The Apothecary / Skin & wounds
Itching and hives
13 remedies
See a doctor if
Hives with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing, is anaphylaxis: call emergency services.
Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.
Limited evidence
LimitedSmall or few trials, mixed results, or mainly lab and animal work.
Curlycup gumweed
Grindelia squarrosa
Used by Native Americans and in early-1900s medicines for poison ivy and poison oak rash. The only clinical evidence EMA found is a single case report in which a Grindelia tincture eased itching and weeping of poison oak dermatitis.
Kochia
Bassia scoparia
A classic Chinese remedy for skin itching. Ethanol and methanol extracts (200–500 mg/kg) and momordin Ic (50 mg/kg) reduced scratching in mice, and a topical water extract cut itching episodes in guinea-pig and mouse models. No human trials of the herb alone.
Monnier's snowparsley
Cnidium monnieri
Antipruritic and anti-allergic effects are reported from laboratory and animal studies; the fruit's volatile compounds are linked to its antipruritic use. No controlled human trials were found.
Traditional use
TraditionalLong recorded use, essentially untested in clinical trials.
Chickweed
Stellaria media
Decoctions are used for their moisturising, soothing properties to relieve skin itching; Eclectic physicians applied an ointment of the bruised fresh leaves in lard to many skin diseases.
Cleavers
Galium aparine
Iroquois used a compound infusion as a wash for poison ivy and itch, and Chippewa rubbed a cold infusion of the stems on skin troubles.
Danti
Baliospermum montanum
Used for itching and skin diseases in Ayurveda and for itching eczema in Thai traditional medicine. Root extract reduced mast-cell-like degranulation in cell tests, and a leaf alkaloid reduced histamine release in a mouse anaphylaxis model.
Ground ivy
Glechoma hederacea
The Cherokee gave an infusion for babies' hives (and for measles).
Hopbush
Dodonaea viscosa
Akana's 1922 Hawaiian Herbs of Medicinal Value lists an infusion of the leaves with other plants as a wash for rash and itch. In Ethiopia the plant is commonly used for skin diseases; a leaf extract was a negligible skin irritant and non-sensitiser in animal tests.
Prickly ash
Zanthoxylum americanum
The Alabama washed itchy skin with a bark decoction or rubbed an inner-bark infusion on it.
Purging buckthorn
Rhamnus cathartica
The Cherokee used a decoction of the bark for itch (the shrub had been introduced to North America).
Sal
Shorea robusta
Leaves are a traditional Indian remedy for itching, and the Baiga apply a cooled bark decoction twice daily to itchy or inflamed skin.
Siris
Albizia lebbeck
Panchashirishadi Agad is indicated in Ayurveda for urticaria (sheetapitta) and hives (kotha).
Snake grass
Clinacanthus nutans
Ethanol extract creams are used for pruritic rashes in Thailand.