Arnica ~ Arnica montana

🌼 This sunny flower is called Arnica.  We include beautiful organic arnica oil in our Muscle Balm and Muscle Relief roll on.

Here’s a little more info on this special stuff:

Botanical Name: Arnica montana
Other Names:  Mountain Daisy, Mountain Tobacco, Leopards Bane, Wolfsbane.
Family: Asteraceae

Parts Used:  Flowering heads, picked on a sunny day after the morning dew has evaporated.  The heads are then dried in temperatures at least 21°C  (70°F) away from direct sun.  

Arnica is a perennial, flowering herb in the Asteraceae (and sunflower 🌻) family that grows naturally in central Europe, Siberia, Canada, and the northern United States. The flowers have been used as far back as the 1500s to treat a range of conditions including bruising, sprains, muscle aches, wounds, joint pain, swelling, and burns.

Arnica oil is made by macerating one part arnica flowers to five parts vegetable oil, and is included most commonly in topical creams and ointments - such as the La Vida Low Tox Muscle Balm and Muscle Relief roll on - for the treatment of muscle aches, bruising, sprains, swellings, and inflammation.  

The compounds responsible for arnica’s anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects include sesquiterpenoid lactones, including helenalin and dihydrohelenalin.  Arnica also contains flavonoid glycosides, alkaloid, volatile oil, tannin, and isomeric alcohol, including arnidio and foradiol.

To relieve pain and promote bruise healing, massage a small amount into affected area 4 times daily or as required 🌼.


References:
Bone, K., & Mills, S. (2013). Principles and practice of phytotherapy : modern herbal medicine (2nd ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences UK

Hiam, D. S. (Ed.). (2020). The Gale encyclopedia of alternative medicine (Fifth, Ser. The gale encyclopedia alternative medicine ser). Gale, a Cengage Company.

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