Melilotus officinalis
Quick Facts
- What it is: A homeopathic remedy made from heavily diluted yellow sweet clover.
- Main uses: Pounding, full-feeling headache, Nosebleeds, Headache that eases after a nosebleed
- Best for: People already working with a homeopath on headache patterns
- Active ingredients: None measurable at 30C, Coumarin, in the fresh plant and mother tincture only
- Forms: Sugar pills or pellets, Liquid drops in alcohol, Granules, Mother tincture (raw plant extract)
- Time to effect: Tradition says hours to days; no trial evidence supports any timeline.
- Side effects: None reported for high dilutions; the raw plant extract can raise bleeding risk.
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What is Melilotus officinalis?
Melilotus officinalis is a single homeopathic remedy. It is made from yellow sweet clover, a wild plant with small yellow flowers. Homeopaths have used it mainly for pounding headaches and for nosebleeds.
The remedy is made by diluting the plant over and over, with shaking at each step. At 30C there is, for all practical purposes, no plant left in the pill. Trials in people have not shown homeopathic pills to work better than a dummy pill.
Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works. This page reports the tradition and the evidence side by side. We keep the two apart so you can judge both.
How does Melilotus officinalis work?
Homeopathy holds that a tiny, much diluted dose can push the body to fix the same symptoms the whole plant would cause. No one has shown how that could work. Lab and body tests have not found such an effect.
At 30C the pill holds no plant matter you could measure. So there is no drug action to point to. Feeling better is best put down to time, hope, and the care of a good consultation.
What forms does Melilotus officinalis come in?
You will usually find it as small sugar pills or pellets. Liquid drops in alcohol and water are also sold.
Common strengths are 6C, 12C, 30C and 200C. A mother tincture (the raw plant extract) also exists, and it is the one form that can still carry plant chemicals.
Where it comes from:
Yellow sweet clover grows across Europe and Asia and now grows wild in North America. Folk healers used the fresh herb on the skin and as a tea for aches and swelling.
Homeopathic writers in the United States in the late 1800s described the diluted remedy for a full, throbbing head and for nosebleeds. It has stayed a small, second-line remedy rather than a famous one.
Who should avoid Melilotus officinalis?
- Do not use the mother tincture (raw plant extract) or a low dilution if you take warfarin or any other anticoagulant (blood thinner).
- Do not use the mother tincture or a low dilution if you take an antiplatelet medicine, a drug that stops blood cells sticking together, such as aspirin or clopidogrel.
- Do not use if you have a bleeding disorder such as haemophilia (a condition where blood does not clot properly).
- Do not use in the two weeks before planned surgery or dental work.
- Avoid it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, because its safety has not been studied.
- Do not use if you have liver disease (a damaged liver).
- Do not use if you are allergic to sweet clover or other clovers.
- Do not give it to a child without advice from a doctor.
- Never use this remedy instead of urgent care for heavy, repeated or unexplained bleeding.
- Never use it as a substitute for medicine your doctor has prescribed.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor if a nosebleed lasts more than 20 minutes, keeps coming back, or follows a head injury. Get urgent help for a sudden, very severe headache, a headache with fever, a stiff neck, vomiting, weakness, confusion or trouble speaking. Also see a doctor about bruises you cannot explain, blood in your stool or urine, or bleeding gums, and about any headache that keeps getting worse over days or weeks.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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