Self-heal
Prunella, brunella; heal-all
- Known today as
- Prunella vulgaris.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- rosmarinic acid, prunellin, ursolic and oleanolic acids, and 1 more
- Earliest authority here
- Culpeper (1616–1654)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: An older authority added from a text read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Self-heal: what was it used for?
For wounds, and gargled for the quinsy and sore mouth.
Self-heal: what does modern science say?
Mildly astringent; no strong evidence.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- rosmarinic acid ChEMBLup to 6 per cent
- prunellina sulfated polysaccharide
- ursolic and oleanolic acids
- tannins
- Mechanism
- Astringent and anti-inflammatory by the tannins and rosmarinic acid, which is the gargle; the polysaccharide prunellin inhibits HIV and herpes viruses in cell culture, the modern footnote to the “heal-all” name. In the Chinese pharmacopoeia (xia ku cao) for the eyes and goitre.
- Toxic dose
- Safe.
- Standing
- No European monograph; in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
- Bai, Y., et al. (2016). “Phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of the genus Prunella.” Food Chemistry 204. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.02.047
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Self-heal: what lore surrounds it?
Its Latin name is traced to the German Bräune, the quinsy it was used to cure.
Self-heal: what did the older authorities say?
- Culpeper
- “Another herb of Venus, Self-heal, whereby when you are hurt you may heal yourself”: a special herb for inward and outward wounds, in syrups within and in unguents and plasters without; with oil of roses on the temples for the headache; and the proverb of the Germans and French that he who has it “needs neither physician nor surgeon.”
Sources
- Gerard, J. (1597). The Herball. Verified against its record · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.99400
- Culpeper, N. (1653). The Complete Herbal, “Self-Heal.” Project Gutenberg #49513. Primary text
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 3 cited: 2 verified against its record, 1 primary text. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Self-heal.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/self-heal.
- MLA
“Self-heal.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/self-heal. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Self-heal. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/self-heal
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See Also
Sharing rosmarinic acid, tannins
Melissa officinalis · Salvia officinalis · Ocimum basilicum · Salvia rosmarinus · Veronica chamaedrys · Sorbus aucuparia · Galium odoratum · Rosa gallica
Also in Nicholas Culpeper
Shepherd’s purse in Nicholas Culpeper · Rosemary rice water in Nicholas Culpeper · Solomon’s seal in Nicholas Culpeper · Red roses in Nicholas Culpeper · everything Nicholas Culpeper names →
Drawing on the same sources: Gerard, Culpeper
Nearby in the alphabet
Senna (The leaves and pods of Senna alexandrina) · Scapular (worn over the shoulders, a miniature of the monastic scapular) · Scammony (The dried root resin of Convolvulus scammonia) · Shiitake (cultivated in China and Japan for about a thousand years) · Savin (a low juniper) · The sickener (brittle mushroom of wet pine woods) · The SATOR square (A five-line Latin word square that can be read in four directions)
Historical description, not medical advice.