By Anja Hey

Arnica is a famous first aid remedy. It does great work in cases of traumas, damage or injuries, whether they are physical or mental/emotional, whether it occurred recently or years ago.

What is the healing factor of Arnica?

• On the physical plane it cures because it stimulates stagnating blood on injured places to move on. The blood gets absorbed into the circulation, what takes off pressure and pain on damaged areas (think of bruises, concussions, apoplexia). So fresh blood will reach the damaged area with healing and nurturing properties. The healing process is promoted and things like suppuration and sepsis are prevented.
  
• This remedy image also has a mental experience of being damaged or beaten. If ever you meet someone who explains his/her feeling about maltreatment with the words "I feel damaged by what happened then" or "my soul is teared into pieces" immediately think of Arnica. In these cases the remedy can do the psychological clearing up.
  

Important characteristics of this remedy are:

• A bruised feeling all over the body
  
• The feeling that the bed is too hard. This person keeps moving from place to place (trying other beds) or constantly changes position in bed in order to find a soft spot for his/her painful body.
  
• This person will tell you that he/she is well; he wishes to be left alone and sends the doctor away, no matter how serious the complaints are. He does not want to be touched, approached or spoken to. This means that it is difficult to discover the person who needs Arnica for psychological injuries, because he will pretend that everything in his life is okay.
  
• The person has a hot head and a cold body. - Injured body parts tend to discolorate blue.
  

Arnica's are often irritated and bad tempered because they wish to be left alone. Meanwhile they are afraid to die. You won't notice this overday, because then they often seem to be okay, but at night they suddenly wake up in panic or have nightmares. This is well known behaviour after a shock or an accident; the person consciously wishes to continue his life but emotionally has not worked through it yet.

Examples of situations that ask for Arnica:

• physical and psychological injuries: accidents, falls, wounds caused by a weapon, being raped or beaten up, other forms of maltreatment
  
• complaints after physical injuries, even when it happened long ago. For instance headaches after a severe fall on your head
  
• haemorrhages and blue discolorations of the skin after mechanical damage
  
• concussions and apoplexia (immediately give it in a C30 potency)
  
• inflammations with a bruised feeling and too painful to be touched, for instance appendicitis
  
• heart complaints
  
• giving birth (with a bruised feeling; give a C30 potency)
  
• bruises, sprains, fractures and muscle-pains
  
• psychological fear of being touched (for instance after being beaten in the past).

Arnica can be used internally (in a homoeopathic potency) and externally (as cream) on the injured place.
In case of deep wounds (especially in the belly) don't choose Arnica, but consider Bellis Perennis.

Warning: never apply Arnica externally on an open wound! (In that case choose Calendula cream).

The symptoms of this remedy get worse by touch, exertion, moisty coldness, wine.
These people prefer to lie down, and to lie down with the head lower positioned than the feet.

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