Arnica is a perennial plant of the sunflower family. It is a toxic herb; however, in highly diluted doses it can be used as a remedy. Arnica improves local blood supply to promote healing. It is best known for its use as an ointment and compress to treat bruises, sprains, and muscle pain. Less commonly it is used as an anti-inflammatory to treat internal bleeding and as a decoction or tincture to stimulate circulation to treat angina and a weak or failing heart.
History & Folklore
Used extensively in European folk medicine it doesn't come as a surprise that the German Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, drank arnica tea to ease his angina after a heart attack. His health eventually improved partially due to arnica.
Habitat & Cultivation
Native to central Europe, the Pyrenees, Siberia, Canada, and the northwestern US, arnica grows in pastures and mountain woods. It is an aromatic perennial plant that can grow to be 1 ft tall. It has bright yellow daisy-like flowers and egg-shaped leaves. The flowers are harvested when in full bloom; and the rhizomes are harvested when the plant has died back, typically in autumn.
Uses
Ointment and Compress used to treat bruises, sprains, and muscle pain; arnica accelerates healing by improving the local blood supply
Blood Circulation arnica stimulates circulation useful to treat angina and a weak or failing heart
Internal Bleeding arnica is an anti-inflammatory and increases the rate of reabsorption of internal bleeding
Parts used
Flowers
Rhizome
Key Actions
Anti-inflammatory
Circulation Stimulation
Constituents
Sesquiterpene lactones
Flavonoids
Volatile oil (including thymol, mucilage, and polysaccharides
References
- Chevallier, Andrew, FNIMH; Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine - 550 Herbs and Remedies for Common Ailments; 3. Edition 2016; ISBN: 978-0-2412-2944-6; Page 172.
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