Never leave home with out it.

Today, instead of sharing about an essential oil, I'm sharing a secret.

This....

... is what I always have on hand.

I first learned about arnica gel and arnica montana when I was planning the home birth of my daughter. It was on the list of items to stock before the birth. And then I only took a few of the arnica montana pellets afterwards. (Natural birth has no lingering pain like I'm told a medicated birth can.)

Since then, with a very active boy and sometimes and even more active toddler girl I've used it plenty! (Not to mention on all my blond-moment accidents.) After all those falls and bumps to the noggin' this is a great thing to apply immediately. (Arnica montana: you dissolve the pellets under your tongue.)

~Recently my son was running through our upstairs and fell in to the corner of my wooden nightstand. It was a hard fall, no blood thankfully, but he had a good size dent in his forehead and many tears. By that evening it was only a mild bruise. The next day it was barely noticeable.

I've found it's also great for pain relief.

~In not my brightest moment, I shut all four fingers in the sliding door of our old Astro van. All the way. I had to open the door to get my hand out. Thinking fast, I grabbed the Arnica gel right away... well, after soaping my ring finger to remove my wedding ring. They stopped throbbing and I continued unloading groceries. When I finished I washed my hands like usual, and they immediately began throbbing again. I had inadvertently washed off the arnica gel. Ooops! This is when I realized that not only does it help and prevent bruising but helps with pain too!

~Yesterday we made a family trip to the grocery store, and my daughter while playing around, slammed the bridge of her nose into the bar on the grocery cart. Thankfully I had some in my purse. Today, no bruise! Even after ALL those tears!

I highly recommend this for any mom.

But not just mom's! My sister is a pole vaulter in college. I sent some to school with her last year. Have you ever seen a bruise after a pole bends and snaps back to hit you in the leg?!