ARNICA MONTANA, WOLF’S BANE, MOUNTAIN ARNICA
Arnica montana is the most widely used arnica in herbal medicine. It is a mainly European plant from the ASTERACEAE family.
It is currently found in high-altitude meadows in EUROPE and in southern RUSSIA, I say currently because during the glaciation episodes it must have been widespread.
It grows in cool, « acidic » soils poor in nutrients.
It is perennial by its rhizomatous root, develops in early summer by producing a stem a few dozen cm high with ribbed leaves in a rosette near the ground. The floral stem has two small leaves generally opposite under the flowers. The flowers are isolated, 5 to 8 cm in diameter, yellow-orange, they give off an aromatic odor.
The black seeds (achenes) have white tufts which allow them to be dispersed by the wind like dandelions.
Mountain arnica is overexploited and difficult to cultivate, but there are other arnicas with very similar medicinal properties:
Arnica chamissonis, native to northern North America, easier to cultivate and already introduced in Europe.
Arnica angustifolia, found in northern Eurasia and North America.
Arnica sachalinensis, native to Asia (Japan, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island).
In some areas of the world where there are no plants of the arnica genus, the first European settlers used plants of the same plant family (asteraceae), and resembling European arnica, to treat themselves.
You should also be wary of certain Asteraceae which look a lot like Arnica but are more toxic, for example Senecio doronicum which grows more on basic soils (limestone) and whose leaves are alternate.
Arnica are medicinal plants known since antiquity and mainly used to treat bruises, muscle, tendon and joint pain, and the aftermath of trauma (vulnerary plants).
These are TOXIC PLANTS that are mainly used externally (cream, ointment, tincture, oily macerate), only homeopathic medicines (therefore very diluted) based on arnica can be used orally.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES
FLOWERS AND AERIAL PARTS (STEM AND LEAVES)
They contain:
- flavonoids, coumarins, phenolic acids, carotenoid pigments, essential oil, very few alkaloids,
- very bitter substances: sesquiterpene lactones, a family of chemical compounds present in many medicinal plants (e.g. dandelion, artichoke).
These sesquiterpene lactones are the main ones responsible for the medicinal properties of arnica but they are toxic orally causing digestive, hepatic, renal and cardiac disorders.
One of the most studied compounds is helenalin, capable of blocking certain inflammatory reactions, by acting on a transcription factor but also acting as an anticancer agent (action on nuclear factor kappa B promoter of inflammatory reactions and which blocks telomerase). - Essential oil of the whole plant is a « fatty » essential oil with some terpenoids, notably thymol.
ARNICA ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PLANT
This anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting or blocking the chain of reactions inducing edema, the influx of blood and lymph, the sensation of pain and heat of the inflammatory reaction is obtained by a local application of arnica extracts.
It is the lactones (very bitter) which are active, they penetrate the skin and can accumulate for some time in the subcutaneous tissue, their action is essentially local.
Traditionally, only flower extracts are used, but recent studies show that whole plant extracts have superior anti-inflammatory properties. In practice, it is preferable to harvest and use only the flower and the leafy floral stem, preserving the underground parts that ensure the regeneration of the plant the following season.
USES
The treatment must be limited in time otherwise there is a risk of toxic dermatosis (eruption of blisters, redness, burning sensation).
Be careful, some people are allergic to Asteraceae in general or more particularly to arnica.
Arnica extracts are mainly used:
- to alleviate the after-effects of minor trauma to soft tissues which are often accompanied by bruising (blood effusion under the skin, or in the dermis which changes from red to blue-purple),
- to accompany the treatment of mild sprains and reduce local inflammation (painful edema) in combination with cold,
- in case of musculoskeletal pain following prolonged sports exercise, trauma, a fall,
- in case of joint inflammation, joint pain including lower back pain (lumbago) or “stiff neck”.
The preparations are varied:
- alcoholic tincture of arnica applied locally to the painful area (never orally), avoiding wounds,
- oily macerate of arnica flowers (arnica oil) applied with gentle massage to the painful area or contracted muscles,
- Arnica massage gel for joints and muscles, including as a preventative measure during sports.
- Homeopathic preparations of arnica generally between 5 CH and 9 CH orally and therefore at dilutions which eliminate the toxic risk of the plant.
These homeopathic remedies are prescribed by homeopaths in cases of trauma, sprains, muscular pain, bruises, but also for other symptoms (angina pectoris, heart problems in « overworked » athletes, burnout, depression, mental and physical fatigue in overworked workers, temporary depression).
Homeopathic dilutions of mother tincture 1 D or 2 D, in local applications including on inflamed skin but never orally.
Some people use these dilutions 1 D or 2 D as a gargle or mouth rinse, it is better to avoid, there is always the risk that one will accidentally swallow this preparation with the possible occurrence of secondary gastric disorders.
EXAMPLES OF ARNICA PREPARATIONS
- Alcoholic tincture at 1/10 with 70° alcohol (dried or fresh floral tops):
Dilute this tincture in water: Dilute in two to three times its volume for local use on a compress for example, and at least 10 times for a mouth rinse, avoiding swallowing.
Dilute this tincture 3 or 4 times to incorporate it into a cream. - Arnica oil: one part dried flowers in 5 parts vegetable oil, leave to macerate for at least a month. Dilute half or a quarter in the same oil or a cream preparation to avoid a skin intolerance reaction.
OTHER USES
Arnica seed essential oil: a pharmacological study of this essential oil shows that it has interesting anticancer power, particularly on nervous tissue cancer cells (glioma) which are particularly resistant to conventional treatment.
CULTIVATION OF ARNICA
Arnica montana is a plant that is difficult to grow, it is better to try with Arnica angustifolia or Arnica chamissonis which are more « accommodating ». Here are some growing tips found on the internet:
- sow the seeds from the previous season fairly early in spring on fresh, rather “acidic” soil, kept moist,
- cover the seeds with very little compost,
- dig up the seedlings and plant them in individual pots or containers, keeping them that way throughout the season until the following spring, and sheltering them in case of severe cold,
- plant in open ground the following year in late spring or early summer,
- We can try to divide the rhizomatous root in early spring on arnica plants that are a few years old.
Copyright 2024: Dr Jean-Michel Hurtel
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