The alpine plant Arnia montana is a popular herbal and homoeopathic remedy because of its renowned anti-inflammatory properties for bruising and soft tissue injury. It also has a reputation for being useful after various types of surgery. However, the effectiveness of arnica was called into question by a recent and well reported study that claimed oral homoeopathic arnica was no better than a placebo in patients undergoing surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. Thaking 30C (high potency) or 6C (low potency) arnica did not reduce post-operative pain, swelling or bruising compared with the placebo group. It was concluded that the popularity of homoeopathic arnica is due to enthusiastic reporting by patients who use it and improve quickly but not by those patients for whom it made no difference. The researchers hoped that the study would "help people to look for more effective treatments and save money by not buying homoeopathic arnica."
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