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Favorite/least favorite bruise creams?
When I first started pole fitness I bruised like mad. My climbing bruises were puple/red all the time. I think I have permanent bone bruises on the top of my dominant climbing foot. Everyone has places that only bruise once/twice learning a new move, and then some that take six months–apparently some that never go away/develope a bruise resistance. I had to take a break due to a rotatorcuff injury, and now that I’ve gotten back into it I can no longer find my favorite bruise cream. Walmart stopped carrying it, and now I’m a sad panda 🙁
I’m looking for a new bruise cream/gel/stick. I take a multivitamin, an iron pill, and slam an e-mergency packet every day. Right now I have a tennis ball red/blue/purple/ugly yellow green shaped bruise on my hip that I would love to go away. I’m open to buying online-order-only products, I just don’t want to go dropping money on a product that doesn’t work. I also undestand everyone reacts differently to most products (hell, we all react differently to different pole finishes, let alone medicinal products..) but this is just to get a general consensus, see if there’s a crowd favorite and least favorite 🙂
Bruise creams I’ve tried:
Scar Zone Bruise Cream:
My favorite that I can no longer find. It has arnica and vitamin k. Even the worst bruise would go away in 3-4 days, applying generously 3-5 times a day. Pricing was also highly reasonable, about $5
Dr. Holmquist Bruise Relief:
This is the one I’m using now. It’s alright…No funny scent, kinda oily. It seems to speed the early stages of bruising (as in, cuts down the red-> purple-> yellow time) but once my bruise turns mostly yellow it seems to stay yellow twice as long as opposed to dissappearing. It’s also kinda expensive. It’s $12 from Walgreens, but it’s twice the size as scar zone (2oz). This also contains no arnica :/
Boiron Arnica Gel:
So far the worst. The gel is watery, doesn’t sink into the skin. I applied 4 times a day with no results. The tube was large at $10 (I think it’s 3.5 oz) but I could have spent $10 elsewhere. Also, my tube was damaged at the bottom on purchase.Thanks, and happy poleing!
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24 Replies
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Right now I'm using the salve sold at my aerial school. I'm loving it! The other girls in my aerial school seem to like it a lot as well, and some girls from the neighboring pole studio and skateboarders have been buying it too coz of word of mouth. It's called "Black and Blue" by DVK Hawaii (https://www.facebook.com/dvkhawaii), made by another aerial student who understands exactly how badly bruised we get. I guess you can write her if you'd like to buy… she runs a small business, not like you can get it on Amazon https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif The ingredients are: organic calendula flowers, fresh wildharvested St. John's wort flowers, organic arnica flowers, organic olive oil, beeswax, organic lavender essential oil and vitamin E oil. Seems to heal my bruises nicely. I've been putting it on my scars as well, seems to soften and fade them. It's more of a balm, not a gel/cream/stick. Not oily. And I think it smells so good, now I have to put some on before I sleep even if I don't have bruises because the smell helps me relax lol. I think it must be the lavender in it… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gifThe smaller 1oz jar is around $7 I think, forgot how much the bigger one was. A little goes a long way though… I've only used like half of my small jar since buying it 2 months ago and I use it around 2-3 times a day for around 4-5 days in a row because by then the bruises would be gone. Then I go and bruise that part all over again haha!
I used to use the Whole Foods brand arnica gel, which healed my bruises nicely too. But it smells funny, is sticky, and whenever I'd get pole/silk burn over my bruises, it would really sting. It isn't bad but I'm favoring this new balm over it. My tube is 2.6 oz and cost around $10. It's runny, so it got used up fast.
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Oops I made a mistake. Small 1 oz is $12 and 2 oz is $18. Sorry bout that!
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I know that Aerial Amy touted Traumeel but I have yet to try it. It is twice the price of the Arnica that I use and it works well for me so I have not switched.
I buy my arnica at Swanson Vitamins….they ahve about teh best prices and you can usually find discount codes or free shipping codes on the internet. I usually buy the Arniflora gel (8% arnica) but the last time I went to order they were backorded so I ended up with the NOW foods cooling relief gel. It is kind of thin but works for me. It is 10% arnica.
