I recently stopped with the NSAIDs because they are not good for your body. However, I still have aches and pains – since I’m now closer to 40 than 30.
I decided to order some Arnica gel. I’d heard of it from a friend of mine who used to work in a gentlemans’ club and swore by it to get rid of bruises and aches adn pains. Apparently pole dancing is hard on your legs (imagine that!) so all the girls used Arnica. This tube of arnica gel cost me about $7 for 7.5 ounces on iherb.com. If you click the picture it will take you to their page.
Last week I had SERIOUS MAJOR BRUISING under my right arm. I looked like I had the plague. During my jiu jitsu class I think my partner had put a knee down and pinched the skin under my arm. I thought – okay, great time to try this bad boy out. I had very low expectations.
I was really shocked – within 2 days the bruise was visibly reduced, and I have had enough bruises in BJJ to know that my bruises last and last and last. Then I decided to rub it on my ankles – I’ve been having some chronic pain. And seriously – what do you know – the next day that pain was gone.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, arnica is from the flower Arnica Montana, and has been used medicinally for over 500 years. It looks like a daisy, and hikers would often swear by chewing the stuff. Their website states “Applied to the skin as a cream, ointment, liniment, salve, or tincture, arnica has been used to soothe muscle aches, reduce inflammation, and heal wounds.”
However, the data does not look good.
This ncbi article shows that No significant difference was found between topical arnica and vehicle in the prevention or resolution of bruising.
While this one shows that The results of this trial do not suggest that homeopathic arnica has an advantage over placebo in reducing postoperative pain, bruising and swelling in patients undergoing elective hand surgery.
Well, that’s okay. I’m going to keep using mine because at minimum, because I believe it works it should give me the classic placebo effect! mwa ha ha. But really – I did notice visible differences in my bruises and my ankle felt miles better. Then again, I continue to use TIGER BALM despite my doctor friend telling me it does NOTHING. I say YOU ARE WRONG! It has CHINESE on it. AND a TIGER. Therefore it MUST be good – just because your fancy western medicine doesn’t approve doesn’t mean it doesn’t work!!! (Hyperbole is the BEST THING EVER).
HOW CAN THIS NOT WORK! THE TIGER HAS WINGS!
If you want to try the arnica gel, you could order from iHerb.com – I have absolutely no ties to them other than I’ve ordered from them several times, I always get their products here in Korea within a week, and I’ve never paid more than $12 for shipping. I order my supplements and Charlie’s soap from them as well as things like flax. If you’re ordering for the first time you can use my code to get $10 off an order of $40 or more, or $5 off an order less than $40. EPE561 Yes, I do get some rewards if you use this.
Have you ever used arnica gel or taken arnica tablets? Do you feel they worked for you or not at all? Had you ever heard of it before?
I was extremely skeptical about jow (mysterious liquids in little bottles with Chinese lettering on them), but when my Tai Chi teacher wanted to put some of hers on my leg which she had just kicked very hard, I humored her. It still hurt the next day, but nowhere NEAR as bad as it should have hurt. Likewise there was a bruise, but a much smaller and paler one than the strike deserved (and believe me, I’ve been struck enough to know exactly how much it should bruise and how much it should hurt). I don’t know why it works, but by God it works. Lord knows what’s in it. Maybe arnica. Apparently if you go to a Chinese apothecary, they have two formulas- one that they give the white people, and the REAL one that they hide under the counter (which my teacher gets, even though she’s white, because she speaks Chinese and knows to ask for it).
I also like Tiger Balm. My impression was that the tingling/heat effect on the skin causes the bood to circulate a little more lively-like in the area, and improving circulation *definitely* has proven medical effects (the blood carries away toxins faster if you give it a boost). But it feels nice on sore muscles even if it’s not real. (“Ah, the scent of pain and suffering!” a former teacher of mine always used to say when he smelled it on one of us.)
EXCELLENT! ^_^ I agree – smells like pain and suffering! Great quote, and totally agree – even if there are no long lasting benefits, it makes me feel TINGLY!
If it hasn’t been thoroughly tested by reputable scientists with lots of letters after their name, I’m not interested. At the same time, I do have some silly superstitions surrounding the number 13, so can’t be overly smug in my general disapproval of alternative medicine. 😉
I understand what you’re saying. I tend to think homeopathic anything is COMPLETE CRAP. Water memory? Striking it 10 times? Seriously ridiculous. I read this cool article on it:
http://www.atomsandnumbers.com/2012/a-chemist-asks-some-scientific-questions-about-homeopathy/
The placebo effect has been thoroughly tested by reputable scientists with lots of letters after their names. 🙂 It works. If something works, I don’t really care why it works. If dancing around with a chicken on my head works- because I think it will work and my brain fools my body into feeling better- I will dance around with a chicken on my head.
This is for sure a product I need to try. I have never heard of it before which is surprising since I have a couple friends that do pole fitness. I’m particularly interested for the reduction of bruises, I don’t like people looking at all my bruising thinking i’m abused or something. Do you know if it’s only available for purchase online?
BJJBabe – yes – click on those links I gave you and you can buy them from iherb.com
Another must have product: hibiclens
Prevents you from getting infections from rolling. I use as soon as I get home after class. I wish I new about is before I got MRSA.
I just shower afterward using regular soap. I’ve read that anti-bacterial soaps are not a good idea – that instead, hot water, the rubbing action and plain ole soap are perfect.
I’ve got very fair skin and I bruise easily and extensively. I’ve tried arnica gel but I didn’t really see a difference. As a test I spread the gel on one leg and not on the other all the bruises lasted the same amount of time.
As a warning please be careful with the strongly scented products, like Tiger Balm, if any of your team mates are asthmatic.
I hear what you’re saying. I only use Tiger Balm at home, and my fuzzy roommate hates it.