Billy Goat Cream

Arnica Montana is a product I’ve carried and promoted for many years with great success and appreciation from customers.  Arnica is sold as a homeopathic remedy in the form of oral pellets or a topical cream or gel.  The story I was told is that it was discovered by European goat herders who noticed that the goats ate the arnica mountain flower when they were injured and this flower caused them to heal remarkably fast.  The herders found a way to take it themselves for bruising or traumas and enjoyed similar results.  This week I’d like to share why this product that several of my clients refer to as “billy goat cream” is a good thing to keep around the house for relief of various traumas.

Use of Arnica has been documented back to as early as 1678 when it was used to treat Typhoid Fever in Germany.  It wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that it was used as a registered drug for treatment of bruises and sprains.  Today it is commonly accepted, in its homeopathic form, as a safe and simple method of relief for sore muscles, bruises, sports injuries, joint pain and swelling, and even arthritic pain.  I first used the topical gel on a young woman who had been in a serious motorcycle accident and was suffering from a very large black eye that had persisted for months after the accident.  Her doctors told her that the black eye would fade eventually, but after several months, she was learning to live with it and had given up hope.  We carefully applied the gel under her lower eyelid and two days later, the black eye had gone from jet black to that brownish-yellow color and in two more days after a second application, the eye was completely normal.  I became a believer that week!  With two active boys, living on a farm and participating in several sports, we keep Arnica on hand and the kids know where it is kept for any muscle soreness or injuries.  When it comes to bruising, every customer that’s ever used the product is amazed with the speed and efficiency of its results.

The most common use of arnica is the gel form that can be applied to any sore joint or muscle or bruise.  However, for more severe traumas such as a sports injury or a car accident that is accompanied by multiple areas of pain, I will recommend the homeopathic pellets that dissolve under the tongue.  The arnica flower itself is actually quite toxic, but in the homeopathic remedy it has been diluted literally hundreds of times to where there is no toxicity and what’s left in the pellet is mostly a sugar pill.  Nevertheless, even in this diluted form, the healing potential is still there and when used several times per day, these pellets will provide global relief throughout the body for virtually any trauma.  Because of the toxic nature of the raw flower, it is not advised for use during pregnancy nor is it recommended to place the gel on an open wound.  Outside of this, it’s one of the safest, most effective products I know and it should be considered a staple for every medicine cabinet.