Hai Tong Pi
Quick Facts
- What it is: Hai Tong Pi is the dried bark of the coral bean tree, used in Chinese medicine for stiff, aching joints.
- Main uses: Joint pain and stiffness, Low back and leg pain, Itchy skin and ringworm
- Best for: Traditional Chinese joint-pain formulas, under a practitioner
- Active ingredients: Erythrina alkaloids such as erythraline, Hypaphorine, Flavonoids
- Forms: Dried bark for boiling, Granules, Powder, Tincture, Skin wash
- Time to effect: Not known from research; tradition suggests days to a few weeks.
- Side effects: Mostly stomach upset; rarely muscle weakness, which needs a doctor.
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What is Hai Tong Pi?
Hai Tong Pi is the dried bark of the coral bean tree. It is also sold as Coral Bean Bark. It is a single herb from Chinese medicine, not a blend.
It is used most often for stiff, aching joints and a sore low back. It is also used on the skin for itch and ringworm. In Chinese terms it is said to "dispel wind-damp", which means it is used for pain that flares in cold, damp weather.
Human trial evidence is close to nil. Long use in a tradition is not proof that a herb works, and that is the case here. Read the safety notes below before you try it.
How does Hai Tong Pi work?
The honest answer is that no one has shown how it works in people.
Lab work points to plant chemicals in the bark that may calm swelling and dull pain. Some of these same chemicals act where nerve meets muscle in animal tests. That is why this herb needs care, not why it is thought to help.
None of this has been checked in a human trial. Treat it as a lead, not a fact.
What forms does Hai Tong Pi come in?
Most often you meet it as dried bark strips, boiled into a herb tea. Chinese herbalists nearly always add it to a formula with other herbs. It is rarely used on its own.
It also comes as granules, a loose powder, or a tincture (an alcohol extract). Some shops sell it as a wash or a soak for the skin. It is not a food and is not eaten raw.
Where it comes from:
Chinese herb books have named Hai Tong Pi since the Tang era, about the 8th century. It has stayed a steady, if minor, part of Chinese joint-pain formulas ever since.
The tree, Erythrina variegata, grows in south China and south east Asia. Healers in India and the Pacific islands use bark from close cousins of this tree for much the same aches.
Who should avoid Hai Tong Pi?
- Do not use if you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding.
- Do not give it to children.
- Do not use if you have myasthenia gravis (a disease that makes muscles weak) or any other nerve-muscle disease.
- Do not use if you take muscle relaxant drugs.
- Stop it at least two weeks before any planned surgery or procedure that uses an anaesthetic.
- Do not use if you have liver or kidney disease, unless your doctor says it is fine.
- Never eat the seeds or beans of the coral bean tree; only the bark is used, and the seeds are poisonous.
- Do not put the skin wash on broken, weeping or burnt skin.
- Do not use if you have had a reaction to this bark before.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop the herb and see a doctor if you get muscle weakness, heavy limbs, drooping eyelids, or trouble swallowing. Also see a doctor if your stomach is upset for more than a few days, if your skin flares where you used a wash, or if your joint pain gets worse rather than better.
Get emergency help at once for trouble breathing, a swollen face, lips or tongue, or a sudden widespread rash.
Joint pain with fever, a hot swollen joint, or new numbness needs a doctor now, not a herb.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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