Arnica for Healing Bruises

One of the major parts of karate that Uechi Kanbun and other karateka-ka of his time studied was gusuri. Gusuri is the Okinawan word for medicine and Uechi's gusuri was derived from the alternative medical system he studied and traded in for 10 years in China.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is one of many categories of AMS, including homeopathy and herbalism. Traditional Medicine has been used in every culture and place from Asia to the Middle East, Europe to the Americas. It is continued in use even after the advent of our current medicine based on science. I tend to use what works for me. For example, if I have a fever, I will use ibuprofen or acetaminophen to help knock it out. But if there was an otherwise harmless plant or extraction that had the same effect, I would use it instead. It's a personal preference.

When it comes to bruises and some muscle pain I have found that ointments/salves with Arnica (Wolf's Bane), which is native to Europe, helps them heal faster that without any treatment. Arnica has been used in Europe for years and is purported to help with other ailments as well. I can't and won't vouch for these. There have been studies conducted on its effectiveness in healing bruises but none scientifically demonstrate that it works any better than a placebo. Yet it works for me.

Arnica comes in different forms and concentrations, I have not tried them all. I tend to stick with products made by Weleda, a well-known Swiss company that is a "...manufacturer of natural cosmetics, nutritional supplements and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs". Disclaimer: my mother's best friend worked at Weleda's major site in Stuttgart so we always got discounted and free samples growing up.

The website I use to buy Arnica creams has many Weleda and other products but you need to know some German - prices are in US Dollars though. See the link below for Paul'sMart Europe. You can also find it on Amazon.com. Target and CVS sell other brand arnica products but I don't know anything about the companies or their products. You will find some Weleda products in Whole Foods but the prices they charge amount to highway robbery.

I am not going to recommend arnica but believe it can help heal bruises more quickly than anything else. You can also condition better, and more often. :)

Links used in this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Alternative_medical_systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnica_montana
http://www.answers.com/topic/weleda-ag
http://www.paulsmarteurope.com/
http://www.weleda.com/