Xue Yu Tan (Charred Human Hair)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Xue Yu Tan?

  Commonly 6–10 g in decoction, or roughly 1.5–3 g taken directly as a fine powder — reference ranges vary somewhat by source (one compilation gives 4–16 g decocted / 1–9 g powdered), but 6–10 g decocted / about 1.5–3 g powdered is the range most consistently cited across materia medica summaries. Because charring leaves the material light and friable, it is often taken as powder (swallowed directly or stirred into the strained decoction) rather than decocted as a raw drug piece.

  • External use — the powder is applied directly to bleeding gums or insufflated into the nostril for nosebleeds, and dusted on slow-healing sores or minor burns; amount adjusted to the area treated.

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources, and commercial materia medica summaries. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Xue Yu Tan?

  Traditional sources advise caution in patients with weak digestion, and — as with any charred, astringent-type hemostatic — it is best matched to the underlying bleeding pattern by a qualified practitioner rather than used as a general-purpose remedy for bleeding.

  • Source material (reference note) — Xue Yu Tan is processed from human hair (purified, washed with an alkaline solution, sun-dried, and calcined to charcoal). As a human-derived material, sourcing, processing quality, and hygiene are relevant to both safety and label accuracy; it should be obtained from a reputable pharmacy.
  • Persistent or heavy bleeding — traditional hemostatic herbs are not a substitute for medical evaluation of unexplained or heavy bleeding (e.g., hematuria, hematochezia, uterine bleeding), which warrants prompt clinical assessment.

  Source: multiple online sources; general safety practice for human-derived substances. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• No significant toxicity is reported in traditional use or in the modern literature reviewed. This site’s own record does not flag Xue Yu Tan as toxic or endangered. As with other charred/processed substances, quality and purity of processing (adequate charring, washing, and freedom from contamination) — rather than intrinsic toxicity of the material — is the main practical safety consideration.

  Source: materia medica consensus; no toxicity data identified in a PubMed/PMC search for Crinis Carbonisatus. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Xue Yu Tan. Given its traditional hemostatic and mild blood-stasis-resolving use, practitioner awareness is reasonable for patients on anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication — this is precautionary, not a demonstrated clinical interaction. (Flagged for practitioner confirmation.)

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Xue Yu Tan (Crinis Carbonisatus)?

  Yes — modern research is preclinical (animal and cell-based) and centers on carbon-dot nanomaterials derived from carbonized human hair, not on the traditional decoction, but it does lend support to the traditional hemostatic use.

  • Hemostatic (swine model) — a nanofiber wound dressing loaded with carbonized human hair significantly shortened clotting time versus a control nanofiber and achieved hemostasis in a femoral-vein injury model where bleeding could not be stopped in untreated controls, supporting the traditional hemostatic use in a modern wound-dressing context.
  • Neuroprotective (stroke, preclinical) — carbon dots isolated from Crinis Carbonisatus (CrCi-CDs) reduced infarct volume, blood–brain-barrier permeability, and inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6) in a rat model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
  • Anti-seizure (epilepsy, preclinical) — separate 2025–2026 studies found CrCi-CD suspensions reduced seizure severity/duration and neuroinflammatory markers in mouse temporal-lobe-epilepsy and multi-model acute-seizure studies.

  All of the above is preclinical (animal/cell) research on isolated carbon-dot nanomaterials derived from the substance, not clinical trials of the traditional decoction — treat as mechanistic/supportive context, not clinical evidence.

  Note: This site’s own record lists Xue Yu Tan’s channels as Heart, Liver, and Kidney (matching some materia medica compilations); other published summaries (e.g. and multiple online sources) instead list Liver and Stomach only. Both pairings appear across reputable sources, which may reflect genuine variation between source texts; the database’s channel field is left unchanged pending owner review.

  Sources: PMID 26369029 (hemostatic nanofiber dressing, swine model); PMID 34454522, DOI 10.1186/s12951-021-00908-2 (neuroprotection, cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, rat); PMID 41155596, DOI 10.3390/ph18101481 (temporal lobe epilepsy, mouse); PMID 41822390, DOI 10.3389/fmolb.2026.1772499 (multi-model acute epilepsy, mouse). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• How is Xue Yu Tan different from other herbs that stop bleeding, and what is it combined with?

  Xue Yu Tan’s defining trait is stopping bleeding while mildly moving blood, so — unlike purely astringent hemostatics — it does not tend to leave stagnant blood behind. That combination is why it appears across many different bleeding patterns rather than being tied to one specific site or cause.

  • Vs. San Qi (Notoginseng) — San Qi is the stronger stasis-resolving hemostatic and the classic partner for hemoptysis/hematemesis; Xue Yu Tan’s stasis-moving action is comparatively mild.
  • Vs. Pu Huang (Cattail Pollen) — both are described as stopping bleeding without leaving stasis, though Pu Huang is more specifically used raw for stasis-type pain and charred for straightforward bleeding.
  • Vs. Ai Ye (Mugwort) — Ai Ye warms the channels to stop bleeding from cold/deficiency but does not move blood; Xue Yu Tan is neutral in temperature and does.

  Traditional combinations: with San Qi for hemoptysis or hematemesis; with Dang Gui for uterine bleeding from blood deficiency; with Che Qian Zi (Plantago Seed) for bleeding accompanied by painful urination; with blast-fried ginger (Pao Jiang) for hematochezia from cold of deficiency type; and with Di Yu and Huai Hua (as in the formula San Hui San) for hematochezia from intestinal heat. (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice.)

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources-differentiation and combination notes.