Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Baengmogeun is the dried root of a grass. The plant's Latin name is Imperata cylindrica. Most people know it as cogon grass rhizome (rhizome means an under-ground stem or root).
It is a single herb, not a blend. Korean medicine boils the root into a light, sweet tea. Healers give it for nosebleeds, for blood in the urine, and to help you pass more water.
Human proof is thin. Nearly all of the research is lab and animal work. A long history of use is not proof that a herb works in people.
No one has shown how this root works in the body. What we have are old ideas and lab tests.
The root holds a lot of potassium salts (a mineral salt). In animals, this seems to make them pass more urine. Test tube work hints that it can calm swelling and mop up free radicals (unstable bits that can harm cells).
Korean and Chinese texts read it a different way. They say the root cools heat in the blood and helps bleeding settle. That is a map of old thinking, not a lab result.
None of this tells you what will happen in your body. Treat the ideas above as leads, not facts.
The usual form is dried, cut root sold loose for tea. You boil it in water to make a decoction (a strong boiled tea). Tea bags and fine powder are also sold.
Some markets sell the fresh root. People juice it or chew it for the sweet sap.
Herb shops often put it in mixed formulas with other roots. Pills, capsules and liquid extracts exist but are less common. Strength varies a lot from batch to batch, so two products are rarely the same.
The root has a long place in East Asian herb books. Korean medicine lists it in the Donguibogam of 1613.
Chinese texts name it bai mao gen and go back close to 2,000 years. Japanese Kampo uses the same root.
Folk healers in South and South-East Asia also boil it for hot urine and nosebleeds. Village use of this kind is still common today.
See a doctor the same day if you have blood in your urine, blood you cough up, or a nosebleed that will not stop after 15 minutes of firm pressure.
Call for urgent help if you feel faint, your heart flutters or races, your muscles go weak, or you stop passing urine.
Book an appointment soon if your legs stay swollen, your skin or eyes look yellow, or burning urine comes with fever or back pain. Stop the tea and speak to your doctor if you get a rash, swelling of the lips or trouble breathing.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for baengmogeun is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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