Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Ushna, also called Charila, is a dried lichen. A lichen is a plant-like growth made of a fungus and an alga living as one body. It grows on rocks and tree bark, and the grey, curly pieces are dried for use.
In Unani medicine it is used on its own as a single drug. Healers have given it for fever, cough, headache and urine problems. Cooks also use it as a spice called stone flower, which adds a warm, earthy smell.
Here is the plain verdict. It has a long record of use in Unani and Ayurveda, but no human trials show that it treats any illness. A long history of use is not proof of effect, and that point is made here once and not repeated below.
No one has shown how Ushna acts in the human body. What follows is an idea, not a proven fact.
The lichen holds acids, mainly usnic acid. In lab dishes, usnic acid can slow the growth of some germs. It can also damage liver cells in lab tests and in animals.
Lab and animal work does not tell you what happens in a person who takes a spoon of the powder. The dose, the way the body takes it in, and the effect on real illness are all unknown.
Dried whole pieces are the most common form. They look like grey or brown curly flakes.
Ground powder is used in Unani mixes and in spice blends. Ushna also turns up inside ready-made Unani compound medicines.
Cooks use the whole flakes in masala blends such as goda masala and some Chettinad blends. A water decoction, made by boiling the pieces, is a traditional home form.
Ushna has a long standing in Persian and Unani medicine, where it is listed as a single drug with a warm, drying nature.
Ayurvedic texts describe the same lichen as Shaileyam, a fragrant drug used in incense and in medicines. Trade in stone flower across South Asia goes back centuries.
It reached kitchens as much as clinics. Spice markets still sell it by the handful for meat and lentil dishes.
Some reactions to Ushna (Charila) need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
Stop taking it and see a doctor the same day if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow, your urine turns dark, your stools go pale, or you get pain under your right ribs or deep tiredness. These can be signs that the liver is hurt.
Get emergency help if your face, lips or throat swell, or if you have trouble breathing after taking it.
See a doctor instead of treating yourself if a fever lasts more than three days, if a cough lasts more than three weeks, or if passing urine burns and you also have back pain or fever.
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 Ushna (Charila) 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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