Homeopathy At Home with Melissa

#4 Arnica and the Truth About Your Skin Care Products

November 23, 2020 Melissa Crenshaw Season 1 Episode 4
Homeopathy At Home with Melissa
#4 Arnica and the Truth About Your Skin Care Products
Show Notes Transcript

This episode dives deeper into Arnica, the first-aid remedy. You may know it as the one to give for bumps and bruises but it does SO much more! Learn about potency and frequency and when it may be indicated in a chronic case. Also learn how and why to begin replacing your beauty products.

Coconut Oil Studies cited in podcast:
Weight loss
Kills Bacteria

The Toxic 12 in cosmetics

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Hello and welcome to Homeopathy At Home with Melissa. If you're ready to be independent in helping your family with acute and chronic conditions in a more natural way, if you're interested in learning how to use homeopathy at home, and if you enjoy positive encouraging messages, then this podcast is for you. Click subscribe, grab some coffee or tea, and get ready to learn how to use homeopathy at home in your family. I also suggest a pen and a notebook to take notes. The information in this podcast and its transcription is to be used for education only. The suggestions here should not replace the advice of your medical doctor and you should never stop any prescription medications without the advice and direction of your doctor. I am not a physician, I am not prescribing and I am not making healthcare decisions for you. It is your choice to use the information provided here and in any future communications with me regarding homeopathy and natural health care. 

What's in this episode? 

  1. Coconut oil inside and out. 
  2. Hair, Skin and Nails 
  3. The truth about your beauty products
  4. Arnica, the first aid remedy.

I really hesitated to talk about coconut oil today because it's everywhere and I feel like everyone already knows all the things about coconut oil but I know that that's not true and I know that there are people who are just starting on this journey, or who will start on it in the future and hopefully be blessed by this episode, to learn more about coconut oil and its benefits. I know that there are people who see, "Made with coconut oil," all over their packages from the grocery store and have deduced that it must be good for them but they're not really sure why I want to reach everyone and make this simple. If you're well versed in coconut oil hang in there with me because the homeopathic portion of this episode is going to be rich.

So let's dive into coconut oil, which is a healthy fat. So if you're over 50, "fat" might be a bad word for you, but let me assure you healthy fats are hugely necessary in brain and body functions and in healthy weight management. Coconut oil has been proven to help you lose weight. The Journal of Academy of Nutrition and dietitians published a meta analysis of 13 studies and found that MCT oils which are medium chain triglycerides help you lose weight when they replace lcts which are the long chain triglycerides like canola oil and soybean oil. Never use those! Coconut Oil also helps you stay full longer so you're not as hungry. The lauric acid in coconut oil kills bacteria, viruses and fungi, virgin coconut oil, rather than refined, is what a Journal of Medicinal Food study found. Virgin coconut oil can kill bacteria, viruses and fungi both internally and on the skin. The MCTs found in coconut oil can improve brain function, stop memory loss and address Alzheimer's. Incorporating a high saturated fat diet can help those suffering from problems of the mind. Here's something you should write down: Taking two to three tablespoons of coconut oil twice daily is a good way to be certain of incorporating this important nutrient. Deterioration of brain cells over time leads to memory loss and loss of cognitive abilities. Researchers in Finland and France have shown that homeopathic remedies can be effective in relieving the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and reducing the formation of amyloid plaques. Coconut oil is good for the heart! It increases the healthy cholesterol also known as HDL and by increasing the HDL in the body and changing the ratio of HDL to LDL, the saturated fat in coconut oil lowers the risk of heart disease. I use coconut oil on my skin and hair almost daily. I use it on my skin every day after the shower, and I use it to remove my makeup and I saturate my hair with it about once per week. Grant Stoddard writes, "A study in the Journal of cosmetic science found that Coconut oil is the only oil that can prevent hair damage and protein loss because of its low molecular weight and straight linear chain which allows it to penetrate inside the hair shaft." Coconut oil is used for oral health too! You can brush your teeth with it, make toothpaste with it, and rinse with it also known as oil pulling. You can research the great benefits of oil pulling later. Just type in DuckDuckGo, "Oil Pulling" Remember how coconut oil kills bacteria? There are many more benefits to coconut oil use but we'll stop there for today so if you don't have any, go get some and be sure that it's organic, virgin, and not refined. The virgin coconut oil is solid at room temperature and not liquid. It can be found with the other cooking oils at the grocery store or your health food store. Links to all of this information will be in the show notes.

