Arnicare Arnica Gel May Give Minor Relief for Pain

When is come to aches, pains, bruising, and arthritis, then both my husband Len, and I need help. I noticed in the Sunday pullouts that Walgreens drugstore that the Arnicare Arnica Gel at $5.99, and you received the full amount back in the form of register rewards.

I was lucky enough to pick the last one off the shelf. When I took it to the cash register, I actually got $6 back, which enabled me to buy milk, jello, and sugar free cookies. I had wanted all of these so it was totally free.

On the box it states: 'Pain relief, works naturally, quickly absorbed, unscented, non-greasy, paraben free, #1 homeopathic arnica pain reliever'. .
The net weight of the tube is 2.6 ounce (75 g). The tube is white, with blue writing, and a blue flower.

I have several areas that ache, or pain me. One is my right wrist. I am sure it is where I type too much, but sometimes it hurts so bad. I unscrewed the cap of the tube, and it had a seal. I turned the cap over, and used the point in the middle of it, to break the seal.

I put the tube up to my nose, and it is unscented, which was a delight to me. I cannot stand being around people that have medicated creams on, and they make you want to gag. I squeezed the tube, and a small amount of the gel came to the top. I took it off, with the tops of my fingers on the left hand, as I wanted to massage it into my right wrist.

I was amazed how easily it went into my skin. It looked wet for a minute or so, and then my skin was dry. You wouldn't have known that I had used it. There was no greasy, or shine at all.

A few minutes later I took by cardigan off, over my wrist, and it didn't smell, and wasn't wet.

I didn't feel any heat, or numbness, with the Arnicare Arnica Gel. In actual fact I didn't feel anything. I had been resting my wrist for at least 12 hours, but didn't have any further relieve from the product.

My neck drives me crazy. I have tried the patches on it, and they don't stick as they should, and the ones I used had an awful smell to them. Therefore my next place, was to massage some into my neck. It dried great again, which pleased me, as I sometimes have wispy bits of hair coming down from my French twist.

I felt absolutely nothing. No warmth, no numbing, and no comfort, so I checked the box, and the back of the tube.

It states:

"Uses: for relief of muscle pain and stiffness due to minor injuries, overexertion and falls. Reduces pain and swelling, as well as discoloration from bruising

Directions: apply a thin layer of Arnicare Gel to affected area as soon as possible after minor injury. Repeat 3 times a day as needed.

Active Ingredients: Arnica montana 1X HPUS-7% HPUS stands for Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States."

As I hadn't had any success with the product, Len knee was giving him pain. I massaged a small amount of the gel onto the knee area, and asked him 4 hours later if he had any relief. The answer came back 'No'.

Len is always getting bruising, but that is because of the 3 blood thinners he is on. We never know when another one will come along, because I only have to touch him, for him to bruise. I did rub some of the gel on his many bruises on his arms, but again, I didn't see them disappear any quicker.

I checked out several websites to learn more about the Arnica montana flowering plant, and from Wikipedia is states:
"When used topically in a gel, arnica was found to have the same effect as the use of NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen) in treating the symptoms of hand osteoarthritis."

I have osteoarthritis in my fingers, so I applied it to my little fingers, and also my right index finger. They felt pretty good while I was watching television, but as soon as I started doing housework, cooking, and on the computer, I had no relief at all.

Our overall experience with the Arnicare Arnica Gel, is that if it works, it is hardly noticeable. Not a product that I will be purchasing again.

For more information on this product go to www.boironusa.com or info@boironusa.com. You can also telephone them at 1-800-264-7661.

They do have The Boiron Promise on the side of the box, which is "Our promise is your total satisfaction". So as I got my tube for free, I will not be contacting them.

Boiron Information Center,
6 Campus Boulevard,
Newtown Square,
PA 19073.