What is Gao Ben?
Gao Ben is the dried root and rhizome (underground stem) of Chinese lovage, a plant in the carrot family. It is a single herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, not a blend. Practitioners use it mainly for headaches at the top and back of the head that come on with cold, wind or damp weather, and for aching joints and muscles.
It is almost always taken as part of a formula with other herbs, usually boiled into a tea. It also appears in some patent pills and powders sold for colds and headaches.
Honest verdict on the evidence: Gao Ben has a long and well-documented history in Chinese medicine, but there are no published human trials testing it on its own. A long record of traditional use is not the same as proof that something works, and that distinction applies to everything on this page.
How does Gao Ben work?
Nobody has shown in people how Gao Ben works, so what follows is theory plus laboratory findings.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine terms, Gao Ben is described as warm and acrid. It is said to release "wind-cold" from the surface of the body and to move stuck cold and damp out of the channels, which is the traditional way of explaining relief of headache and joint ache.
In the laboratory, the plant's aromatic oil contains phthalides, which relaxed smooth muscle (the muscle in blood vessels and the gut) in animal tissue. Animal studies have also reported pain-dulling and anti-inflammatory effects. These findings are a reason to keep studying the herb, not evidence that it helps a person with a headache.
What forms does Gao Ben come in?
Gao Ben is sold as:
Dried sliced root and rhizome, to be boiled into a decoction (a strong tea made by simmering). This is the standard form.
Granules or a dried powdered extract, stirred into hot water.
An ingredient inside ready-made Chinese patent pills and powders for colds and headaches.
Occasionally as an essential oil or in topical liniments. The essential oil is for external use only and should never be swallowed.
Where it comes from:
Gao Ben is an old herb. It is listed in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the foundational Chinese herbal text compiled roughly two thousand years ago, and it has appeared steadily in Chinese materia medica ever since.
Classical texts link it to the Bladder channel and to pain at the crown and back of the head. It is still listed in the modern Chinese Pharmacopoeia, sourced mainly from Ligusticum sinense and Ligusticum jeholense.
Its use outside East Asia is limited, and it has little standing in Western herbal practice.
Who should avoid Gao Ben?
- Do not use if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Safety in pregnancy has not been established, and this herb is a strong circulatory mover.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding.
- Do not use if you take warfarin, apixaban, rivaroxaban, heparin or any other blood-thinning medicine, unless a doctor who knows about the herb says it is safe.
- Do not use if you have a bleeding disorder such as haemophilia (a condition where blood does not clot properly), or low platelets (the cells that plug a bleed).
- Stop at least two weeks before any planned surgery, and do not restart until your surgeon says you may.
- Do not use if you are allergic to plants in the carrot family, such as celery, parsley, coriander, fennel or angelica.
- Do not use if your headache is hot and throbbing, or comes with night sweats, a dry mouth and a red tongue. In Chinese medicine this is the wrong pattern for a warming herb and it can make the headache worse.
- Never swallow the essential oil or a topical liniment. Those forms are for the skin only.
- Do not give it to a child except under the care of a qualified practitioner.
- Do not use it alongside lithium, digoxin or anti-seizure medicine without medical advice, because these drugs have a small gap between a helpful dose and a harmful one.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor straight away if you get a sudden, severe headache that feels like the worst of your life, or a headache with fever, a stiff neck, a rash, confusion, weakness on one side, or trouble seeing or speaking. Also get urgent help for any headache that follows a blow to the head.
Stop the herb and contact a doctor if you notice unusual bruising, bleeding gums, blood in your urine or stool, or black tarry stools.
Book a normal appointment if your headache or joint pain has not improved after about a week, if headaches are getting more frequent, or if you develop a rash, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or ongoing stomach pain.
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