Arnica Montana Saved our Butts!

My husband and I signed up for a 50 mile bike ride up in Northern Michigan a few weeks ago.  We didn't train for it; although it crossed my mind...

We went up with friends.  They're avid cyclists, riding to school and work at least a few times a week. Carl and I on the other hand, hadn't looked at our bikes since last summer and we knew we could be in trouble.  

I thought ahead though and picked up some Arnica Montana 30c (Arnica for short) from the local Health Food Store (Better Health).  It's made by a company called Boiron. It's indicated for trauma, bruising and to speed recovery thereafter.  It comes in little blue tubes and costs around $7.00. They're these tiny pellets that you take sublingually (let disolve under the tongue). 80 pellets per tube. Dose: 1 pellet. 

Homepathic remedies aren't herbal remedies like herbal teas, capsules or tinctures;  They are infantismal dilutions.  Dilutions, as in they take a natural substance like and herb or mineral and they dilute it down hundreds of times.   What remains is an infantismal amount of the active substance in the remedy.  

This tiny substance when ingested provokes the body's natural defenses (your immune system) to kick in and regulate whatever the imbalance might be.  (ie) the flu, nose bleeds, bruising, motion sickness- there are a pletora of homeopathic remedies for whats ailing you.  It's used around the world and greatly accepted in Europe and in Holistic circles but not widley known and even less widely understood in the US.  The biggest selling point for me though is that they are completely side effect free so- it's worth a shot, right??

We started taking the Arnica the night before the ride and we took it throughout the 6 hour bikeride.  I theorised that because of the "acute trauma" of a 50 mile bikeride, we'd take it every couple hours or so just in case.  We finished the ride and we're completely ecstatic!  What a long arduous ride it was!  The last 20 miles being by far the worst.  Muscles cramping, aching, fatigue and above all, our rear ends were SO sore!  

We felt ok after the ride albeit tired. The true test would be dreaded morning after.  "Would we be able to walk tomorrow?" We were thinking to ourselves.  Normally if you haven't ridden a bike in a year and you jump in with a 50 Miler, your cruisin' for a bruisin'.  

We were both suprised (pleasantly) when we woke today to feel completely normal.  I even ran a couple of miles this morning!  It was a surpise even to me and I'm a a longtime beleiver in homeopathy.  Carl on the other hand is what I like to call a 'particapatory skeptic".   He participates, but he's skeptical.

I try to explain homepathy as much as possible to get comfortable with speaking about it but frankly I don't completely understand it.  What I do know is this;

It's an affordable and effective method of healing that is safe for children, the elderly, pregnant ladies and it's widely available.  Especially with rising health care costs and the price of a doctor visit even if you do have health coverage, homeopathy can be a useful solution.

And to me, that makes it worth a try in many situations. So the next time you have a 50 mile bikeride on your calendar, you're getting surgery or even just taking an extra long jog; Arnica Montana can help you recover faster, show less bruising and can help you walk the morning after.