Ouch, you’ve suffered a knock or bang, it’s sore and now it’s going to swell up, bruise and be sore for a week. Not necessarily! There are ways to minimise bruising. You can even use one in advance of a physical trauma such as an operation!
When Astral, my daughter’s horse, gave me a good kick on the bone to the side of my knee I was in agony. I instinctively covered the area with my hands, and then remembered to run in some Quantum Touch energy. When I got home I applied a cold compress for 24 hours, and took arnica. The next day I was surprised to find I could do all my usual exercises. There was no swelling; all that happened was my skin turned yellow and the bone was a little tender for a few days!
I expect one of the methods on its own would have been effective, but I wasn’t taking any chances! Here are the three methods you can use for bruising.
1. Channel healing energy through your hands
When a small child falls, many parents immediately cover the tender part with a hand, to help ‘make it better’. This is probably a remnant of a deep-rooted, healing instinct.
Healing modalities such as Reiki and Quantum Touch collect and channel healing energy through the hands; however you don’t need any training to access healing energy. Just some trust and imagination!
Cover the injured part with a hand, or two, and visualise healing energy from the air, the universe or other source being channelled down your arms and through your hands to the bruised area. You might like to link this to your breathing: use your inbreath to draw in the healing energy, and your outbreath to direct it to your hands and the bruised area.
2. Use cold water or a cold pack
Immerse the bruised area in cold running water, or apply a cold compress or cold pack to minimise both swelling and bruising. The cold also takes away the pain. It’s important to keep the area cold for some time, so use your judgement here. If the injured area shows signs of swelling keep going with the cold.
To apply a cold compress to a knee: soak a bandage in very cold water, wrap it round the knee (taking care to keep it loose), and cover with a small towel. Secure with a safety pin – I keep a nappy pin for this purpose! This works well overnight.
I think the water has extra healing power you don’t get from a cold pack, but either will help.
3. Use arnica
Arnica, a plant in the sunflower family, is well known for healing bruising. It is available from chemists as cream, ointment or homeopathic tablets. For a bad bruise apply some cream or ointment, and/or take two Arnica homeopathy tablets every two hours as long as symptoms persist.
If you know a part of your body is likely to suffer bruising, take homeopathic arnica for two days beforehand to minimise the likely bruise. I always take arnica before visiting the dentist; so if I have an injection the gum is never sore afterwards. Our friend had minimal bruising having taken arnica before a hip replacement operation.
Of course if you have any concerns about an injured area you should seek medical advice.
The Delicious Nugget: Your healing energy, cold water and arnica all help to minimise bruising, and speed up the healing process.
