Check out this great video from Dr. Oz recently advocating the use of arnica!
By: Dr Lauri Grossman
What is a bruise?
You get kicked on the soccer field, drop something heavy on your toe, or bang your head on a low entryway. It might seem like nothing at the time, but all too often, you wake up the next day with a discolored bruise that is so tender to the touch, you want no one to come near. When this happens, you might reach for an ice pack or consider running to the medicine cabinet, but before you do, let’s talk about bruises and learn what causes the rainbow of colors that appears as days go by.
Bruises (or what medical doctors call “contusions”) occur when you get injured and break tiny blood vessels in the skin. These blood vessels or “capillaries”, leak into the surrounding tissue and as red blood cells gather, you can see discoloration in the area. What starts off as a red-purple injury becomes green or yellow as the body works to heal the region and metabolize or gobble up the mass of escaped red blood cells.
The tendency to bruise varies from one person to another. Despite all their falls, young children bruise less readily. They have resilient blood vessels that don’t break easily. Older people, especially those on certain medications, have delicate vessels; some find black and blue marks so frequently that they are forever wondering where the injuries come from and what it was they last bumped into. Medications that prevent blood clotting (like Coumadin) and prescription drugs that make blood vessels more fragile (like Prednisone) often contribute to the number of bruises one has.
After two to three weeks, most people find their bruises healed and their skin color returned to normal. Sometimes, however, the body will wall off the region instead of sending cells in to do the clean up work. When this occurs the blood pools and the area swells and becomes tender. If calcium is deposited, a bony condition called myositis ossificans can occur and the tissue becomes sensitive to touch and hard.
The natural chemicals found in Arnica help to heal or prevent these unwanted complications. Flavonoids decrease the permeability of the blood vessels and polysaccharideas stimulate the process by which helper-cells clean the tissue of unwanted debris.
When using Arnica, the best results occur when you match the severity of the injury with the strength of the homeopathic medicine. A lower potency is all you need when you bang your toe into a table or get a blow to the nose in a basketball game. For more minimal injury, topical Arnica is all you need for relief.
Remember that serious trauma and spontaneous bruising calls for a complete medical evaluation. Be sure to get checked for signs of internal injury and fracture. In addition, the word “RICE” can help to remind you of other valuable tips for bruising: REST, ICE, COMPRESS, ELEVATE. The application of a cold compress and elevating the body part reduces the blood flow to the area. This lessens the amount of bleeding in the skin and reduces that size of the bruise.
Even with the utmost caution, accidents will happen at home, on the field, in the gym, and in the workplace. However, with Arnica on hand and these tips in mind, you can speed the healing and prevent long-term disability that often accompanies bruises and physical trauma. So be sure to have a supply of Arnica in your kitchen cabinet, desk drawer, purse and gym bag. Then, you too will be able to experience the beneficial healing effects that Arnica has provided since mountain climbers discovered it centuries ago.
Dental pain! A trip to the dentist is commonly associated with a painful memory of a prior dental experience. The throbbing, swelling, bleeding, and aching pain vividly stands out in your memory. This typically does not occur during semi-annual cleanings or simple cavity fillings, but when the dental procedure involves an extraction, surgery or treatment for a dental emergency (most commonly from an accident with a blow to the mouth or head). This is when there is real value from using arnica.
Healing energy normally flows through the nervous and circulatory systems in the body. Under normal circumstances, this process occurs naturally. However, a trauma disturbs this normal flow and can create a visual sign (blood) as well as a very real sensation of pain. This is common to dental trauma.
When a dental procedure creates this type of trauma, the body typically creates inflammation as a natural defense mechanism to the trauma. The inflammation, although unsightly and painful, is just part of the natural healing process of the body.
A standard pharmaceutical approach to dealing with inflammation and pain is by using anti-inflammatory (examples include over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen) and pain-medications, like codeine. The anti-inflammatory medicine has both pain-killing response as well as the anti-inflammatory activity. Pain medication acts only on the brain, deceiving our perception of localized pain while doing essentially nothing to actually help heal the wound.
