Active Arnica
Are you one of those people who waken in the morning and slowly straighten your fingers one by one? Do your knees crackle when you stand up after just a short time relaxing in your chair? If not you, then those around you?
Stiffness, aches and pains are some of the curses of modern life. Younger and younger people are seeking an effective remedy.
Getting Hot and Bothered
Inflammation is actually a useful part of the body's defences. When tissue is damaged, cells produce chemicals that cause swelling and dilation of the tissues and extra permeability of the blood vessels to allow blood to reach the area more effectively, bringing with it oxygen and immune cells to aid healing. This is a healthy response.
If, however, the inflammatory response is prolonged, it becomes part of the disease process instead of the healing process, as pain is ongoing and the afflicted area starts to deteriorate under the ongoing attack from white blood cells and heat.
It isn't just people with long term conditions that are affected, but those who have injured themselves playing sports or practising a hobby such as gardening a little too strenuously, and need help to get themselves back into action.
Many people prefer to seek a herbal alternative to conventional medication. Fortunately, a gelmade from fresh, organically grown Arnica flower heads, has long been known to provide relief for stiffness, muscle aches and pains.
Arnica montana, a member of the sunflower family, is a perennial with a bright yellow flower that blooms in July. Its sunny colour makes it easily spotted, and it is the flower head itself that contains the active ingredients that make it of interest medicinally.
Arnica is indigenous to the mountain forests and meadows of central Europe as its name indicates. It has been a popular medicinal plant for centuries.
Arnica montana is very difficult to cultivate, needing specific soil conditions, so many manufacturers have traditionally chosen to wild harvest it, causing it to become endangered. It is now protected in many parts of Europe. A leading European herbal remedy manufacturer, Bioforce, devoted many years to finding a climate and soil in which Arnica montana would thrive, resulting in a special farm in Germany, close to the Swiss border where Arnica grows happily. In this way a crop of healthy, potent plants can be guaranteed without harming the environment.
Arnica fields have to be weeded continuously, as the plants don't grow very close together so there is a great deal of room for weeds. It's all hands to the fields during harvesting too, as careful hand harvesting is necessary - only the flowers can be used, and they must be prepared whilst still fresh to capture.
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