The last 2 years for our family has been surprisingly tough, but there has been an ally that needs recognition of her strength, support and healing properties; Arnica.
Dainty in its natural being, this flower has meant the difference between a day at school or not, the ability to walk somewhere rather than catch a lift, a releaser of tension from carrying school bags not to mention Arnica’s ability to speed up recovery after surgery. This flower may look fragile, but it’s all a disguise. Arnica is the toughest flower in the patch.
Our story began 2 years ago when my daughter was diagnosed with idiopathic adolescent scoliosis. Of course, we didn’t realise that she had it for a while, we just knew she was in pain. She would regularly have arnica baths to soothe her and restore her strength and my constant purchase of Arnica products lead me to work with Weleda in my own homeopathic practice! Weleda Arnica products work. No marketing gimmicks needed here.
As the pain worsened to the point of needing surgery, my daughter was on regular homeopathic remedies, all of which had arnica as a staple component to them. We found the Weleda Bumps and Bruises spray invaluable for carrying around in her bag. Shoulder and neck massages were also carried out using the Weleda Arnica massage balm to unlock tension that could be debilitating and stop her from carrying her own school bag. I learnt a technique called fascia release from Scoliosis SOS and the combination of arnica and massage really helped.
As we headed towards surgery a year later, she had to give up sport. She could no longer run (previously a cross-country addict beforehand) or dance (having done so since age 3) as she would regularly go into spasms which pulled on the spine further. Arnica became our best friend at a time when as a parent I felt like her world was falling apart.
Once we decided to head for Spinal fusion surgery (5 titanium rods inserted to straighten the spine), she knew that she really didn’t want to be on painkillers for long. Having a mum as a homeopath has taught her that the body is amazing at self-repair and that there were lots of things we could do to support her. Her hospital bag contained remedies to support her during anaesthetic, particularly for nausea, as well as arnica and calendula for healing post-operatively. I packed for myself the Stress Spray. My, did I spray that a lot over the ten day hospital stay! My child was the only one who didn’t vomit after morphine as she had taken homeopathic remedies. Not bragging, just saying…
Once we were home, she reduced her painkillers at a sensible rate and had arnica baths, showers and applied arnica cream to her wound sites (lung and back). She also applied an oil onto scar to stop keloiding and speed repair (Weleda Stretch mark oil which contains arnica!). The nurse said it was the neatest scar she had seen, and believe me, when you have a fashion-conscious teenager with a taste for skimpy tops, these things matter!
6 months post op and our consultant says that she has recovered remarkably. She can begin gentle sporting activity – a 5k walk already in the diary for May to raise money for our local hospice, with the plan of achieving a 5k race in the autumn, a return to dance and hopefully she will be doing PE GCSE. We know that these targets are achievable because we have the back up of a very special flower! Arnica – you’ve had our back!
Update – 5 years post-op and she has completed her PE GCSE and is captain of the netball team, she has run the London mini-marathon, runs 5k distances every week and is planning on going to University. Homeopathy and Arnica has been her number one go to and now I even supply arnica to her netball team!
Would you like to learn more about Arnica? Do you run a sports club? Are you a gym addict, gardener or do you work in a physically demanding job? Perhaps you’d like to host an Arnica Workshop? Do get in touch.