Is Staphysagria Safe and Effective? Dosage, Benefits, and Dangers

Staphysagria is primarily marketed as a homeopathic remedy for surgical wounds and cuts. Also, according to one homeopathy reference, it’s used to treat anxiety, tooth problems, and genitourinary disorders, which affect the urinary and genital organs.

It’s made from tiny amounts of the Staphisagria macrosperma plant, or stavesacre, formerly known by the scientific name Delphinium staphisagria.

All parts of S. macrosperma are extremely toxic and shouldn’t be consumed (1).

That said, the homeopathic remedy made from the plant is heavily diluted and thus presents minimal risk of harm when properly prepared.

The key principle of homeopathy is that “like cures like” — so if large amounts of the toxic S. macrosperma cause certain problems, then small amounts should heal the same problems (2).

In fact, practitioners of homeopathy often believe that the more highly diluted a remedy is, the more powerful it is.

Often, homeopathic remedies are so heavily diluted that on a molecular level they’re indistinguishable from whatever they’re diluted with, which is usually alcohol or water (2).

It’s important to note that homeopathy is highly controversial, and there’s little evidence that homeopathic remedies work beyond the placebo effect (3).

Summary

Staphysagria is a homeopathic remedy made from the toxic S. macrosperma plant. It’s often marketed to help heal cuts and surgical wounds.

There’s little evidence to support any of the purported benefits of staphysagria.

Although the remedy is often marketed to help treat surgical wounds and cuts, no scientific evidence supports this use in humans.

One test-tube study suggested that a protein extract of the staphysagria plant had some immune-boosting activities. However, the undiluted protein extracts used in the study were much more potent than a highly diluted homeopathic remedy (4).

Additionally, one study in rats with injured paws noted that a homeopathic staphysagria remedy was comparable to ibuprofen at reducing inflammation. Another animal study showed that homeopathic staphysagria might help relieve pain (1, 5).

These potential anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving actions may be part of the reason staphysagria is recommended for cuts and surgical wounds.

Another recent animal study found that staphysagria may relieve depression as effectively as the drug escitalopram in rodents, but this effect hasn’t been observed in humans (6).

Additionally, many people use staphysagria for urinary tract infections (UTIs), as a 1974 study showed that staphysagria may reduce bladder inflammation occurring after sex among women (7).

However, those findings haven’t been replicated, and one recent test-tube study noted that staphysagria did not inhibit UTI-related bacterial growth (8).

Lastly, staphysagria seeds have been used to treat hair loss. One recent test-tube study indicated that staphysagria seed extracts may promote hair growth, but no other research is available (9).

Therefore, more human studies are needed.

Summary

Some animal studies suggest that staphysagria may have some anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving benefits. However, findings in humans are lacking.

The largest downside of staphysagria is that the plant is highly toxic and shouldn’t be consumed.

Another downside is that there’s simply a lack of evidence to support the use of staphysagria for any reason, much less the most prevalent marketing claim that it can help heal surgical wounds or cuts.

Fortunately, despite probably being ineffective, homeopathic staphysagria is unlikely to pose any serious threat since it’s so heavily diluted.

Summary

The staphysagria plant is toxic, and there’s a lack of evidence to support its use. That said, remedies made from it are so heavily diluted that they shouldn’t be harmful if properly prepared.

Homeopathic remedies like including staphysagria most often come in quickly dissolving pellets meant to be dissolved under your tongue.

They come in a variety of doses, with most staphysagria tablets coming in doses of 6C, 30C, 200C, or 1M.

The “C” stands for the number of times the key ingredient is diluted by a factor of 100, and the number represents how many times this process of dilution is repeated. For example:

• A 1C dilution, which is extremely uncommon, would be 1 part key ingredient diluted in 100 parts water or alcohol.
• A 2C solution would be 1 part of the 1C solution diluted into 100 parts water or alcohol, twice.
• A 1M dilution is equivalent to 1000C.

So you can see, even at a 6C dilution, there’s only a minuscule amount of the key ingredient present.

In fact, once a remedy reaches a dilution greater than 12C, it’s unlikely that even one molecule of the original ingredient is present in the solution (10).

Summary

Staphysagria is meant to be taken by dissolving the tablets under your tongue. The most common doses are 6C and 30C, and these provide inconsequential amounts of the staphysagria plant — if any at all.

Unfortunately, staphysagria and other homeopathic remedies are likely no more effective than a placebo.

Most staphysagria remedies are so highly diluted that there’s probably not even a single molecule of staphysagria in them.

What’s more, only a handful of animal studies show that homeopathic staphysagria may provide some anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving potential, but no human studies are available.

Summary

Although a few animal studies show promising results, there’s little evidence of staphysagria’s effectiveness in humans. Additionally, researchers have found that most homeopathic remedies are no more effective than a placebo.

Staphysagria is a homeopathic remedy made from the toxic S. macrosperma plant.

It’s typically recommended to heal cuts and surgical wounds, but it’s also commonly used for UTIs. However, there’s little evidence to support its use.

Additionally, research shows that most homeopathic remedies are no more effective than a placebo, and that many don’t contain even a single molecule of the original ingredient.

Although homeopathic staphysagria is unlikely to cause harm, it’s also unlikely to be effective.