Arnica Montana: Spirit Of The Remedy

Words: Dr Deborah OLENEV

While watching the Winter Olympics, a few years ago, I got inspired to write an article about the personality characteristics of people who need the homeopathic Arnica montana as a constitutional remedy. I learned about the personality characteristics of Arnica montana from Dr Frans Kusse’s fascinating book, Homeopathic Types. I had never read Arnica montana described the way like he has any time before. I and a lot of people owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing this information forward to the world, because it will enable several people to be healed, who otherwise may not.

You may wonder why the Winter Olympics prompted me to write about Arnica montana. The reason is that the Olympic athlete embodies the spirit of this remedy.

1. A desire for invulnerability physically and psychologically. Dr Kusse explains that Arnica montana belongs to the Asteracaea family of plants, and this desire for invulnerability is a common characteristic of the plants in this family. Bellis perennis is another first-aid remedy that comes from this plant family
2. A beautiful example of this desire, or persona of invincibility, and the ability to conceal their vulnerability is when one of the competitors in the US snowboarding team had an accident — he hit the edge of the wall on his back side. It looked like it must have been terribly painful, but when he was interviewed afterwards he had a big smile on his face. He also did not show any signs that he was injured. He looked absolutely invulnerable
3. Arnica montana people possess a tremendous amount of energy and self-confidence. I saw this displayed, time and again, during the Olympics. The relay races were a beautiful example of this energy, endurance and drive to come in first
4. A high sense of responsibility and an urge to fulfil their tasks is another Arnica montana This quality was apparent at the Olympics when one of the bob sledding competitors injured her calf while practicing the day before, but it did not stop her. She competed the following day and won a medal with her teammate. This shows Arnica montana’s ability to push through despite injuries, and the ability to hide, or overcome their injuries to fulfil the task they have set before themselves
5. Yet another example was the ice-skating champion who had won gold medals in previous Olympics, accumulating many injuries over the years. All the same, he overcame all his physical obstacles, trained vigorously, and pushed through the pain to compete one more time and win the gold
6. A desire to prove that they are strong is another characteristic of people who need Arnica montana In order to do this, they need to have a challenge, and what bigger challenge can a person put before themselves, than win a medal at the Olympics. The competition provides the arena to showcase their talents and strength
7. According to Dr Kusse, Arnica montana people can be compared to an impregnable fortress that is unapproachable. Underneath this need for impregnability is a fear of losing something of value, such as money, or health. He says that Arnica montana people are closed, and do not like to answer questions about private matters. For this reason, they can be reluctant to go to doctors who ask too many questions, but are okay with going to surgeons, who just act
8. Arnica montana is the first remedy that we think of for people who have been in an accident and, of course, the Olympics are a venue where accidents will happen. People who need Arnica montana are also attracted to activities where accidents are likely to occur, such as skiing, snowboarding, ice-hockey, bob sledding, ice skating etc., — all the Olympic winter sports. People who need Arnica montana can also be extremely frightened of accidents and can try hard to avoid them. It is the first remedy we think of for people who have never been well since an accident, such as a head injury, or car accident
9. Arnica montana should always be thought of for people who have had an injury from a fall, or blunt object. Arnica montana is a great remedy too for helping to heal people from bruises and internal bleeding
10. There is a shadow side to Arnica montana’s invincible persona.

According to Dr Kusse, the characteristics of this shadow side are:

• A fear of being hurt. Their desire for invulnerability is their reaction to this fear
• A fear of losing something of value, such as their wealth, or health
• An aversion to being consoled. They turn away the doctor, or the ambulance, at the site of accident, saying they are just fine, because it is insupportable to them to admit that there is something wrong with them
• A fear of becoming dependent on someone else. They have to have their financial affairs in order, so that they do not depend on others
• A need to show that they are strong to cover up the fact that they are fearful inside. Hence, they desire a challenge where they can prove their strength.

Arnica montana is a fascinating remedy with such a large field of action.

A Case In Point

This was a man I first saw two years ago. This is how he described his chief complaint, “My chief complaint is exercise-induced asthma. It is most obvious and pronounced as I start to run, wherein it starts as chest pain and left shoulder pain almost immediately. After 10-15 minutes of running, it subsides and I can run with ease. Sometimes, like tonight, it’s so bad that I simply can’t run due to the pain. Even going up three flights of stairs to my office triggers this; so that I reach my desk, or am still on the stairs with pain.”

I had tried a number of homeopathic remedies for this client, which gave partial relief. It was only after I read Dr Kusse’s description of Arnica montana, that I prescribed the remedy to him did he experience the healing he was seeking. This is what he said about the effect of Arnica montana on his health:

“On the First, I went for a trail run with my wife and I wanted to let you know the results. I had been nearly absent from running prior to it and she chose what turned out to be a demanding up and down running in the hills. Cutting right to the chase, there was not even a hint of exercise-induced asthma, or the typical pains that I get.  Please note that all the stressors were there:

• I hadn’t run much at all and was not in running shape by any means
• The morning was quite cold
• The start was a lot of uphill right away and it didn’t really let up much.

So, given my long battle with this issue and also the one time where I felt we nailed this and then was disappointed again, I’m not getting my hopes too high. But, I just wanted to relay this news to you. It was significant to me, not only in terms of being able to run without any issues, but the seemingly complete lack of any issues.”

The foremost characteristics in this man’s case that prompted me to prescribe Arnica montana were, that, despite the pain, he would push through and continue to run. He put himself in challenging situations where he could be injured, such as mountain climbing.

I am grateful to this man for not giving up on homeopathy when the remedies we tried earlier were not delivering. He stuck with homeopathy, persevered and got the prize of healing he was seeking in the end. I saw him for a follow-up appointment nine months after the Arnica montana 200C prescription, and he was ‘doing very well.’ A year later, he needed to follow Arnica with Rhus toxicodendron to help complete the healing of a thumb and knee injury.

The bottom line. Please do not forget homeopathy to expedite the natural, also safe, healing process from traumatic injuries.

Dr DEBORAH OLENEV, CCH, RSHom [NA], is a Classical Homeopath based in Mountain View, California, US. She treats people from all over the world via phone and video conferencing. Dr Olenev has had a passion for homeopathy for nearly forty years and has been in private practice since 1991. She has a vast knowledge of homeopathic Materia Medica, and integrates homeopathy with herbal medicine too. She is the owner of First Aid Cream, where she teaches about and sells homeopathic first-aid creams. She has several years of experience treating autistic children and people of all ages for all manner of health conditions.