Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Ringworm plant is a leafy shrub, Senna alata, grown across the tropics. In West Africa its crushed leaves are rubbed on itchy, scaly skin rashes. The Yoruba name is asunwon oyinbo, and "craw-craw" is pidgin for sores and scabies.
The plant has bright yellow flower spikes that look like candles. Both the fresh leaf and the dried leaf are used. It is also taken by mouth as a strong laxative tea.
Here is the short verdict. A few small trials suggest a leaf cream may help some fungal skin rashes. The evidence is thin, and long traditional use is not proof that a plant works or that it is safe.
The leaves are rich in anthraquinones, a group of plant chemicals with two very different effects.
On skin, the proposed action is antifungal. In laboratory tests, leaf extracts slow the growth of the fungi behind ringworm and athlete's foot. Whether that same effect happens on human skin is not well established.
In the gut, anthraquinones are a known stimulant laxative. They irritate the bowel wall and pull water into the stool. This effect is well proven for senna plants in people, and it is strong.
The leaves also hold tannins and flavonoids. In test tubes these calm some markers of swelling and kill some bacteria. No good human trials show that this helps a skin wound heal faster.
The traditional form is the fresh leaf, crushed or pounded into a green paste and put on the rash.
Other forms you may meet:
Leaf juice squeezed from fresh leaves.
Dried leaf powder, mixed with oil, shea butter or palm oil.
Medicated soaps and ointments sold across West Africa and online.
Dried leaf teas and decoctions, taken by mouth for constipation.
Capsules and tinctures from supplement sellers.
Strength is rarely stated on the label. Soaps and creams are the most common modern forms.
Ringworm plant has a long, well documented record in West African home medicine. Healers applied the pounded leaf to ringworm, scabies and other itchy skin complaints. The English name comes straight from that use.
The plant came from tropical America and spread across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Traditional healers in the Philippines, India and Nigeria all adopted it for skin disease. The leaf tea was also taken as a purge for constipation.
In some areas the leaves were used for sores, wounds and insect bites. These records describe what people did. They do not show that the treatments worked.
Stop and see a doctor if any of these happen.
The rash spreads, weeps, or has not improved after about two weeks.
The skin around it becomes hot, swollen or painful, or you develop a fever.
You get severe cramps, bloody stools or diarrhoea lasting more than two days after oral use.
You feel weak, dizzy, or notice your heart racing or skipping. These can be signs of low potassium.
Go to an emergency department for chest pain, fainting, or a heartbeat that feels wildly irregular.
Also see a doctor before starting if you think you have scabies. It needs a proven treatment and it spreads to others.
In the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, Senna alata is not approved as a medicine. It is sold as a cosmetic, a soap or a herbal supplement, and those are not checked for strength or purity the way drugs are.
In Nigeria, Ghana and the Philippines it is widely sold as a traditional herbal product, and some lotions are registered locally.
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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