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My wife recently gave birth and the taking of arnica homeopathic tablets seems to be widely recommended to help with bruising. We've seen it suggested online, several midwives have told her to take them, and even a doctor has mentioned it.
Is there anything to suggest arnica tablets reduce bruising?
Is there anything to suggest arnica tablets reduce bruising?
The results seem to suggest probably not. Though, according to one paper, topical arnica seemed to perform almost as well as 5% vitamin K cream.
I include four papers I was able to find testing arnica on bruising. Two of which are homeopathic arnica, the other two are topical arnica.
Homeopathic arnica for prevention of pain and bruising: randomized placebo-controlled trial in hand surgery (full text linked)
Abstract: (emphasis mine)
Homeopathic arnica is widely believed to control bruising, reduce swelling and promote recovery after local trauma; many patients therefore take it perioperatively. To determine whether this treatment has any effect, we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial with three parallel arms. 64 adults undergoing elective surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome were randomized to take three tablets daily of homeopathic arnica 30C or 6C or placebo for seven days before surgery and fourteen days after surgery. Primary outcome measures were pain (short form McGill Pain Questionnaire) and bruising (colour separation analysis) at four days after surgery. Secondary outcome measures were swelling (wrist circumference) and use of analgesic medication (patient diary).
62 patients could be included in the intention-to-treat analysis. There were no group differences on the primary outcome measures of pain (P=0.79) and bruising (P=0.45) at day four. Swelling and use of analgesic medication also did not differ between arnica and placebo groups. Adverse events were reported by 2 patients in the arnica 6C group, 3 in the placebo group and 4 in the arnica 30C group.
The results of this trial do not suggest that homeopathic arnica has an advantage over placebo in reducing postoperative pain, bruising and swelling in patients undergoing elective hand surgery.
Effects of Topical Arnica Gel on Post-Laser Treatment Bruises (full text pay-walled)
Summary:
background. Claims have been made suggesting that topical arnica prevents and speeds the resolution of bruises, yet there are no well-designed placebo-controlled studies to date evaluating topical arnica's effect on bruising.
objective. To compare the efficacy of topical arnica in the prevention and resolution of laser-induced bruising.
methods. Nineteen patients with facial telangiectases were enrolled in this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study and were divided into pretreatment and posttreatment groups. The pretreatment group applied arnica with vehicle to one side of the face and vehicle alone to the other side of the face twice a day for 2 weeks prior to laser treatment. The posttreatment group followed the same procedure for 2 weeks after laser treatment. On day 0, all patients were treated for facial telangiectases using a 585 nm pulsed dye laser. Bruising was assessed using a visual analog scale on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 17 by the patient and the physician. In addition, photographs taken at each of the follow-up visits were later assessed by a second physician using the visual analog scale.
results. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of arnica and vehicle (P = 0.496) and the mean scores of arnica and vehicle (P = 0.359) in the pretreatment and posttreatment groups, respectively.
conclusion. No significant difference was found between topical arnica and vehicle in the prevention or resolution of bruising.
Accelerated resolution of laser-induced bruising with topical 20% arnica: a rater-blinded randomized controlled trial (full text pay-walled)
Summary:
Background Dermatological procedures can result in disfiguring bruises that resolve slowly.
Objectives To assess the comparative utility of topical formulations in hastening the resolution of skin bruising.
Methods Healthy volunteers, age range 21–65 years, were enrolled for this double (patient and rater) blinded randomized controlled trial. For each subject, four standard bruises of 7 mm diameter each were created on the bilateral upper inner arms, 5 cm apart, two per arm, using a 595-nm pulsed-dye laser (Vbeam; Candela Corp., Wayland, MA, U.S.A.). Randomization was used to assign one topical agent (5% vitamin K, 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol, 20% arnica, or white petrolatum) to exactly one bruise per subject, which was then treated under occlusion twice a day for 2 weeks. A dermatologist not involved with subject assignment rated bruises [visual analogue scale, 0 (least)–10 (most)] in standardized photographs immediately after bruise creation and at week 2.
Results There was significant difference in the change in the rater bruising score associated with the four treatments (anova, P = 0·016). Pairwise comparisons indicated that the mean improvement associated with 20% arnica was greater than with white petrolatum (P = 0·003), and the improvement with arnica was greater than with the mixture of 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol (P = 0·01). Improvement with arnica was not greater than with 5% vitamin K cream, however.
Conclusions Topical 20% arnica ointment may be able to reduce bruising more effectively than placebo and more effectively than low-concentration vitamin K formulations, such as 1% vitamin K with 0·3% retinol.
Effect of Homeopathic Arnica montana on Bruising in Face-lifts Results of a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial (full text linked)
Summary:
Objectives To design a model for performing reproducible, objective analyses of skin color changes and to apply this model to evaluate the efficacy of homeopathic Arnica montana as an antiecchymotic agent when taken perioperatively.
Methods Twenty-nine patients undergoing rhytidectomy at a tertiary care center were treated perioperatively with either homeopathic A montana or placebo in a double-blind fashion. Postoperative photographs were analyzed using a novel computer model for color changes, and subjective assessments of postoperative ecchymosis were obtained.
Results No subjective differences were noted between the treatment group and the control group, either by the patients or by the professional staff. No objective difference in the degree of color change was found. Patients receiving homeopathic A montana were found to have a smaller area of ecchymosis on postoperative days 1, 5, 7, and 10. These differences were statistically significant (P<.05) only on postoperative days 1 (P<.005) and 7 (P<.001).
Conclusions This computer model provides an efficient, objective, and reproducible means with which to assess perioperative color changes, both in terms of area and degree. Patients taking perioperative homeopathic A montana exhibited less ecchymosis, and that difference was statistically significant (P<.05) on 2 of the 4 postoperative data points evaluated.
A 2010 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report on homeopathy said that homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebos, and that the principles on which homeopathy is based are "scientifically implausible". This is also the view of the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.
This means that homeopathy has been shown to be no different from a placebo (i.e. a negative control treatment). This implies that the only effects generated by the homeopathic "treatment" are due to the placebo, and not the "treatment" itself.
As mentioned in the comments, from a chemical viewpoint, any dilution above 12C contains such a low dilution that no molecules of the original chemical remain in the supposed "medicine", and therefore there is no scientific basis for homeopathy being a plausible remedy.
IMO, the best counter to any homeopath is that tap water is an unimaginably strong homeopathic remedy of literally everything possible, including dinosaurs.
