Arnica: A Natural First Aid Remedy for Children

Kids are accident-prone, as any parent knows. They’re high energy, playful, and still developing their coordination and balance. So they often get hurt—on the playground, on the sports field, or just running around the house. Of course, when your kids are sore or bruised, you want to help them feel better—and homeopathic Arnica is the natural first aid remedy you need.

Arnica has been used for hundreds of years, for both children and adults, to provide natural pain relief, heal bruises, reduce swelling, and speed recovery from minor injuries. Arnica-based homeopathic medicines come from Arnica montana, a yellow-flowering mountain plant that’s renowned for its power to aid healing.

Is Arnica Safe for Kids?

Yes. Both homeopathic Arnica tablets and topical Arnica ointments are recommended for children ages two and up. For babies under the age of two, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor or homeopath about the best therapy to apply.

One of the beauties of homeopathic medicine is that it’s safe, with no recorded negative side effects. This is because of the minimum dose principle. Homeopathic medicines use diluted forms of natural active ingredients to stimulate the body’s healing response. Because the active ingredients are administered in micro-doses, they have a high margin of safety from overdose and drug interactions.

Arnica is also available in herbal (rather than homeopathic) form, which uses higher concentrations of substances from the Arnica plant. Many Arnica gels, creams, or tinctures contain herbal concentrations of Arnica.

How to Use Arnica for Children

Homeopathic Arnica is an ideal remedy for children’s bumps, bruises, and minor injuries, because it’s fast acting, all natural, and completely safe. Arnica, along with your loving touch, can help heal all kinds of boo boos, primarily:

• Bruises
• Swelling
• Pain from a slight fall or minor injury
• Sore muscles from sports or exertion
• Strains

For minor bruises or soreness, a little topical Arnica is all you need. Arnica even comes in convenient and kid-friendly ointment sticks. You just take it out when you need it and rub it on the bruise or hurt area.  Just remember: don’t apply Arnica to broken skin.

Homeopathic Arnica tablets can also aid recovery from a wide range of minor injuries to the muscles and connective tissues. Obviously, your first priority should be to get appropriate medical care for any serious injury and to follow first aid best practices. You will get the best results if you also give your child homeopathic Arnica as soon as possible after the injury and continue to administer it for another day, or a few days (depending on need). The well-known naturopathic practitioner, Dr. Weil, recommends giving children half the recommended adult dose,¹ but you should always read and follow label directions.