Arnica- tablets or cream?

[Tobermory]

Booked in for a section tomorrow and been Reading about Arnica as something which can help recovery.
Can anyone tell me a bit more?
Which is better tabs or cream?

You shouldn't use Arnica cream on an open wound, so take the pills.

I seem to remember that I wasn't to take Arnica until after the op - I think to do with it increasing blood flow, so not good for during operations.

Oh and yes, cream only on unbroken skin.

No sorry, I can't find a link on only using after, so I'm not sure if I'm imagining this or if this is what homeopath recommended...

Good luck for tomorrow!

neither! homeopathy is bullshit!

Oh I don't know, Emma, I'm sure Arnica cream makes normal bruises go away faster. Whether that is just the massaging action or the power of the mind, I don't know of course.

I'd take Arnica pills again, for what it's worth. Can't see any harm in it.

Well DH did good, returned from the shops with both so will certainly try the tabs.
Did you begin taking before op or immediately after?

I started immediately after with the tablets.

I've taken arnica before an op before and my consultant didn't have a problem with it. I have a friend who's a pharmacist and she recommends starting the tabs 3 days beforehand.

you are right miscellaneous - arnica won't do you any harm, but it won't do you any good either. Read "Trick or Treatment" by Simon Singh and Professor Edzard Ernst, who is the UK's only professor of complementary medicine. They review all the literature and research on most of the complementary therapies available and are able to pretty comprehensively prove that whilst some work (e.g. accupuncture, the alexander technique, some types of herbal medicine), some absolutely don't - e.g. homeopathy! If it makes you feel better then go for it, but its either all in the mind, or more likely, as you suggest, in the massage effect. E45 would probably do the same thing!

Oh my goodness, EmmaKate, I would be the poster girl for arnica if I could! My last 2 births I had a 2nd degree and 1st degree tear respectively and suffered literally NO PAIN from the wounds, which healed so quickly I never even knew exactly where they were! The blood loss was also very manageable very soon after birth. OK, I have no definitive proof that this was due to the arnica, but I had a similar birth with DC1 and felt much more wiped out and sore afterwards.

I tried homeopathy for a couple of other things years ago, and I felt that the pills had absolutely no effect ... but arnica is different, I reckon! I recommend it to everyone I meet, I'm so convinced it gave me two easy recoveries.

When should you start taking arnica tablets if your not going in for an elective c section? I dont know when to start.