Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Xu Duan is the dried root of a teasel plant, Dipsacus asper. It is a single herb, not a blend. It is also sold as Dipsacus root or Japanese teasel root.
In Chinese medicine it is given for a sore low back and weak, aching knees. It is also used while a broken bone or a strained tendon heals. Some old formulas use it in pregnancy to steady a threatened miscarriage.
Here is the plain verdict. Xu Duan has a long, steady place in Chinese herb practice, but human trials of the root on its own are very thin. Long use is not proof that a herb works, and that point is made once here for the whole page.
No one has shown how Xu Duan works in people. What follows is theory and lab work, not proof.
In Chinese medicine, the root is said to "mend what is broken". The idea is that it warms and feeds the kidney and liver systems, which that tradition links to bones, tendons and the low back.
In lab dishes and in animals, extracts of the root seem to help bone cells grow and to calm swelling. A few plant parts act in a weak way like estrogen (a female sex hormone) on bone. These findings are early and may not carry over to people.
The most common form is dried, sliced root that you simmer in water to make a tea, called a decoction.
You may also find granules, which are dried extract that you stir into hot water. Pills and capsules of powdered root are sold too.
Tinctures, which are alcohol extracts, exist but are less used in Chinese practice. Xu Duan is often stir-fried with salt or wine first, which practitioners say shifts its action.
It is more often one herb inside a formula than a stand-alone product. Quality and strength vary between brands.
Xu Duan has been used in China for close to two thousand years. Its name means "restore what is broken".
It appears in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, a herb text from roughly the first or second century. Later texts kept it as a main herb for the low back, knees and healing bones.
It is also used in Japanese and Korean herb practice. Today it is still a staple root in Chinese herb shops.
See a doctor before you start if you are unsure why your back or knees hurt. Pain from an injury, an infection or a bone problem needs a proper diagnosis first.
Stop the herb and get medical help the same day if you notice unusual bruising, bleeding gums, blood in your stool, or a rash.
Go to hospital now if you have back pain with numbness in the legs, weakness, or loss of control of your bladder or bowel. Also call emergency services for swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing.
If you are pregnant and you have bleeding or belly pain, contact your midwife or doctor straight away rather than treating yourself.
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 Xu Duan 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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