Arnica salve is a popular item to use for joint and muscle pain, and even for headaches. It has been used in North America and Europe for a very long time and it is a growing alternative as a natural medicine as of 2010. You can often purchase arnica salve at a pharmacy or natural health stores, but you can also make this substance yourself. There are a couple of different methods to doing this.
Simple Recipes
A simple method to make arnica salve includes several different ingredients. It actually uses more ingredients than other more complicated recipes. The first simple recipe includes organic olive oil, sunflower oil, vitamin E, beeswax and arnica flowers. There is a second recipe that you can use as well.
You will need arnica flower, witch hazel, pine essential oil, pine tar and sulfur.
With the ingredients from either recipe you have to make a paste, making sure that you mix it well. These will reduce inflammation. Some doctors use these recipes for patients after surgery.
Materials Gathering
Another recipe actually takes less ingredients, but making it is a little more complicated.
For this recipe you will need beeswax, organic arnica flowers, cayenne pepper, olive oil and lavender essential oil. The pieces of equipment that you will need include a wide-mouthed glass jar, a plastic strainer, a piece of cotton cloth and 1 to 2 oz. tin cans.
Making the Salve
Grind 8 oz. of arnica flower and mix it with 2.5 oz. of cayenne pepper, then place the mix into a glass jar. Pour a bit of olive oil over it and stir it very well. Keep it warm. Use a broiler to do so as long as it has a controlled temperature gauge on it. Make sure that you stir the oil twice a day for two weeks.
After two weeks, you can extract the oil by placing the cotton cloth into the strainer and pouring the mixture into the cloth. Squeeze the oil out of the cloth into a container. If you use a small hand press, then you will get much more out of it. Let it sit throughout the night. The next morning heat the oil and melt the beeswax in different pans. Stop heating the oil when the wax is melted. You can now mix the two together. It takes between 2 and 3 tbsps. of beeswax mixed with 1 cup of oil to make a good consistency. Add the lavender oil for scent and pour the mix into the cans to cool.
Tags: will need, arnica flower, arnica flowers, cayenne pepper, cloth into, cotton cloth, more complicated