Mum-to-Mum tips

Sore Wrists

New Mum Sore Wrists by Monica Costa - January 2007

It seems to be one of the struggles of motherhood, how to juggle home life with sore wrists. I'd like to share my experience with you as I might have found an effective home remedy to that.

Before Christmas with Diego reaching 4 months and getting heavier and heavier the pain on my already sore wrists got really excruciating and I blessed my trip to my mum who could help me holding him. My aunt who is a doctor said that I had what in Italy is called the new mother's Tendinitis, i.e. an inflammation of a tendon and suggested that I used Arnica Montana balm with a wristband. I massaged my wrists for a week and kept it straight with a tight wristband up for a couple of weeks and as for a miracle my pain disappeared.

I researched a bit on Arnica and found out that it is widely used in alternative and also in traditional medicine to cure inflammations.

See below some info on Arnica Montana. I bought it cheaply in Italy but you can easily find it at boots or superdrug for around 3 quid. It is ok to be used while breastfeeding.

If you have suggestions or helpful tips on how to heal new mum's wrists please share them so that other moms can learn from your experiences.

Arnica Montana

Known for its mind and body healing properties, the herb Arnica has been harvested for centuries from the mountain pastures and lowland marshes of Europe and North America. The perennial plant with orange-yellow, daisy-like flowers has a pleasant spicy smell and is renowned for its curative and restorative powers. The flowers and rootstocks are dried, the most valuable part being the flowers. This amazing herb, sometimes brewed as a tea, but often made into a lotion and infused with oil or cream for injuries such as falls, is a known homeopathic cure for stress, impotence, sleeping problems, baldness and emotional shock and trauma caused by past incidents.

Arnica once almost completely disappeared because of over harvesting but is now grown and gathered sustainably to ensure that the herb remains in use for future generations. Arnica Montana is now available for general use.

Homeopathy's founder, Samuel Hahnemann discovered in his experiments with the herb Arnica over 200 years ago that it helped heal everything from baldness and impotence to incontinence, cramps, bruises, general soreness, forgetfulness, travel sickness, sleeping problems, gout, rheumatism and emotional problems.

Arnica was made into a homeopathic remedy in the 18th and 19th centuries following Hahnemann's research. Today, Arnica Montana is the first remedy used by homeopaths to heal people affected by shock, trauma or injury to the body, and is as appropriate for a mental, emotional or spiritual shock as much as physical injuries.

The nonirritant extract is used in anti inflammatory and regenerative creams and in hair cosmetics. The extract can also be used in cleansing creams, skin lotions and as an ingredient in facial steams before the application of face packs.