What is the effect of arnica?
The ancient medicinal plant arnica (Arnica montana, mountain arnica) is recognized as a traditional medicine, but may only be used externally on the skin.
Only the flowers of the medicinal plant (Arnicae flos) are used medicinally. They contain sesquiterpene lactones of the helenanolide type, flavonoids, essential oil (with thymol), phenolic carboxylic acids and coumarins. These ingredients have an anti-inflammatory, disinfectant and analgesic effect.
What is arnica good for? It can be used externally for various complaints and illnesses. These include
- Inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat
- Inflammation of a hair follicle (boils)
- Diaper rash (diaper dermatitis)
- Inflammation as a result of insect bites
- rheumatic muscle and joint pain
- superficial phlebitis
- Bruises, sprains and contusions with the symptoms of pain, swelling, bruising, restriction of movement, numbness of the affected region
- Burns (including sunburn)
- Accumulation of fluid in the skin and subcutis due to a disorder in the lymphatic system (lymphoedema)
What side effects can arnica cause?
Some people have an allergic reaction to arnica. Those affected should then stop using the medicinal plant and consult a doctor.
Application to damaged skin can cause skin inflammation with swelling and blistering.
If arnica preparations are used improperly and/or in too high a concentration (e.g. as an undiluted tincture), toxic skin reactions often develop with the formation of blisters and even the death of skin tissue (necrotization).
Taken internally, arnica can cause side effects such as diarrhea, dizziness, nosebleeds and cardiac arrhythmia. For this reason, preparations of the medicinal plant must not be used internally. However, homeopathic dilutions are harmless.
How is arnica used?
There are various ways to use arnica – sometimes as a home remedy, often in the form of ready-made preparations.
All preparations containing arnica may only be used externally and only on uninjured skin.
Arnica as a household remedy
The medicinal plant is mainly used in the form of arnica tincture, but occasionally also as an infusion. The following instructions apply to children aged ten and over and adults:
To make an arnica tincture, shake around ten grams of flowers daily for a week in either 100 milliliters of spirit dilutus (diluted alcohol) or 70 percent isopropanol. This releases the ingredients.
Arnica tincture is normally diluted with water before use because it is better tolerated: you can use the tincture diluted three to ten times for compresses or rubs to treat inflammatory rheumatic joint diseases, boils, insect bites, lymphoedema, bruises, sprains, strains or bruises. A tenfold dilution is recommended for the treatment of sunburn.
Only apply arnica compresses and poultices to larger areas of skin for a short time – a maximum of 30 minutes.
Arnica tincture can be used as a mouthwash for inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. A tenfold dilution with boiled water is recommended for this.
To make an arnica infusion, pour 100 milliliters of hot water over two to four teaspoons of arnica flowers (one to two grams) and strain after five to ten minutes. You can use the cooled infusion for cooling compresses or poultices – for example for insect bites, bruises or sunburn.
Home remedies based on medicinal plants have their limits. If your symptoms persist over a longer period of time and do not improve or even get worse despite treatment, you should always consult a doctor.
Ready-made preparations with arnica
What you should bear in mind when using arnica
- Avoid direct contact of arnica with the eyes and open wounds.
- Do not treat large areas with undiluted arnica tincture (risk of skin inflammation with blister formation)! Only use diluted tinctures for larger areas of skin.
- However, you can apply undiluted tincture to small areas of insect bites.
- If you are known to be allergic to asteraceae, you should not use arnica flower preparations.
- As a precaution, discuss the use of the medicinal plant during pregnancy and breastfeeding with a doctor first.
- You should also consult a doctor before using arnica preparations on children. Experts often advise against the use of arnica in children under the age of ten.
How to obtain arnica and its products
You can obtain dried arnica flowers and ready-made preparations based on them (tincture, gel, cream, massage oil etc. with arnica) in pharmacies and sometimes in drugstores.
Before starting treatment, always read the relevant package leaflet or ask your doctor or pharmacist how to use and dose the preparation in question correctly.
What is arnica?
Arnica (Arnica montana) is native to the higher regions of northern, eastern and central Europe, where it grows on lime-poor forest and mountain meadows. However, it has now become rare – partly because it was collected too intensively in the past and partly because mountain meadows are often over-fertilized.
The medicinal plant forms a rough herbaceous stem up to 60 centimetres high, which springs from a rosette of four to six leaves lying close to the ground. It is hairy and bears one or two pairs of short, opposing leaves, with two smaller flower clusters usually developing from the axils of the upper pair of leaves. Finally, a single bright yellow flower sprouts from the end of the stem.
