What is Lu Xian Cao?
What is Lu Xian Cao?
Lu Xian Cao is a single dried herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is made from the whole above-ground plant of Pyrola species. It is also sold as Pyrola Herb.
Most often it is taken as a water decoction. That means a tea made by simmering the herb. People take it for aching joints, low back pain and weak legs.
In TCM it is also used to slow long-standing bleeding. That includes heavy periods or blood in the sputum. It is used for a lingering dry cough as well.
It is nearly always one part of a multi-herb formula. It is not usually taken on its own.
Here is the honest evidence position. Lu Xian Cao has a long, written record inside Chinese medicine. But there is almost no published human trial work in English.
Traditional use tells you what people have done with a plant for centuries. It does not prove the plant works. Those are two separate things.
Nothing here should replace treatment your doctor has prescribed.
How does Lu Xian Cao work?
How might Lu Xian Cao work?
No one has shown in people how Lu Xian Cao works. What follows is theory plus lab findings, not proof.
In TCM terms, it is said to tonify the kidney and liver. It is said to strengthen the sinews and bones. It is also said to stop bleeding.
It is said to drive out wind-damp too. Wind-damp is the old explanation for joint pain that moves about. It also covers pain that gets worse in cold, wet weather.
In lab terms, the plant holds arbutin and chimaphilin. In the body, arbutin breaks down into hydroquinone.
Hydroquinone has some antibacterial (germ-killing) effect in urine. It is also the reason long-term use is not seen as safe.
Test-tube and animal studies report anti-inflammatory (swelling-calming) effects. They also report widening of the blood vessels. But animal results often fail to repeat in humans.
What forms does Lu Xian Cao come in?
How is Lu Xian Cao sold?
You will mainly find it in these forms.
- Dried cut herb for decoction. This is the standard TCM form.
- Granules or a strong powdered extract. Both melt into hot water.
- Part of ready-made pill and tablet formulas for joint and back pain.
- Now and then as a tincture (an alcohol extract). Western herb shops sell this, usually labelled Pyrola.
It is not a food. It is not a tea you drink casually. As a supplement, it has no standard capsule dose.
Where it comes from:
Where does Lu Xian Cao come from?
It has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. It appears in later herbal reference texts (materia medica). It is also listed in the modern Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
The name means roughly 'deer-holding herb'. It comes from folklore about deer eating it.
It is a known, long-standing staple within Chinese medicine. But it has no matching history in European or Ayurvedic practice.
Some Pyrola species had local use in Russia. Some North American peoples used them for sores and urinary (bladder and kidney) complaints.
Who should avoid Lu Xian Cao?
- Do not use if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant: this herb is traditionally used to affect bleeding and has not been shown safe in pregnancy.
- Do not use if you are breastfeeding.
- Never give this herb to children.
- Do not use if you take warfarin, apixaban, rivaroxaban or any other anticoagulant (blood-thinning medicine) unless your prescriber has agreed.
- Do not use if you take aspirin, clopidogrel or another antiplatelet medicine to prevent clots.
- Do not use if you have kidney disease or reduced kidney function.
- Do not use if you have liver disease, hepatitis (liver inflammation) or a history of liver injury from medicines or herbs.
- Do not use if you take digoxin or another medicine for an irregular heartbeat.
- Do not use if you have a bleeding or clotting disorder, such as haemophilia.
- Do not use if you are due to have surgery within the next two weeks.
- Do not use it continuously: never take it for more than about two weeks at a time without a practitioner reviewing you.
- Do not use if you are coughing up blood, passing blood, or bleeding heavily, until a doctor has found the cause.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor promptly if you notice yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, dark brown urine, pain over your right ribs, or you are passing much less urine than normal. These can be signs the liver or kidneys are being harmed, so stop the herb straight away.
Get urgent medical help if you cough up blood, vomit anything that looks like coffee grounds, pass black tarry stools, bruise unusually easily, or bleed from your nose or gums without a clear reason.
Get help the same day for a spreading rash, swelling of the face, lips or tongue, or trouble breathing, which suggest an allergic reaction.
Book a normal appointment if joint pain, back pain, heavy periods or a cough has not improved after two weeks, or is getting worse. Those symptoms need a diagnosis, and a herb is not a substitute for one.
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