Now let's talk about your skin. We already established that Coconut oil is great to use on your skin. I also like raw shea butter, especially when there are itchy spots. Raw shea butter comes from a native wild-growing African tree that produces a tiny almond-like fruit with a nut inside. I have been using Better Shea Butter (that's the name of the company) BetterSheaButter.com for years. It's great for eczema, psoriasis, dry skin dermatitis, hives, acne, stretch marks, wrinkles, scars, cracked heels, rashes and burns. While I personally don't treat any of these things with shea butter because I use homeopathy, I do like to use it in addition to my homeopathic remedies to soothe itchiness. It's much thicker than coconut oil but it does melt and it has a natural SPF of 6 to 10. Coconut oil has a natural SPF of about 4 to 6. I use both of these as sunscreen and literally that's all put on my skin in the summer is coconut oil and sometimes shea butter. You can find recipes at bettersheabutter.com along with lots of great information on why raw shea butter is so good for you. Never use products on your skin, hair, or nails that you would not eat. You heard me! If you don't know how to pronounce it, or you wouldn't eat it, don't use it on your body. Your skin is the largest organ of your body in it absorbs everything that you put on it into the bloodstream. 

We've got the skin covered, but what about hair, nails, and makeup? That gets a little bit tougher. If you like to wear makeup, it is a little bit harder to find all natural products that you would actually eat but there are some that are better than others. Do some research and start changing your products slowly without fear or anxiety. I'm not saying that you need to run to your bathroom and throw everything out and start fresh and go to the store and spend hundreds of dollars. I'm saying start researching now. When you run out of eyeliner, already have an idea of which eyeliner you want to buy next. When you run out of lip gloss or lipstick, already know which one you're going to buy next. One chemical that you want to look for in these products as you do some research is parabens because they mimic estrogen which contributes to breast cancer. According to the Environmental Working Group, the following is a list of highly toxic chemicals in our beauty products that should be avoided at all costs.
So I'm going to read this list from EWG. You can go and look at it yourself and read more about it. I'm going to link it in the show notes and my disclaimer here is I'm not positive that I'm going to pronounce all of these correctly, but I'm going to do my best. 

  • Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
  • Paraformaldehyde, a type of formaldehyde.
  • Methylene glycol, a type of formaldehyde.
  • Quaternium 15, which releases formaldehyde.
  • Mercury, which can damage the kidneys and nervous system.
  • Dibutyl and diethylhexyl phthalates (Thaleit), which disrupt hormones and damage the reproductive system.
  • Isobutyl and isopropyl parabens, which disrupt hormones and harm the reproductive system.
  • The long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS, which have been linked to cancer.
  • M- and o-phenylenediamine, used in hair dyes, which irritate and sensitize the skin, damage DNA and can cause cancer.

So, go look at your beauty products, start searching for those without these chemicals to buy next, or just stop using them all together. I bet that you are beautiful without makeup! The easiest thing, however, to change first is your skincare. Simply use coconut oil and/or raw shea butter instead of whatever lotions, moisturizers, cleansers and makeup removers that you're currently using. Whenever you run out, toss them and go get the coconut oil or shea butter. In thinking about changing to more natural beauty products, we know that those products are going to be more expensive but we have to look at this in terms of immediate expense versus long term, the long term expense of declining health, doctor's visits, surgeries, cancer, medications, etcetera, right? So if you can spend more money now, you will likely not spend as much money later on all of those things. 

Next is hair, which is pretty easy. You can simply combine coconut milk and liquid castile soap with your favorite essential oils for a quick and easy shampoo. Wellness Mama has a recipe you can find on her website. You could also opt for the no poo method, which is great for some hair types. You simply use baking soda mixed with water in the shower. Apple cider vinegar would then be used as your conditioner to counteract the dryness of the baking soda. These methods take time to get used to because your scalp is so accustomed to making lots of oil to combat the chemicals. We're talking a couple of weeks max, so hang in there. You can find details at The Art of Simple on how to do the no poo method. I want to encourage you again, do not try to change everything in one week. Choose one thing and stick with it for at least a month before trying the next most important thing to you.

Now on to the homeopathic portion of this episode, which is Arnica Montana. 

I hope to give you a wide range of conditions and larger view of Arnica than just bruising and muscle pains. It's most commonly used in first aid, but also has a chronic picture and often people use it not even realizing that's a homeopathic remedy. You wouldn't believe how often I talk to someone who doesn't know that Arnica is a homeopathic remedy and they've been using it for a long time! Remember, you do not have to have all of the symptoms of Arnica to use it. I'm about to go through a large list. You might want to write these down because you won't remember them. 

