Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Silk cotton tree bark is the bark of Ceiba pentandra, a very large tree of West Africa. In Twi it is called onyina. Healers have long used the inner bark as a simmered tea, a wash or a paste.
It is used in folk practice for loose stools, wounds, fever, pain and, more recently, for blood sugar. It is a traditional remedy, not an approved medicine.
Long traditional use shows that people valued the tree. It does not show that the bark works, and it does not show that the bark is safe.
The honest verdict: human evidence is very thin. Nearly all the research sits in test tubes and in rodents. No good trial shows that it treats any illness in people.
No one has shown how this bark acts in the human body. What exists is laboratory work and animal work, which can only hint.
In test tubes, bark extracts slow the growth of some bacteria and mop up free radicals. Whether that happens on skin or in the gut is not known.
In rats and mice, bark extracts have lowered blood sugar and reduced swelling. Rodent results often fail to repeat in people. Treat them as a question, not an answer.
The bark is high in tannins, which bind proteins and tighten tissue. In theory that could firm the gut lining and slow diarrhoea. That idea comes from chemistry, not from tested results in people.
The usual form is dried inner bark, sold as strips, chips or powder.
Common preparations include a decoction, which is bark simmered in water for a long time. A cold water soak is also used.
Powdered bark is sold loose and in capsules. Some sellers offer a tincture, which is a liquid extract in alcohol.
In West Africa the fresh bark is often pounded into a wet paste and put on the skin. Onyina also appears as one plant among many in mixed herbal mixtures, where the amount is rarely stated.
Kapok fibre from the seed pods is not a medicine. It is the fluff used to stuff pillows, mattresses and life jackets.
The silk cotton tree held a powerful place in West African life. In Akan areas it was treated as sacred and was often left standing when land was cleared.
Healers in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire used bark preparations as teas and washes. Written records describe use for loose stools, fever, wounds and swollen limbs.
Older reports also list the bark for diabetes, for painful periods and as a water pill (diuretic). These are accounts of what people did. They were not tests of whether it helped.
Stop and see a doctor if any of these happen.
You feel shaky, sweaty, confused or faint, which can mean low blood sugar.
Your diarrhoea lasts more than two days, or you see blood, or you cannot keep fluids down.
A wound becomes hot, swollen, more painful or starts to smell.
Your skin or eyes turn yellow, your urine turns dark, or you feel pain under the right ribs.
You get a fever with chills, especially in a malaria area. Go the same day.
You get a rash, swelling of the lips or face, or trouble breathing. That is an emergency; call for help.
In the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, silk cotton tree bark is not approved as a medicine. It may be sold as a herbal product or botanical supplement, which means it is not checked for strength or purity. In Ghana and Nigeria it is sold openly in markets as a traditional remedy.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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