What, exactly, does this stuff do, and how does it do it?
My first “exposure” to arnica came via my fetish for erotic spanking - apparently, the stuff is used by some members of that community as a treatment after a spanking to reduce bruising. So the other day I was in my local grocery store’s medicine aisle looking for pain-relieving products for my aching shoulders, knees, and feet, and I spotted an arnica gel product. I went ahead and bought a tube of the stuff … but I’m not sure what it’s going to do for me. It also has so much alcohol in it that my hands smell like I dipped my hands in vodka when I use the stuff. The Wikipedia article on arnica just gives me basic botanical information about the plant, and very minimal information about its medicinal uses.
I use Anti-flamme (sold in the UK as Natures Kiss). It is awesome. It was recommended to me by my physiotherapist years ago (and a recent visit to a physio also used the product), and it really is effective - better than many ibuprofen gels that I have tried (but also considerably more expensive than the generic supermarket brand, so I do use both). I have tried other arnica based creams, but they are not as good.
Only thing is, you will smell of peppermint, and you must wash your hands after applying - you don’t want the stuff anywhere … sensitive.
However, YMMV.
Arnica?
Wiki
See the section “medical uses”.
The little pill bottles you buy in the “whole health” stores are homeopathic and useless. Total woo, placebo effect at best.
Apparently the gel has shown some effectiveness, though the wiki is a bit unclear as to specifics.
My dad used to swear by tincture of arnica for bruising.
Never found it did any good personally.