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/NWF460/ItemDetail
https://www.swansonvitamins.com/BRK002/ItemDetail
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Funny that you posted this thread as I have a current thread about bruising also. Too bad the Arnica Gel isn't working for you. It works pretty good for me, usually. It does not seem to work as well for pole bruises for some reason. I just started taking the Emergen-C packets yesterday and I plan on going to get some Vitamin K cream today. Heard that really helps. Well, at least we're getting an awesome workout! Good Luck!
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Looks like you can buy the scar zone bruise cream off their website or place a phone order:
http://www.scarzone.com/bruise.shtml
Good luck! Hope your bruises heal quickly! 🙂
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favorite is injur heal herbal balm/oil from mountainroseherbs.com (Contains: Organic Arnica Flowers, St. John's Wort flowers, organic Calendula flowers, organic Olive oil, Beeswax, organic Lavender essential oil, and Vitamin E oil )
least favorite is some kind i got in a green little tin from burts bees. it smells horrible and does nothing for me.
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I second Gummypia. I am really liking DVKs Black and Blue Balm. When I didn't have that, or don't have it with me, I use Traumeel, in the gel version. I don't like creams, but I do know others who use the cream Traumeel and really like it. I have also used arnica in pill form, but could never really tell if it helped. Its not expensive though, and I have always used it at the same time as using other arnica topicals, so I know that the whole arsenal works well for me personally.
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I'm a third person liking DVK's Black and Blue balm. It doesn't sting, smells nice, and works quite well. Plus the tin is small and light-weight so you can easily carry it around in your workout bag, purse, or even pocket.
I also really like this ointment from a Canadian natural wellness store: http://saje.ca/all-natural/remedies/arnica-rescue-natures-remedy-ointment.html. It works the best for me so far but it's quite expensive, is only available in Canada, and the shipping to Hawaii is astronomical (around $19 last time I checked)!
So until I can get back to Vancouver (and that's not anytime soon), it will be DVK's Black and Blue balm for me!
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Forgot about my least favorite …
It's got to be this one that I picked up from Vitamin World: http://www.vitaminworld.com/arnica-871/arnica-cream-008641. It's quite cheap but I didn't think it worked at all … or if it did, it didn't work as fast as the other two I mentioned above.
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I use Dermal-K cream. 5% vitamin K. Definitely works a hell of a lot better than arnica for me, except a little pricier. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00021Z5HU/ref=mp_s_a_4?qid=1338954215&sr=8-4
However, after reading some of these posts I’m curious to try Black and Blue and see how that measures up…
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I use a topical spray that my older brother actually makes (he does mostly traditional chinese medicine, http://www.theherbalistpark.com/) called "Southern Praying Mantis Fall & Hit Wine." It's seriously magic! It works for my bruises as well as that dull achey pain you get when you land on your big toe the wrong way… *cough*…
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islandgirl, was there a particular formula from the Saje website that you liked? i checked it out and I see they have an arnica product, but quite a few other neato looking products as well. which ones have you tried?
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islandgirl, was there a particular formula from the Saje website that you liked? i checked it out and I see they have an arnica product, but quite a few other neato looking products as well. which ones have you tried?
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corby – For pain and bruises, I've only used Saje's Arnica Rescue Ointment and the Recovery Ointment. They work in conjuction with each other and I find my huge purple bruises disappear within 3-4 days if I apply per instructions. I want to try Pain Release and the Muscle Melt but like I said before, shipping to Hawaii is expensive! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif
I've tried some of their other products and I liked them all. I suffer from migraines and the Peppermint Halo works well for me. It also works if I have an upset stomach (rubbed on belly) or for occasional insomnia. I also have the Stress Release roll-on which I find works superbly for PMS irritability or bitchiness caused by having to work with irritating co-workers. LOL
Dang! They should pay me for marketing their stuff! hahahaha!
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Thanks for the info Islandgirl! I know, as I was reading the descriptions, I wanted to try it all… but have practically maxxed out the CC as it is. 🙂 whoops.
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