Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Lignum vitae is the wood and resin of Guaiacum officinale, a slow growing Caribbean tree. In Cuba and the Dominican Republic it is called guayacán. In Haiti it is called gayak.
Folk healers used the shaved wood, the bark and the sticky resin. The resin is sold as guaiac or gum guaiac. People took it as a simmered tea or a tincture for joint pain, gout and skin problems.
Here is the honest verdict. There are almost no human trials, so we cannot say it treats any condition. Long traditional use is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
No one has shown how lignum vitae works in people.
The resin holds lignans, a group of plant compounds. In test tube work they act as antioxidants. They slow the spoiling of fats and oils, which is why the resin is used as a food preservative.
Lab and animal studies hint at some anti-inflammatory activity (calming of swelling). That work has not been repeated in people, and lab results often do not carry over.
Caribbean tradition treated the wood as a sweating remedy and a mild laxative. Large amounts do loosen the bowels and can irritate the gut. That is a real effect, but it is not a treatment for joint disease.
Wood shavings or chips are the most common form. They are simmered for a long time to make a decoction (a strong tea).
It is also sold as a tincture, which is an alcohol extract. Lumps and powder of the raw resin are used as well. Capsules and mixed tonic formulas are sold across the Caribbean.
Gum guaiac also turns up in food as an antioxidant, coded E314 in Europe. The amounts used there are tiny.
Guaiacwood essential oil is a different product. It usually comes from Bulnesia sarmientoi, a related South American tree. It is used for scent only, and must never be swallowed.
Lignum vitae has one of the longest written records of any Caribbean remedy.
Spanish writers shipped the wood to Europe in the early 1500s. It was sold there as a cure for syphilis and called holy wood. Doctors later dropped it, because it did not clear the disease.
In the islands, healers used the wood and resin for rheumatic aches, gout, period pain and skin sores. European herbals later listed it as a supportive remedy for stiff, painful joints.
The tree is now scarce in the wild. Heavy logging for its dense, oily timber is the reason.
Stop taking it and get urgent help if your lips, tongue or face swell, or if you struggle to breathe. That can be a severe allergic reaction.
Stop and see a doctor the same week if you get:
severe or lasting stomach pain; vomiting that will not settle; black or bloody stools; a spreading rash or hives; yellow skin or eyes; diarrhoea that lasts more than two days.
Also see a doctor if joint pain, a sore that will not heal, or any genital sore is getting worse. These need a diagnosis, not a tonic.
In the United States and the United Kingdom it is sold as a herbal product or food ingredient, not as an approved medicine. Trade is controlled, because the tree is listed under CITES Appendix II, an international treaty that limits trade in threatened species.
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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