Prickly Ash

Traditionally, prickly ash has been used primarily as a circulatory stimulant, especially when cold hands and feet, poor peripheral circulation, or arthritic joint pain are the concern. It is commonly prepared as a decoction, tincture, chewed bark, or powder.

Common Name: Prickly Ash Latin Name: Zanthoxylum americanum Alternate Names: Toothache tree, northern prickly ash

• Parts used: bark and berries
• Primary properties: circulatory stimulant, antirheumatic, analgesic
• Common preparations: decoction, tincture, chewed bark, powder
• Best known for: warming and stimulating peripheral circulation.

Health Conditions Prickly Ash Helps With

• Poor peripheral circulation — Prickly ash has one of the strongest traditional reputations of any North American herb for warming cold hands and feet and stimulating sluggish peripheral blood flow.
• Toothache and dental discomfort — Its Native American nickname “toothache tree” comes directly from the traditional practice of chewing the bark or berries to numb dental pain.
• Arthritic and rheumatic joint pain — Traditionally taken both internally and applied externally to ease the discomfort of arthritis and rheumatism.
• Digestive sluggishness and cramping — Traditionally used to ease intestinal cramps and stimulate digestive function.
• Dry mouth — Prickly ash’s traditional action as a sialagogue, meaning it promotes saliva production, has made it useful for easing dry mouth discomfort.
• Minor wounds and skin sores (topical) — Historically applied as a poultice to draw fluid from infected wounds and support minor skin healing.

Compounds

• Alkaloids (including chelerythrine) — Contribute to prickly ash’s traditional antimicrobial reputation and some of its numbing, stimulating action.
• Sanshools — Compounds responsible for prickly ash’s distinctive tingling, numbing sensation on the tongue, central to its traditional dental and analgesic use.
• Furanocoumarins — Associated with prickly ash’s traditional antifungal reputation.
• Volatile oils — Contribute to the plant’s characteristic aromatic, warming quality.
• Tannins — Present in the bark, contributing a mild astringent quality to traditional preparations.

Properties

• Circulatory stimulant — Prickly ash’s defining traditional property, used to warm and stimulate peripheral blood flow, particularly to the hands and feet.
• Antirheumatic — Traditional use includes easing the discomfort of arthritis and rheumatic joint pain.
• Analgesic — The tingling, numbing sanshool compounds underlie prickly ash’s traditional use for toothache and nerve-related discomfort.
• Sialagogue — Traditionally used to stimulate saliva production, helping ease dry mouth.
• Carminative — Traditional use includes easing digestive cramping and stimulating sluggish digestion.

Recipes Using Prickly Ash

• Bark decoction — Prickly ash bark simmered in water, traditionally taken for circulatory and digestive support.
• Chewed bark for toothache — A small piece of dried bark chewed directly, a classic traditional remedy for numbing dental pain.
• Warming circulatory tincture — Prickly ash bark extracted into a concentrated tincture, often combined with other warming herbs for cold hands and feet.

Products Featuring Prickly Ash

• Dried bark — The most traditional form, used for decoctions, chewing, or powdering.
• Tincture — Offers a concentrated, flexible dose, commonly used for circulatory and joint support.
• Powder or capsules — A convenient option for those who prefer not to chew the bark or prepare a decoction.

Synergies

• Ginger — Frequently combined with prickly ash in warming circulatory formulas for complementary traditional support.
• Cayenne — Paired for circulatory stimulation, both known for their traditional warming, blood-flow-supporting reputations.
• Black cohosh — Combined in traditional formulas for rheumatic and joint discomfort.
• Cramp bark — Blended for digestive and muscular cramping support, pairing complementary traditional antispasmodic actions.

Safety & Precautions

Prickly ash is generally considered well-tolerated in typical traditional amounts, but its stimulating action on circulation means a few real cautions are worth keeping in mind.

Because prickly ash stimulates circulation, people with bleeding disorders or those on blood-thinning medication should use it with caution and consult a healthcare provider, given a theoretical risk of increased bleeding tendency. It should be used cautiously by anyone with high blood pressure or heart conditions, given its stimulating effect on the circulatory system. Safety data during pregnancy and breastfeeding is limited, and prickly ash has a traditional history of use as an emmenagogue in some sources, so it’s best avoided during pregnancy and used only under professional guidance while breastfeeding. Chewing the bark or berries directly can cause mouth or throat irritation in some people, given the intensity of the tingling sanshool compounds, so it’s worth starting cautiously if trying this traditional method. People with known allergies to plants in the Rutaceae (citrus) family should use caution, since prickly ash belongs to the same family. There is no well-established safety data on prickly ash use in pets, so it’s best kept for human use only.

Q&A

Does prickly ash taste bitter?

Prickly ash has a distinctive lemony, astringent taste combined with a tingling, numbing sensation, rather than a straightforward bitterness — many people describe the overall experience as unlike most other herbs.

The tingling numbness typically develops into a warm, spreading sensation, which is part of why it has such a memorable traditional reputation, particularly when chewed directly.

Can prickly ash be used daily?

Prickly ash is traditionally used for shorter, targeted periods, particularly during an active bout of cold circulation, joint discomfort, or toothache, rather than as an indefinite daily tonic.

If considering longer-term use, it’s worth taking occasional breaks and checking in with a healthcare provider, especially if you have any circulatory or bleeding-related health conditions.

How is prickly ash traditionally used for a toothache?

A small piece of dried prickly ash bark is chewed directly against the affected tooth or gum area, producing a tingling, numbing sensation that traditionally helped ease dental discomfort before modern dental care was widely available.

While this remains a well-known traditional practice, it’s not a substitute for proper dental care, and persistent or severe tooth pain should be evaluated by a dentist rather than managed with home remedies alone.

What’s the difference between prickly ash bark and berries?

The bark is the more commonly used part in traditional preparations like decoctions and tinctures, particularly for circulatory and digestive support, while the berries carry their own traditional reputation, particularly for circulatory issues like poor peripheral blood flow.

Both plant parts share overlapping traditional properties, but bark is generally the easier and more common form to find in prepared herbal products.

Can prickly ash be combined with other circulatory herbs?

Yes, prickly ash is commonly combined with warming herbs like ginger or cayenne in circulatory support formulas, since their traditional stimulating actions are seen as complementary.

If you’re on blood pressure or blood-thinning medication, it’s worth checking with a healthcare provider before combining prickly ash with other circulatory-stimulating herbs, since the combined effect may be stronger than expected.

References

• Plants of the World Online: Zanthoxylum americanum
• PubMed: Scientific Literature on Zanthoxylum americanum
• National Library of Medicine: Chemical Constituents from Zanthoxylum americanum
• Wikipedia: Zanthoxylum americanum
• ScienceDirect Topics: Zanthoxylum americanum Research
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: About Herbs — Prickly Ash
• PubMed: Zanthoxylum Sanshool Research
• USDA NRCS Plant Guide: Zanthoxylum americanum