Arnica, on the other hand, effectively helps the body to overcome the trauma through the natural mechanisms already in the body to reduce the pain and inflammation, rather than by using man-made chemicals.
A good suggestion is to consider arnica for all dental traumas. The remedy will help the body control the inflammation and the perception of pain, naturally working with the body. Taking arnica after a dental trauma can help speed the healing process overall.
The most effective dosing with the arnica is to take a dose:
1. The evening before the procedure,
2. While waiting in the dental office immediately PRIOR to the procedure,
3. Immediately AFTER the procedure,
4. Then continue to dose the remedy every 6 hours AND as needed.
4.1. These additional as needed doses are practical to address potential break-thru pain that would normally be addressed by taking the “as needed” dose of the
pain or anti-inflammatory medication.
*IMPORTANT! Medications may be prescribed with specific dosing instructions AND/OR “as needed”. Arnica can ALWAYS be taking “on top” of any prescribed regime,without causing complication or interruptions with the prescribed treatment plan .However it is always best to include your practitioner on YOUR treatment plans. Never change the plans the dentist gives you without consulting with the prescriber.
Dr. Peter Wannigman
Micro-doses of the plant are used to make homeopathic Arnica. In this form, Arnica restores health with no side effects and is safe for children, adults, pregnant women, and seniors. Like other homeopathic medicines, Arnica has been regulated as a drug by the FDA since 1938 and manufactured according to the guidelines in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Homeopathic Arnica has no reported drug interactions and is safe for individuals who require other medications.
In recent years many research studies have been carried out to explore the effectiveness of Homeopathic Arnica. In medical clinics and hospitals, physicians are turning to Arnica to relieve the soreness and bruising that can follow accidents and surgery. Especially helpful after orthopedic and plastic surgery, Arnica relieves inflammation and bruising and speeds recovery. Experts in emergency medicine recommend it to reduce pain and mend tissues associated with traumatic injuries. Fitness coaches rely on it to ease the soreness that comes from overexertion and muscle sprain.
Homeopathic Arnica is available in two forms: Topical gels and creams that can be applied to the skin and medicated pellets that dissolve under the tongue. For minor, local complaints, the topical form is recommended. For more severe general symptoms, the pellet form is more effective.
Herbal preparations of Arnica are not the same as the homeopathic medicines made from the plant. In fact, they are very different. In herbal form, the amount of plant extract is substantially higher. This can cause adverse effects when taken internally. Home brewed teas and tinctures can cause dizziness, diarrhea, irregular heartbeat and even death. Topical herbal applications can cause reactions as well. For this reason, professional practitioners recommend Arnica only when used in homeopathic form. Just take care not to apply the cream or gel to broken skin where it can cause irritation.
Keep a supply of Arnica in your home first aid kit for bruising or soreness associated with:
Accidents and injuries
Wounds with Swelling
Surgery (especially Orthopedic and Plastic)
Dr. Lauri Grossman, DC CCH RSHOM(NA)
Arnica montana is a plant in the Compositae or Daisy family. It grows in high mountain meadows where it takes in massive amounts of sunlight and radiates a strong fragrance and bright yellow color. Mountain climbers were the first to discover its use in healing when they observed the way it helped repair injuries that resulted from accidental falls. Over the next few centuries, others confirmed Arnica’s ability to heal bruises, sprains, and muscle aches. And today, physicians from over 80 countries around the globe acknowledge its effectiveness in reducing pain and swelling.
Arnica has numerous common names. Many reflect the plant’s ability to heal. “Wound herb”, “fall herb”, and “well-bestow” are some of the most common nicknames. In the mountains of Germany, it is best known as “Stoh up ungoh hen” or stand up and go home.
Dr. Lauri Grossman, DC CCH RSHOM (NA)
Anyone of any age, or in any state of wellness or sickness, strength or weakness. Among its generations of users, there is not a recorded case of bad side effects from using homeopathy’s safe doses of Arnica.