  • I like to start with what Arnica is. It is in the compositae family, which is often referred to as the daisy or sunflower family. 
  • Arnica Montana is actually Leopard's Bane, which grows in mountainous regions. 
  • It's a yellow flower that looks windblown and straggly. Just picture it up on the cliff of a mountain up on the mountaintop hanging off the cliff, windblown and straggly. 
  • It's hard to farm because it likes to grow wherever it wants to grow. So when you're thinking about that, think of the person who is kind of like that too. 
  • Arnica is most widely known for trauma of the soft tissues such as bruising. 
  • The mother tincture of Arnica can be used. 
  • Arnica can easily be used for the immediate effects of trauma or the after effects later. So think of never well since a trauma, you can possibly use Arnica.
  • Soft tissue injuries like muscles, strains, overexertion, and sports injuries are highly indicated for the use of Arnica. 
  • You can use it as an oil, a cream, an ointment, a tincture, or by mouth homeopathically. 
  • Rub it into the muscles of the back when they're over strained or overused. 
  • One thing to remember is to never use Arnica on broken skin because it causes serious irritation of the wound. I'll get into wound healing in another episode. 
  • Arnica is great for muscle pain, where the muscles are sore,  bruised or worse for touch.
  • Think of Arnica before, during, and after childbirth because it reduces pain, swelling and bruising. 
  • Arnica is often prescribed by plastic surgeons before and after rhinoplasty or facelifts where there's a lot of bruising. 
  • Arnica is one of the first remedies we think of to deal with shock. Physical, mental, and emotional shock of the injury can be greatly helped with Arnica. 
  • Mechanical injuries, falls, blows to the head, contusions, and compound fractures are all greatly helped with Arnica. 
  • Remember, it's up to you to decide when or if you need to go to the hospital but you can use Arnica on the way. 
  • Arnica is also a great remedy for mental shock from grief, deep remorse, or sudden financial loss. These can be shocking situations and Arnica can help. 
  • This person does not want to be touched and may guard the injured area so that no one else can touch it. 
  • This person may be irritable, like Chamomile and aggressive in order to protect themselves. 
  • This defense can express itself in women as an extreme fear of being raped. Later, a more passive state develops. 
  • This person says, "Leave me alone and don't talk to me!" They get extremely irritated if you ask them questions, so they are worse for consolation. 
  • When Arnica isn't working Bryonia is a great second choice. 
  • You can also think of Arnica for a person who is anxious and emerges during sleep at night with a lots of anxiety. He may suddenly awaken with fear and anxiety with a fear of death or a fear of a heart attack. 
  • These are chronic conditions and can be helped with Arnica but when we ignore those things, the person eventually descends into apathy, forgetfulness, loss of interest in work, poor memory, low self esteem, restlessness, and over-sensitivity to pain. 
  • Being oversensitive in the body leads to restlessness because their anxiety keeps them moving unlike Rhus Tox where the pain is what keeps them moving. 
  • If you are picturing a person right now, you might want to try Arnica for them. 
  • Arnica is also a great sepsis remedy. 
  • This person may have offensive discharges like the smell of spoiled eggs from their breath, vomit, flatulence, or sweat. 
  • Some other great uses of Arnica are hoarseness from excess use of the larynx, vertigo from injury to the head, headaches, ecchymosis of the eye or epistaxis after coughing, problems after labor or intense physical activity, fever, flu and head congestion where the head is hot and the body is cold.

Modalities can help you find correct remedies so let's dive into the different modalities that indicate Arnica. 

First the things that make an Arnica case worse: 

  • Injuries 
  • Falls
  • Blows
  • Bruises
  • Sharp jarring after labor
  • Over exertion
  • Sprains 
  • The least touch
  • Rest
  • Damp
  • Cold
  • After sleep - that means that they're worse after sleeping
  • Old age
  • Alcohol
  • Lying on the left side

Things that make the Arnica case feel better: 

  • Lying with the head low
  • Lying outstretched
  • Open air
  • Cold bathing
  • Uncovering
  • Changing position
  • Sitting upright

So your next question might be what potency should I use? Arnica can be used in many different potencies. You'll easily find 30c in the store and it's a good choice but we definitely don't want to overlook 3c, 6c, 200c, and 1M or even 10M. The potency isn't nearly as important as getting the correct remedy. Potency can be chosen based on how deep you need to go in the person and that can be looked at as chronic conditions are deeper and may require higher potencies whereas an acute condition isn't as deep and could be addressed with a lower potency, BUT, in a severe acute condition, you might want to go deeper with the higher potency. The main thing is don't get stuck in analysis paralysis here. If all you have is 30c, give it! Use whatever you have and meet the intensity of the condition with the frequency of dosing. An example of this is a cold.  Colds aren't an intense severe condition, right? They don't require aggressive treatment, but a flu or a head injury are more severe so you might want to aggressively treat those.

That's it, folks. A big deep picture of Arnica. You can dig deeper in your Materia Medica.

I hope I've opened your eyes to a wide array of Arnica uses today. Please comment, rate and subscribe to this podcast so you can be sure to get all future content notifications. Also, please share with your friends and family who may be interested in a healthy approach to caring for their bodies.

In the next episode, I'll go into great detail on how to address cold and flu. I hope you'll join me next time. God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you! Have a great day!

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