OT: Arnica Gel

[bigsteve]

I am recovering from a recent injury and thought I should share this stuff with you guys. Maybe you have heard of it, but I never had. Its a homeopathic gel that is supposed to help with muscle pain & stiffness, swelling from injuries, and bruising.

I was skeptical that this hippy business would do any good, but it is proving to be amazing. It's made my bruising go down tremendously and really helps with stiffness & swelling in localized areas! I could see it being really useful on a kiteboarding trip if you had a stiff ankle or knee that could use a little relief. I would say it works as well as ibuprofen, but doesn't rot out your gut!

My favorite part, I dont think it has any side effects with my other favorite aches and pain remedy, good ol' IPA.

[Brian]

bigsteve, thanks. nice to here from people who have good results from things. Another you may want to try is http://www.biofreeze.com/ , i know lots of people who like it. I've tried, but I keep going back to the IPA method.
thanks.

[Riley]

Big Steve-
There is herbal arnica and homeopathic arnica. Herbal arnica has questionable effectiveness but I don't know enough to have an opinion. Homeopathic Arnica is a placebo. They dilute the arnica to 1 molecule in 10^30 which means it has no active ingredient. Homeopathic remedies are all just placebos.

I definitely agree that the homeopathic arnica is awesome to combine with IPA and you don't need to worry about side affects. Personally I alternate by the day with a ratio of 3/1/1/1 with IPA/Stout/Porter/rotating beer. This seems to give the best results but I have been tweaking the ratios to work towards perfection. I haven't yet figured out if Draft or bottles works better or if it is best to rotate.

[Ghostrider]

Suppose to be good for reducing bruises. Don't apply it if there is a open wound though...ipa is always good though too, no argument there!

Cheers

[bigsteve]

Riley--Where did you read that it is basically a placebo? I'd like to give it a read. I was skeptical about the whole thing myself, but I got it free from bellingham John to try out. It seemed to be working pretty well and cut down the bruising/swelling, but maybe it could all be in my head.

[jason]

O'Doul's is a placebo.

[James Owenby]

really helps with stiffness & swelling in localized areas!

Hey Beavis he said stiffness and swelling in localized areas.



sorry I'm still 14 at heart

[C.J.]

I think its interesting topical treatments aren't very popular in the US.

a few years back I had a nurse prescribe me a topical pain relief cream for my knees. He mentioned he studied abroad and said it was much more popular form of treatment in the UK.

If you think about it, it makes pretty good sense. Why put pain killers through your entire digestive system when you can put them right where you need them topically.

Thanks for sharing Steve, I'll have to check what the name is for the stuff I have. I can't remember right now. If only they would make a cream I could rub on my head to help me remember better.

[Loki]