Below is a general description of Arnica, from 1-800-Homeopathy’s Single Remedy Catalogue. For more extensive descriptions, click on Materia medica listings on this website:
• First Aid - Bruising, bleeding, trauma, pain and swelling after injuries, blows, dental work, surgery, childbirth, etc. Backache, joint & muscle pain from strain or exercise.
• Modalities - Better lying with head low. Worse touch, jarring, exertion.
This premier first aid remedy has brought many converts to homeopathy by minimizing bruising, bleeding, swelling, shock, pain and recovery time following strains, injuries, dental work, surgery, childbirth, exercise… Even without bruising or obvious signs of injury after trauma, Arnica relieves the aftershock, soreness and pain that follows.
Whenever backs are lifting and joints are twisting, Arnica can minimize the swelling, bruising and pain. In homeopath Asa Hershoff’s book on Musculoskeltal Healing, his perfect formula for sprains begins with Arnica to reduce swelling, bruising and trauma.
Arnica given in the first stage can minimize the swelling and get you in the final cast much sooner. Once the bone is well set, low doses of Symphytum should take Arnica’s place.
On the skin and soft tissues everywhere, Arnica can help the body reduce bruising, minimize bleeding of minor cuts, plus ease tender sore spots like boils, acne or blood blisters.
For aches and muscles, Arnica can bring much comfort when a strong cough has your ribcage feeling sore, or a flu has your muscles aching. A dose before and after a workout can minimize the next day’s stiffness and help the muscles heal.
Arnica is an excellent all-around remedy, but please remember to consult a licensed medical professional for serious injuries.
As the folklore tells it, humans learned the value of arnica when mountain goats would clamber to find the Arnica plant after falling or stumbling. Thus locals began to apply it herbally for bruises, mostly in external salves or steeped in teas. Thus its German name, Fallkraut or Fall herb.
Homeopathy’s founder, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, conducted provings of Arnica initially on ten fellow doctors. Provings consisted of controlled tests in which doctors consumed large quantities of the original plant while other doctors took meticulous notes on every possible symptom that was experienced. A homeopathically prepared dose was then given to antidote the original substance.
They found that if a very large quantity of the raw plant is eaten, Arnica actually disorganizes tissues and encourages stagnation. The principle of homeopathy, like cures like, means that taking a very diluted amount of the original substance will help cure the symptoms that a large, natural dose would induce. Therefore, it is reasonable to accept that the remedy has the answers to the needs of the body to heal injuries efficiently, minimizing bruising and swelling.
Since then, many more provings have confirmed and expanded the uses of homeopathic arnica.
Look Mom, no bruises! Tablets or ointment, arnica prevents unnecessary bruising and promotes healing, even in old injuries.
Parents rest easier with arnica around to treat children’s bumps and bruises. Any injury from minor falls can be treated immediately with arnica to relieve pain, swelling and bruising.
Applied directly on the skin, arnica can heal body bruises effectively and ease tender sore spots all over.
More and more athletes are embracing homeopathy as not only the most ethical way to treat and prevent injuries (you’ll never fail a drug test due to arnica), but the most effective. “Homeopathy can be effective in treating almost anything short of what needs surgery,” says Kate Schmidt, a two-time Olympic medalist in javelin throwing.
What does an individual gain from suffering with pain? Whether they are young, old or in-between, athletic, out-of-shape, passive or aggressive, the body wants to heal, and with the right stimulus, it can. Homeopathy works with the immune system toward physical, mental and emotional freedom and balance.
So, what can athletes (or the rest of the population suffering from similar complaints) expect from homeopathy? Efficient safe healing and often prevention from bruises, muscle aches, muscle spasms, leg cramps, sprains, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, and a lot more “itis-es”.
And it doesn’t stop there. Sports injuries are not only caused by accidents, training errors or equipment. Sometimes mental attitudes can push one beyond what the body is prepared to do. Sometimes a performance anxiety single, like gelsemium, before a game or competition, will help keep the mind better tuned to what the body needs to prevent injury, heighten performance, and maintain the mental balance to know when to stop.
After the game, everyone should be going for the Arnica. It will minimize any bruising, muscle strain or trauma. It is also recommended to take Arnica before a big workout to minimize muscle aches and bruising.