Last week, after I got home from my bike fall, my right hand (which took the brunt of my fall) was extremely uncomfortable and I could barely move it. I remembered something about homeopathic Arnica being very helpful if taken immediately after a traumatic injury. Thankfully I had a tube of Arnica at home, and when I got home I immediately went to take some. My hand was so swollen and uncomfortable, I could barely hold the tube. I finally got the cap open and took the 5 pellets as prescribed by the bottle, and then went about getting a shower and cleaning off the dirt and grime from the bike fall. As I started to prepare myself some dinner, I noticed to my absolute amazement that the dexterity had returned to my right hand, and it was no longer painful! This was within 1 hour of taking the Arnica. I immediately reached for the tube of Arnica that I had trouble even holding in my right hand just an hour earlier, and to my amazement, I had no problems holding the tube. This is the magic of Arnica.
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Arnica is a mountain daisy that has been used by both Native Americans and Europeans for healing applications of trauma and inflammation for centuries. In the 1980s, German scientists isolated a compound in Arnica called helenalin that was found to actually have anti-inflammatory and healing properties. Now the scientists out there are probably shaking their heads right now at the assertion that homeopathic Arnica does anything at all. Indeed clinical studies have indicated that homeopathic Arnica has no more of an impact than the placebo. I completely respect this, but I also cannot dismiss that this stuff seems to work, and it is an inexpensive and drug-free way to heal – so if it works, even if the healing is a placebo-effect, why not? Placebo effects can actually be real healing – so that’s something to keep in mind as well.
For my part, I never had it in my mind that Arnica actually did anything. But somehow it always worked – notably well in scenarios of inflammation and trauma. I bought my first tube years ago when I was having period cramps and could not take Advil because I had developed an allergy to it. Homeopathic Arnica does not cause the same kind of immediate pain alleviation as a painkiller like Advil, so you may not notice the pain dissipating right away, where it shines is in inflammation relief – and that’s why people often use it after traumatic injury, or before medical procedures.
A few years ago a colleague of mine had a bad fall at work. Her knee was so swollen, she could barely walk. I suggested homeopathic Arnica, and she went to pick some up at Whole Foods after work. The next day, she practically bounded to my desk (swollen knee healed apparently), and asked me to explain what kind of magic remedy this Arnica stuff was. She took the Arnica the night before, and not only did it alleviate the swelling from her fall; it also nearly completely eviscerated the arthritic pain in her hands that would frequently wake her up in the middle of the night. She was completely amazed not only because of the dramatic healing in her knees but also because it was the first time in her recent memory that she managed to sleep through the night without the pain from the arthritis in her hands waking her up!
Various randomized clinical studies have found some degrees of efficacy of topically applied Arnica ointments and gels, but homeopathic Arnica remains controversial. In contrast to Arnica ointments and gels, homeopathic preparations of Arnica are actually diluted to the point that the final product doesn’t actually contain the active ingredient. Paradoxically in homeopathy, the greater the dilution, the more powerful the homeopathic treatment. For example Arnica 30 is a 30x dilution. Arnica 200 is considered a more potent treatment, but it’s actually a 200x dilution! It’s this aspect of homeopathy that gives me pause to think it’s all quackery – but hey, my hand healed pretty much immediately, so if it was all done by harmless sugar pills – I’m just going to count my blessings and share my story.
Being the clumsy individual I am, I now make it a point to try to carry Arnica with me everywhere I go, from travelling, hiking, camping, doing sports, even in my everyday I use in the city. The small tube is the size of a chapstick, so it’s not hard to carry. If you have some kind of inflammation related pain like arthritis – give it a try! If it works for you, great! If not, then you just had some sugar-pills so there’s probably no harm in that either. I always recommend Arnica in my packing lists because, if you get hurt and it helps you, I think it’s worth its small weight in gold. If it doesn’t just think of it as a little tube of chapstick you had forgotten was there.