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Prickly Ash

Traditionally used for: Numbing sore teeth and gums; Cold hands and feet; Joint and muscle aches; Sluggish digestion.

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What is Prickly Ash? Prickly Ash is a small, thorny North American tree. Herbalists use the dried bark, and less often the berries. It is also sold as Northern Prickly Ash, Toothache Bush or Yellow Wood. Chewing a piece of the bark makes the mouth tingle and go numb. That effect gave the tree its nickname. American folk healers and Eclectic doctors also used it as a warming remedy for cold hands, aching joints and slow digestion. Here is the honest verdict. There are almost no human studies on Prickly Ash for any use. Long use in tradition is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe. How does Prickly Ash work? No one has shown in people how Prickly Ash works. The ideas below come from tradition and from laboratory work. The bark holds alkaloids and coumarins, which are plant compounds. In test-tube studies, some of them slow bacteria and fungi. Whether that happens inside the body is not established. The mouth tingling is real and easy to feel. It is thought to come from compounds that act on nerve endings in the lining of the mouth. This local effect says nothing about effects deeper in the body. Tradition called the bark a stimulant that pushed blood to the hands and feet. That idea has never been tested in a proper trial. What forms does Prickly Ash come in? Prickly Ash is sold mainly as dried bark. Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts, are the next most common form. - Dried bark, cut or powdered, for tea - Tincture, taken in drops or a measured millilitre dose - Capsules of powdered bark - Blends for joints or circulation, mixed with other herbs - Berries, used far less often than the bark Check the Latin name on the label. Northern Prickly Ash is Zanthoxylum americanum. Szechuan pepper and Southern Prickly Ash are related but different plants. Where it comes from: Native peoples in eastern North America used the bark for toothache and sore gums. Settlers copied the practice, and the name Toothache Bush stuck. Eclectic doctors in the 1800s listed it as a warming stimulant. They gave it for rheumatism, cramps, sluggish digestion and cold hands and feet. Some added it to fever and cholera mixtures. The bark appeared in the United States Pharmacopoeia in the nineteenth century and later dropped out. Herbalists in the United States and Britain still use it today, mostly in circulation blends.

Helps

What does Prickly Ash help with? Toothache and sore gums (short-term numbing): Tradition used chewed bark to numb a sore tooth or gum. The numbing is real and starts fast, but it does nothing about the cause. No trial has tested the bark for dental pain. A cracked tooth or an abscess, which is a pocket of pus, needs a dentist. Cold hands and feet, poor circulation: This is the main use modern herbalists claim. Eclectic writers called the bark a warming stimulant that moved blood to the skin. Human studies on blood flow are missing. Treat this as tradition, not as a tested effect. Joint and muscle aches once called rheumatism: Folk practice used the bark for stiff, aching joints. Lab studies show some of its compounds act on inflammation signals in cells. That is a long way from pain relief in a person. No controlled trial supports this use. Sluggish digestion and stomach cramps: The bark is bitter and warming, so it was given before meals. Bitter herbs can prompt saliva and gut juices. There are no trials in people with indigestion. The bark can also irritate the stomach in some people. Leg cramps on walking: Some herbal blends for leg cramps include Prickly Ash. The idea comes from its circulation reputation, not from trials. Cramping leg pain on walking can mean narrowed arteries. See a doctor about that rather than treating it yourself.

Prickly Ash

Quick Facts

  • What it is: Prickly Ash is the bark of a thorny North American tree, long used in American folk and Eclectic herbal practice.
  • Main uses: Numbing sore teeth and gums, Cold hands and feet, Joint and muscle aches, Sluggish digestion
  • Active ingredients: Alkaloids such as chelerythrine, Coumarins, Lignans, Volatile oil, Tannins
  • Forms: Dried bark for tea, Tincture, Capsules, Herbal blends, Berries
  • Time to effect: Mouth tingling in seconds; no reliable timeline for anything else
  • Side effects: Mostly mild stomach upset, nausea and mouth numbness.
  • Pregnancy & breastfeeding: Avoid: traditionally used to stimulate the womb.

Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.

What is Prickly Ash?

Prickly Ash is a small, thorny North American tree. Herbalists use the dried bark, and less often the berries. It is also sold as Northern Prickly Ash, Toothache Bush or Yellow Wood.

Chewing a piece of the bark makes the mouth tingle and go numb. That effect gave the tree its nickname. American folk healers and Eclectic doctors also used it as a warming remedy for cold hands, aching joints and slow digestion.

Here is the honest verdict. There are almost no human studies on Prickly Ash for any use. Long use in tradition is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.

How does Prickly Ash work?

No one has shown in people how Prickly Ash works. The ideas below come from tradition and from laboratory work.

The bark holds alkaloids and coumarins, which are plant compounds. In test-tube studies, some of them slow bacteria and fungi. Whether that happens inside the body is not established.

The mouth tingling is real and easy to feel. It is thought to come from compounds that act on nerve endings in the lining of the mouth. This local effect says nothing about effects deeper in the body.

Tradition called the bark a stimulant that pushed blood to the hands and feet. That idea has never been tested in a proper trial.

What forms does Prickly Ash come in?

Prickly Ash is sold mainly as dried bark. Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts, are the next most common form.

- Dried bark, cut or powdered, for tea - Tincture, taken in drops or a measured millilitre dose - Capsules of powdered bark - Blends for joints or circulation, mixed with other herbs - Berries, used far less often than the bark

Check the Latin name on the label. Northern Prickly Ash is Zanthoxylum americanum. Szechuan pepper and Southern Prickly Ash are related but different plants.

Where it comes from:

Native peoples in eastern North America used the bark for toothache and sore gums. Settlers copied the practice, and the name Toothache Bush stuck.

Eclectic doctors in the 1800s listed it as a warming stimulant. They gave it for rheumatism, cramps, sluggish digestion and cold hands and feet. Some added it to fever and cholera mixtures.

The bark appeared in the United States Pharmacopoeia in the nineteenth century and later dropped out. Herbalists in the United States and Britain still use it today, mostly in circulation blends.

Who should avoid Prickly Ash?

  • Do not use if you are pregnant, since tradition treated the bark as able to act on the womb and safety is unknown
  • Do not use if you are breastfeeding
  • Do not give it to children
  • Do not use if you take warfarin, apixaban, rivaroxaban or any other blood thinner
  • Do not use if you have a bleeding disorder such as haemophilia, where the blood does not clot properly
  • Do not use if you have a peptic ulcer, which is a sore in the stomach lining, or ongoing gastritis (an inflamed stomach lining)
  • Do not use in the two weeks before any planned surgery
  • Avoid it if you have liver or kidney disease, unless your doctor has checked it over
  • Avoid it if you are allergic to plants in the citrus family, since Prickly Ash is a relative

When should you see a doctor?

Stop taking it and see a doctor if you get stomach pain, black stools, or bruising and bleeding that is new for you.

Also stop and get checked if you notice a rash, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or dark urine.

Get emergency help for swelling of the lips or throat, trouble breathing, or trouble swallowing. See a dentist about any toothache rather than numbing it for days.

Is Prickly Ash legal where you live?

In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement. The FDA has not approved it as a medicine for any condition. In the UK and the EU it is sold as a food supplement, with no licensed herbal medicine status.

Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.

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