Homeopathic Arnica

Arnica is one of the oldest things in an Australian first aid drawer. These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store, and they come down to which of the two products you're holding and where on your body it's going.

A good fit if

• You've had a knock, a sprain or a heavy training session, and the skin over it is unbroken
• You want something you rub on rather than swallow, which is where the trial evidence is
• You'll choose by the strength shown on the pack, because a percentage or extract ratio tells you what you're getting
• Daisy-family plants have never bothered you and you're not putting it near broken skin

Check with us first if

• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. There's no clear position either way, Australian rules don't require a pregnancy warning, and the safety panel that reviewed it had no data on effects on pregnancy or development. That makes it a conversation with a practitioner, not a decision to make at the shelf.
• You take a blood thinner or antiplatelet medicine. It's the question we're asked most about arnica, and there's no good evidence either way, so the honest answer is to ask your doctor or pharmacist first.
• You have surgery or a dental procedure coming up. Arnica is widely used around operations and the results are mixed, so anything you use around a procedure needs to be cleared by the person doing it.
• You get hay fever or react to other flowering plants. The daisy family is large, and arnica is one of the plants that causes skin allergy fairly often.
• You're using it day after day rather than for a few days. Skin allergy to arnica is a delayed reaction, so it can appear after repeated use rather than the first time.
• You take any prescription medicine. Check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.

• Herbal cream, gel or ointment (a material amount of arnica tincture or extract). Best known for: Bruises, sprains and localised muscle soreness, on unbroken skin. Absorption: An arnica tincture on intact skin showed high skin permeability and stayed in the epidermis, without reaching the general circulation. Typical use: This is the half of the family the trials were run on, and the results are split by setting. Strength varies enormously between products and it's the number that matters: the trial that found nothing used a 10% ointment, and the hand trial used a gel of 50 g tincture per 100 g at an extract ratio of 1:20.
• Arnica-infused oil. Best known for: Massage, which is the traditional way it was applied. Absorption: Not separately studied in our sources. Typical use: A traditional preparation, made by steeping the flowers in a carrier oil. Concentration is usually undeclared, and no trial we hold used an infused oil.
• Homeopathic tablets, pillules, drops and oral sprays (6C, 30C, D30, 30X). Best known for: The form most Australians actually swallow, taken around knocks, dental work and sport. Absorption: Not applicable. A serial dilution carries a negligible material dose by design. Typical use: Long practice rather than trial support. The largest trial in the family, 400 runners on 30X, found nothing, and the pooled surgical analyses don't reach significance. Don't read the cream results onto these.
• Homeopathic topical cream or gel. Best known for: Looking exactly like the herbal topicals on the shelf. Absorption: Not applicable, for the same reason. Typical use: The rule of thumb: a stated potency (6X, 30C) means homeopathic, a stated percentage or extract ratio means herbal. The herbal evidence doesn't transfer across that line.
• Herbal arnica taken by mouth, and 'arnica' that isn't Arnica montana. Best known for: Neither is what you want. Absorption: Not applicable. Typical use: Australian rules cap any non-topical use at 1 mg of dry herbal equivalent a day, so a herbal oral dose isn't lawful in a listed medicine, and swallowing arnica in herbal quantity is dangerous. Brazilian arnica is Solidago chilensis, a different plant, and in Spain and Portugal 32 species share the name. Check the botanical name.

Reference values. There isn't one. Arnica is a herb, not a nutrient, so there's no recommended intake, no deficiency and no dietary requirement to meet.

Typical supplemental range. For creams, gels and oils, follow the directions on the pack, because strength varies so much between products. In trials, people used an ointment twice a day under a dressing for two weeks, a gel for 21 days, and a tincture three times a day for up to 45 days. Homeopathic products state a potency rather than a dose of herb.

Upper level. For use on unbroken skin, Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) sets no maximum daily dose. For any other use, item 682 says: 'When for use other than topically on unbroken skin, the maximum recommended daily dose must be no more than 1mg of the equivalent dry herbal material of arnica montana.' One milligram of dried flower is a pinch of dust, which is why arnica you take by mouth here is homeopathic.

Worth knowing. There's a clearer rule for how long than for how much. European guidance says that if symptoms last longer than 3 to 4 days, or get worse while you're using it, stop and see a doctor or qualified health practitioner. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• None. Arnica isn't a food and has no dietary sources: it's a toxic plant in herbal quantity: ingestion of arnica-containing products has induced severe gastroenteritis, nervousness, accelerated heart rate, muscular weakness and death. The only reason anyone takes it internally is as a homeopathic dilution

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Anyone allergic or sensitised to Compositae/Asteraceae plants. Daisy, ragweed, chrysanthemum, chamomile, echinacea, feverfew. Arnica dermatitis is a delayed type IV allergy reported in people who handle arnica flowers, attributed to the sesquiterpene lactones.
• Anyone applying it to broken skin, open wounds, eyes or mucous membranes. Unrestricted topical use in Schedule 1 covers unbroken skin only; anything else falls under the 1 mg/day cap.
• Anyone swallowing arnica in herbal, non-homeopathic quantity. Ingestion has induced severe gastroenteritis, nervousness, accelerated heart rate, muscular weakness and death.
• Children under 12. The EU herbal monograph restricts arnica flower medicines to adults and adolescents from the age of 12 years.
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women. No sourced position exists either way: no pregnancy warning attaches to the Australian ingredient items, and no carcinogenicity or reproductive/developmental toxicity data was available to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel. Refer to a practitioner rather than reassure.
• Anyone on anticoagulant or antiplatelet medicine, and anyone facing surgery or dental work. No interaction study was found in our sources, so the position is refer, not reassure.
• Repeat topical users. Allergic reactions reported with arnica flower medicines include itching, redness of the skin and eczema, at an unknown frequency.
• Anyone whose symptoms run past 3 to 4 days or worsen during use. The European monograph says see a doctor or qualified healthcare practitioner.
• Anyone expecting the results of one arnica product from another. Composition varies with where the plant was grown, extracts can carry heavy metals, and an extract was mutagenic in an Ames test, which the safety panel listed as an unresolved data gap.
• Anyone buying a product labelled 'arnica' without a botanical name. Brazilian arnica is Solidago chilensis, a different plant that isn't on Schedule 1, and 32 Iberian species share the vernacular name.