Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) is a small wild plant in the mustard family. It grows as a weed across Europe and much of the world. The dried leaves and stems are used on their own as a tea or as drops.
This is a single herb, not a blend. Folk healers in Europe used it mainly to slow bleeding. The most common uses are heavy periods, nosebleeds, and small cuts and grazes.
Here is the short verdict. The plant has a long, clear place in Western folk use, but good human trials are thin. Long use does not prove that a herb works, so read the rest of this page with that in mind.
One more point before you read on. Bleeding is a sign, not a diagnosis. If you bleed a lot, or bleed at odd times, you need a doctor to find the cause first.
No one has proved how shepherd's purse acts in the body, and the honest answer is that it is not settled.
The old idea was that it makes small blood vessels narrow and makes the womb squeeze. A tighter womb sheds less blood. Lab tests on animal tissue do show some squeezing action, but tissue in a dish is not the same as a person.
The plant also holds tannins. These make surface tissue draw tight and feel dry, which may be why the crushed plant was pressed on cuts and grazes.
Other effects have been seen in lab and animal work. These include small drops or rises in blood pressure, mild water loss through the kidneys, and changes in heart rate. None of this has been shown to be useful or safe in people.
Most people meet shepherd's purse as a dried herb tea or as a tincture, which is an alcohol extract taken as drops.
Other forms you may see are capsules of powdered herb, liquid extracts in glycerine, and fresh pressed juice. The fresh young leaves are also eaten as a salad green in some places, including parts of East Asia.
Injected forms were used in the past in hospitals. They are not used today and have no place in home use.
Shepherd's purse has been named in Western herb books for close to two thousand years.
Greek and Roman writers listed it, and it turns up in European folk medicine right through the Middle Ages. Midwives and country healers used it for heavy periods and for bleeding after birth.
It is also used as food and medicine in China, Japan and Korea, where it is known as a spring green. In the First World War, European doctors used it as a stand-in when supplies of stronger bleeding drugs ran out.
Some reactions to Shepherd's Purse need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
Get emergency help now if you soak through a pad or tampon every hour for two hours or more, if you pass clots bigger than a golf ball, if you faint, or if you feel short of breath or have chest pain.
Get emergency help now if you bleed at any point in pregnancy, or if you bleed heavily after giving birth. This herb is not a substitute for that care.
See a doctor soon if your periods last more than seven days, if you bleed between periods, or if you bleed at all after the menopause.
See a doctor soon if a nosebleed will not stop after twenty minutes of firm pressure, or if you notice blood in your urine or stool.
Stop the herb and speak to your doctor if you get heart flutters, dizziness, a rash, or unusual bruising while taking it.
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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