced pain, kratom also presents substantially reduced risks of addiction, dependency, and other side effects.

But pain isn’t the only MMA-related side effect that kratom can address. The herb’s stimulant properties might also come in handy in relieving other health issues associated with MMA, including low energy levels, mood problems, reduced mental concentration, and poor cognitive ability.

Also, kratom produces sedative effects at low doses, making it useful in improving sleep quality for MMA fighters. Adequate sleep is crucial to any athlete’s success, as it’s during sleep that the body heals and repairs itself for the day ahead.

Kratom contains powerful opioid properties that make it an effective remedy against pain. Therefore, MMA fighters can benefit immensely from supplementing with kratom-based products.

However, remember that kratom remains unregulated in various countries. So, ensure that the herb is legal in your country or state before incorporating it into your health and fitness routine.

And since kratom is unregulated, there’s no specific dosage information. The conventional wisdom is to start low, probably with 2 – 4 grams, and increase or lower your doses depending on your reaction to the herb.

Finally, remember that much as kratom is an all-natural herb, it can still produce various side effects. Typical kratom side effects include hallucinations, nausea, dizziness, and irritability.