Shisham Tree Remedies: Diarrhea, BPH, Painful Periods

This article is by Dr M S Krishnamurthy MD(Ayu) PhD.

Introduction

Shisham tree – Indian Rosewood is abundantly as a furniture wood. It is commonly used in the treatment of painful menstruation, non healing wounds etc. 

Botanical name Dalbergia sissoo.
Leguminaceae family.
The heart wood, bark and the tender leaves are used in medicine. In Ayurveda it is denoted as ‘Shimshapa’.

The trees are widely found in India, Pakistan, Kenya,Tanzania, Afghanistan, Persia etc.
The bark and heart wood are hot in potency and pungent in biological transformation (vipaka).The drug is said to be Tridosha shamaka.
Read related: Dalbergia sissoo: Shisham Tree Uses, Research, Side Effects

Chemical constituents

The main chemical constituents of the plant are-
Leaves- Isoflavone-O-glycoside
Flowers- Biochenin A, tectorigenin, 7, 4 dimethyle tectorigenin and 7-O- methyle tectorigenin
Stem bark- Dalberginone, dalbergin, methyl dalbergin and dalbergichromene
Heart wood- Dalbergin, nordalberginones, dalbergichromene, fixid oisl and essential oils.
Leaves and tender buds- Dalberginone, dalbergin,tannin, mesoinisitol etc.

Home remedies

Few of the simple and effective remedies of Shimshapa are as follows-

Wound cleansing

1. Leaf and bark decoction for wound cleaning:
Leaves and stem bark are taken in equal amount and decoction is made. This decoction is used to clean the wounds.
General method of decoction preparation is –
1 tablespoon (10 grams) of coarse powder of the herb is added with 2 cups of water. Boiled in open air till the total content is reduced to 1 cup. This is filtered and used.

Pin worm, hook worm

2. Heartwood decoction for pin worm and hook worms:
The heart wood of Shisham tree is crushed well and made into decoction. This is administered in the dose of 30-40 ml for adults and 5-10 ml in children. It is effective in pin worms and hook worm infestation.

Dysmenorrhoea

3. Hot infusion for dysmenorrhoea:
Bark or heart wood powder is added to 4 parts of hot water and kept for a while. Filtered. This is administered early in the morning in empty stomach for 14 days after 7 days of menstruation. This can be repeated in three consecutive cycles. It helps to regularize the cycle and to relieve dysmenorrhoea.

BPH

4. Bark juice with honey for BPH:
The freshly obtained bark juice (5 ml) is mixed with little honey and administered in early stage of Benign Prostate Hypertrophy.

Diarrhoea

5. Root decoction in diarrhoea:
The root decoction is administered in the conditions of chronic diarrhoea.
Click to consult Dr MS Krishnamurthy MD(Ayu), PhD