Home remedies · Back, muscles & joints
No home remedy here replaces treatment, and none is talked down. What has done good for generations does good — even if no one ever measured it. Where something is well studied, it says so. Where it is only experience, it says that too.
Apply gel or ointment thinly to the unbroken skin over the bruise, two to three times a day.
Arnica is one of the oldest external remedies for blunt injuries; the cool gel and the rubbing itself also feel good.
For the highly diluted homeopathic pills taken by mouth the evidence is judged differently than for the external gel.
Never on open wounds or mucous membranes, never taken internally. Arnica is a daisy-family plant — avoid with allergy to chamomile, marigold or mugwort.
Have it assessed rather than treated at home: back pain with numbness in the saddle area, disturbed bladder or bowel function, weakness or fever. A joint that cannot bear weight after an injury, or is deformed. A one-sided swollen, warm leg.