Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Tepezcohuite is the bark of a small thorny tree, Mimosa tenuiflora. People in Mexico and Central America use it as a skin remedy.
It goes on the skin for burns, scrapes and sores that heal slowly. It is also used on rough or sore skin. You will find it in creams, soaps and healing powders sold as "skin tree bark".
Here is the honest evidence picture. Tepezcohuite has strong traditional standing in one region. But the human trial evidence is very thin.
Lab work shows the bark can kill bacteria. It can also calm inflammation (swelling and redness). There are published reports of people with leg ulcers getting better.
We could not confirm a well-designed human trial we trust. Traditional use tells you what people have long done. It is not proof that a remedy works, and that gap applies here.
One point matters more than the marketing does. The root bark of this same tree holds DMT (a strong drug that alters the mind). In some countries that makes the root bark a controlled substance.
Tepezcohuite is a bark product for the skin. It is not something to brew and drink. This page treats it as an outside remedy only.
The most likely explanation is simple chemistry at the skin surface. It is not a deep, body-wide effect.
The bark is very high in tannins. These plant compounds pull tissue tight and form a guard film over damaged skin.
That may be why it feels drying and soothing on a weeping burn or graze. It may also be why it seems to slow minor oozing.
Lab studies also show the bark extract can slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. In cell and animal tests, it can reduce inflammation (swelling and redness).
Some flavonoids in the bark act as antioxidants. That means they mop up damaging molecules. Whether any of this speeds real wound healing in people is still unproven.
Tepezcohuite is nearly always used on the skin.
Common forms:
Dried bark powder, dusted on clean, dry minor wounds or mixed into a paste.
Creams, ointments, gels and salves, usually with 1 to 5 percent bark extract.
Soaps, shampoos and face products.
Bark decoction (a strong simmered water extract) used as a wash or compress.
Capsules and tinctures for swallowing are sold online. There is no set dose for taking it by mouth. There is no good safety data for that use either.
Mayan and other Native peoples of southern Mexico and Central America have used tepezcohuite for centuries. It was mainly a burn and wound bark. The name comes from Nahuatl and is often translated as "skin tree".
It became widely known in Mexico after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. The powdered bark was used on burn injuries. The press reported it as helpful, but those reports were observations, not controlled studies.
In Brazil the same tree is known as jurema preta. There the root bark has its own ritual and mind-altering history.
See a doctor promptly if a wound or burn gets more painful, spreads redness, feels hot, swells, leaks pus or smells bad, or if you develop a fever. Get help the same day for a burn bigger than your palm, a burn with blisters, a wound that will not stop bleeding, or a sore on the leg or foot that is not healing.
Stop using it and speak to a doctor if you get a rash, itching or worsening irritation where you applied it.
Go to an emergency department if anyone swallows a bark preparation and becomes confused, agitated or hallucinates, or develops a fast heartbeat, high temperature or stiff muscles.
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 Tepezcohuite 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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