What is Southern Prickly Ash?

What is Southern Prickly Ash? It is a thorny shrub or small tree of the eastern United States, Aralia spinosa.

Folk healers chewed or soaked its bark for toothache, joint pain and skin sores. Modern human evidence for any of this is essentially absent.

The name is a trap. Herb sellers use "prickly ash" and "toothache tree" for at least two unrelated plants. Aralia spinosa is one; Zanthoxylum clava-herculis is the other, and they are not the same plant.

The fresh bark, root and berries are harsh. They can burn the mouth, trigger vomiting, and irritate skin on contact. Traditional use is a record of what people did, not proof that it works or that it is safe.

How does Southern Prickly Ash work?

How is it supposed to work? No one has shown how it works in people, because the human studies have not been done.

Aralia species contain saponins, a soapy plant compound. In test tubes, saponins can irritate tissue and break open some cells. That irritant action is the likely reason fresh bark causes a burning, tingling mouth and watery drooling.

In cell and animal work, extracts of related Aralia plants appear to lower some markers of inflammation. Whether that changes pain or swelling in a person is not established.

The folk logic was simpler. A substance that made the mouth burn and flood with saliva was believed to "draw out" toothache and clear sluggish blood. That idea is not supported by modern study.

What forms does Southern Prickly Ash come in?

How is it sold? Rarely, and with little quality control. You are far more likely to find Zanthoxylum sold under the same common names.

Forms you may see:

- Dried bark or root bark, loose or cut - Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts - Capsules of powdered bark, usually in blended formulas - Homemade folk preparations from fresh plant material

Fresh plant preparations are the riskiest. The fresh bark and sap are strong irritants to skin, mouth and gut.

The berries are sometimes mistaken for elderberries. They are not food, and have caused vomiting in people who ate them.

Where it comes from:

Where does it come from? It belongs to American folk and Eclectic medicine, mainly the 1800s and early 1900s.

Eclectic physicians listed Aralia spinosa for toothache, rheumatic joint pain, skin eruptions and chronic sores. Bark was chewed, or steeped and used as a wash. Some writers also used it as an emetic, meaning a remedy to cause vomiting.

Older texts warned that the fresh plant was acrid and could blister. That caution sat alongside the recommendations, and it has held up better than the claims have.

What does Southern Prickly Ash help with?

• Toothache and mouth pain: This is the oldest claim and the reason for the name "toothache tree". Chewing the bark causes tingling, burning and heavy drooling. Folk users read that as pain being drawn out. No human trial has tested it for dental pain. A tooth that hurts usually has a cause that needs a dentist, such as decay or infection. Numbing the gum does not treat that cause.
• Joint and muscle pain: Eclectic texts listed it for rheumatic pain, taken by mouth and applied to the skin. The reasoning was that it warmed and stimulated the tissue. There are no human trials in arthritis or muscle pain. Lab work on related Aralia species shows effects on inflammation markers in cells. That is a long way from pain relief in a person.
• Skin sores and rashes: Bark washes were applied to old sores, boils and itchy rashes. No controlled study supports this. There is a real argument against it. The fresh plant irritates skin and has caused rashes in people who handled it. Putting an irritant on broken skin can make things worse.
• Use as an emetic: Some historical practitioners used the bark to cause vomiting on purpose. It does appear to do this, which tells you how harsh it is. Deliberate vomiting is no longer used as a treatment. It can cause choking, tears in the gullet, and loss of body fluid and salts.

What are the side effects of Southern Prickly Ash?

• Burning or tingling in the mouth, lips and tongue
• Heavy drooling
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stomach cramps and diarrhoea
• Skin rash, redness or blistering from contact with sap or fresh bark
• Eye stinging and watering if sap gets in the eye
• Dehydration after repeated vomiting

Good to know:

Mouth and gut irritation is the common problem, and it is expected rather than rare. Fresh plant material is harsher than dried.

The berries are the biggest hazard. People who have eaten them, including children, have had vomiting and stomach pain.

Serious harm is uncommon but possible, mostly through heavy vomiting or an allergic reaction. Rated caution: this plant causes predictable irritation, and no safe use level has been established.

How much Southern Prickly Ash should you take?

• Recommended daily: This page gives no dose. There is no tested safe amount for Aralia spinosa in people, and no study to base one on. Two further problems make a number meaningless. Products sold as "prickly ash" are often a different plant entirely. And the bark varies a lot in strength, so the same spoonful is not the same dose twice. If you own a product, follow the label and the advice of a pharmacist or doctor. Do not scale up a folk recipe.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter here, because no dose or schedule is supported by evidence. No study has compared morning with evening use.
• With or without food: No food guidance can be given, since no dose is given. As a general point, harsh plant extracts upset an empty stomach more often. Nausea or vomiting after taking it is a reason to stop and seek advice.
• Time to effect: The mouth-burning and drooling from fresh bark start within minutes. That is irritation, not healing. For joint pain, skin problems or anything else, there is no reliable timeline. It may well do nothing at all.
• How long to take it: No safe length of use can be stated, because no one has studied use over time in people. There is no long-term safety data at all. Repeated use of an irritant plant on the gut or skin is not something this page can support.