Horsetail Uses and Plant Monograph
Herbalists often recognize their favorite plant allies when traveling across the globe. However, if you were able to time travel back to 150 million years ago you wouldn’t find any of your favorite flowering plants. Walking through forests, while cautiously looking out for dinosaurs, you’d be hard pressed to find much that looked familiar at all…until, gazing far above, you’d see a gigantic version of our common horsetail.1 Horsetails formed the dominant understory in these ancient forests.
During the Mesozoic era (250 to 66 million years ago), this ancient plant sometimes grew up to 30 meters in height. Our common horsetail is now called a “living fossil,” as it is the only remaining genus of a once prolific plant family. Horsetail is far more ancient than any of our flowering plants, and still reproduces through spores rather than flowers.
Various horsetail species have been used as both food and medicine by humans for thousands of years.
Horsetail Supports Healthy Fascia, Skin, Hair, Nails, Teeth, and Bones
Horsetail contains abundant amounts of silica as well as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.2 These minerals, when regularly consumed, can strengthen the integumentary system, which includes bones, connective tissue (fascia), skin, hair, nails, and teeth.
Here are some examples of how herbalists use horsetails to support the integumentary system:
- Herbalists use horsetail for people with osteoporosis or osteopenia to support bone health.
- Brittle nails, teeth, and hair can be addressed by drinking regular teas of horsetail (it is often combined with other nutrient dense herbs like nettle and oatstraw).
- Herbalist Darcey Williamson recommends horsetail as an oral aid. She writes, “Use a decoction, made by simmering one cup of the dried herb in one quart of water for one hour, as a mouthwash for mouth and gum infections or throat inflammations. Due to its high silicon properties, Horsetail also cleans and polishes teeth [when used as a tooth powder].”3
- Lax connective tissues that result in joints being out of place are another reason to consider using horsetail.
One small study illustrates what herbalists have known for many years about horsetail. The researchers wanted to investigate the potential benefits of herbs, including horsetail, for chronic musculoskeletal pain. Patients in the study were given a 14-day supply of a five-herb blend nettle, boswellia, horsetail, garlic and celery (Urtica dioica, Boswellia serrata, Equisetum arvense, Allium sativum, and Apium graveolens), plus vitamin B1. Follow-up interviews showed a significant decrease in perceived pain and a significant increase in mobility.4
Horsetail Uses & Plant Profile Summary:
- Botanical Name: Equisetum arvense (many, but not all, Equisetum species are similarly used)
- Other Common Names: Field horsetail, common horsetail, mare’s tail
- Family: Equisetaceae
- Parts Used: green sterile stems and leaves
- Energetics: neutral-to-cooling, drying
- Taste: mineral, slightly bitter
- Plant Properties: diuretic, nutrient-dense, vulnerary, inflammatory modulating, integumentary tonic
- Plant Uses: strengthen urinary system; support connective tissue and healthy bones, teeth, and hair; healing wounds; modulate inflammation; scouring or cleaning cookware
- Plant Preparations: decoction, nourishing herbal infusion, vinegar, ointment
Horsetail Strengthens the Urinary System
Horsetail, when prepared as a tea, acts as a diuretic. It can be used for non-complicated edema (swelling) and premenstrual water retention. It is sometimes combined with antimicrobial herbs in order to address urinary tract infections.
Herbalist Christa Sinadinos recommend small doses of horsetail tincture (5-10 drops, two to three times daily) for strengthening the bladder. She elaborates, “[Horsetail] is specific for women who have taken antibiotics several times without positive results for bladder infections. The inability of the tissues to respond to antibiotics indicates tissue weakness. While horsetail is not effective as an antibacterial agent, it enhances the integrity of tissues, improving their resistance. Combine extracts of mullein root (Verbascum thapsus), corn silk (Zea mays), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), and horsetail to strengthen the bladder.”5
Horsetail’s beneficial effects on the urinary system have long been known, and research has recently been done to assess its benefits.
A double–blind, placebo-controlled trial concluded that a three-herb formula, which contained horsetail, showed reduced symptoms of various lower urinary tract symptoms, including overactive bladder, nighttime urinary frequency, and urinary incontinence.6
Another clinical trial showed that men who had been diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia, who took an herbal tablet which included horsetail, had a decrease in nighttime urination (nocturia).7
Horsetail for Modulating Inflammation and Healing Injuries and Wounds
Herbalists have long used horsetail both internally and externally to speed the healing of wounds, including surgical wounds and broken bones.
Silica, a mineral that is found in high amounts in horsetail, is known for decreasing the healing time of wounds. But horsetail contains much more than a single constituent! While there are undoubtedly many different minerals in horsetail that are responsible for its many gifts, scientists have shown that there are other bioactive constituents in horsetail that contribute to its inflammatory modulating properties.8,9
One human clinical trial showed that patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis showed numerous significant improvements in inflammatory levels when taking horsetail.10
An interesting 2015 study showed that an ointment made with 3% horsetail significantly improved wound healing time and provided pain relief during the 10-day period after an episiotomy. In this randomized placebo controlled trial, new mothers who had undergone an episiotomy during childbirth were separated into two groups. One group received an ointment made with a horsetail extract and the other group was given an ointment without horsetail. Both groups were instructed to apply the ointment twice daily. During the ten–day trial, those taking the horsetail ointment expressed decreased pain and reported taking less acetaminophen than those in the control group.11
Horsetail Preparations
Horsetail is used in many different herbal preparations including tea, decoction, encapsulated powder, vinegar extract, oil extract, and alcohol extract (tincture).
The recommended dosage for horsetail tends to be low. It is often formulated with other herbs, depending on purpose, and many herbalists recommend taking a break after using it for two weeks.
Recommended dosage:
Alcohol Extract (Tincture): 5-10 drops for chronic care (2-3 times daily)12, 30-90 drops up to four times a day during urinary crisis.13 HerbPharm uses 30-40% alcohol, fresh herb, in a 1:2 ratio.14
Tea/Decoction/Powder: 2-4 grams daily
Horsetail is very coarse and is often used by campers to scour pots and dishes. As a dry powder, it is used as a sandpaper substitute in Japanese woodworking.
Special Considerations
- Horsetail may irritate the kidneys. Avoid use when there are kidney issues present. Some herbalists recommend taking regular breaks from horsetail and/or not using for a long period of time.
- Horses consuming hay containing horsetail exhibit an antihiaminase action (destruction of vitamin B1). No human cases of clinically significant thiamine deficiency resulting from horsetail use have been reported. It’s hypothesized that concurrently taking B vitamins while taking horsetail may mitigate these effects.15
- There may be a possible drug-herb interaction between horsetail and antiretroviral drugs.16
- Horsetail can concentrate toxic contaminants from the soil. As with all plants, gather horsetail from healthy ecosystems and soils.
Footnotes
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