Arnica, The Herb Which Speeds Up Bruise Healing, Scientists Reveal

Herbal Arnica may process a property of speeding bruise healing without inducing adverse effects, some studies suggested.

A bruise is a condition characterized by black and blue marks on the skin due to trauma, caused by an object or force strikes the body, leading to damage to capillaries and sometimes venules that allow blood to seep, hemorrhage, or extravasate into the surrounding interstitial tissues.

A bruise can also be induced by surgery caused by instruments which pierce into the deep layer of the skin to create an opening.

Most Bruising resolves themselves in a few days or weeks.

Some bruise may cause pain but the pain usually goes away when the color of the area fades away. 

Bruising, also known as a contusion, is defined as a condition of 

Some researchers suggested that

Most common causes of bruising are sport related. 

Sport physical activities can sometimes cause broken bones, strains and sprains, dislocations, torn tendons,..... and muscle swelling. Overuse of body muscles in sport is one of risk factor that can cause, inducing bruising.

Ice and heat therapies by Appling ice or heat immediately after the injury to reduce blood flow around the area. were found to be effective in preventing bruising.

Arnica is a herbaceous species, genus perennial, belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Europe and Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine for centuries to treat strains, sprains, and bruises.

The chemical ingredients besides major bioactive compound helenalin, Anica also contains 11,13- dihydrohelenaline, chamissonolid, Sesquiterpene lactone, lignans of the furofuran, dibenzylbutyrolactone, dibenzylbutyrolactol types, pinoresinol, epipinoresinol, phillygenin, matairesinol, nortrachelogenin, and nortracheloside,..... and six dibenzylbutyrolactol derivatives.

In the assessment of the comparative utility of topical formulations in hastening the resolution of skin bruising, researchers at the Northwestern University, conducted a double (patient and rater) blinded randomized controlled trial with numbers of healthy volunteers, age range 21-65 years.

After four standard bruises of 7 mm diameter each were created on the bilateral upper inner arms, 5 cm apart, two per arm, using a 595-nm pulsed-dye laser (Vbeam; Candela Corp., Wayland, MA, U.S.A.). on each subject, each bruising area was injected by one topical agent, including 5% vitamin K, 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol, 20% arnica, or white petrolatum, twice a day for 2 weeks.

At the end of the 2 weeks experiment, researchers found that

* All four treatment score a significant improvement in the change in the rater bruising score.

* The mean improvement associated with 20% arnica was greater than with white petrolatum (P=0·003), and the mixture of 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol.

* However, 5% vitamin K cream processes the highest bruise healing score compared to other applications.

These results suggested that topical 20% Arnica ointment may be able to reduce bruising more effectively than placebo and more effectively than low-concentration vitamin K formulations, such as 1% vitamin K with 0·3% retinol.

In  a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial with three parallel arms to reaffirm Arnica efficacy in the control of bruising, reducing swelling and promoting recovery after local trauma,  64 adults undergoing elective surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome were randomized to take three tablets daily of homeopathic Arnica 30C or 6C or placebo for seven days before surgery and fourteen days after surgery.

According to the summary of the experiment final report, researchers showed

* There were no group differences on the primary outcome measures of pain (P=0.79) and bruising (P=0.45) at day four.

* Swelling and use of analgesic medication also did not differ between arnica and placebo groups.

* Adverse events were reported by 2 patients in the arnica 6C group, 3 in the placebo group and 4 in the arnica 30C group.

These results strongly indicated that Arnica does not process analgesic property.

Moreover, in the study to assess Arnica decreases bruising and muscle pain efficacy, the Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including 53 subjects.

Measurement of ankle range of motion and muscle tenderness were also recorded during Leg pain induced by calf raises.

Then, each participant received 2 tubes of cream, 1 with active Arnica and 1 with placebo.

The creams were applied to the lower legs immediately after the exercise, and again at 24 and 48 hours post-exercise according to the "RIGHT" or "LEFT" labels.

At 48 hours post-exercise, subjects had their ankle range of motion and muscle tenderness measured.

Subjects used the analog scale to rate pain in each leg at baseline, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours.

At the final day of study, by analyzing the reported returned by participants, scientists found that

* No significant differences in pain scores were seen before exercise.

* Pain scores on legs treated with Arnica were higher than scores on those receiving placebo 24 hours after exercise respectively.

* Pain scores on day 3 and day 4 were not significantly different.

* There was no difference in muscle tenderness.

* Ankle range of motion did not differ significantly on either day 1  or day 3.

Dr. Adkison JD, the lead author suggested, Arnica may increase pain in the affected area within 48 hours immediately after application.

Taking all together, herbal Arnica may be used as a therapeutic treatment for speeding up bruise healing however, patients should be aware that topical application of herbal Arnica does not process analgesic property. In some cases, it may increase pain in the affected area.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.


References
2. Accelerated resolution of laser-induced bruising with topical 20% arnica: a rater-blinded randomized controlled trial. by Leu S, Havey J, White LE, Martin N, Yoo SS, Rademaker AW, Alam M.(PubMed)
3. Homeopathic arnica for prevention of pain and bruising: randomized placebo-controlled trial in hand surgery. by Stevinson C, Devaraj VS, Fountain-Barber A, Hawkins S, Ernst E.(Pubmed)
4. The effect of topical arnica on muscle pain" by Adkison JD, Bauer DW, Chang T., (PubMed).
5. Cosmetics and herbal remedies with Compositae plant extracts - are they tolerated by Compositae-allergic patients?" by Paulsen E, Chistensen LP, Andersen KE., (PubMed)
6. Contact allergy to Compositae plants in patients with atopic dermatitis. [Article in English, Serbian]" by Jovanović M, Poljacki M, Duran V, Vujanović L, Sente R, Stojanović S., (PubMed)