Nutgall

Swollen, protruding hemorrhoids with bleeding and a sensation of heaviness, calling for a firm astringent ointment applied locally.

Loose, watery stool with lax, irritated bowel tissue where a strongly tannin-rich astringent is wanted to tighten and protect the mucosa.

Overview. Nutgall is a hard, rounded excrescence that forms on the young twigs and buds of Quercus infectoria and related Middle Eastern and Mediterranean oaks after the female gall wasp deposits her eggs and the tree responds by producing dense, tannin-rich tissue around the larva. The dried, unopened gall, harvested before the insect emerges, is the part used and is prized as one of the richest natural sources of tannic acid. In older Western and eclectic practice it was a workhorse astringent, used both internally in small doses and, more commonly, as an external application for bleeding, lax, or inflamed tissue, particularly hemorrhoids.

Clinical Notes. Galls are almost pure concentrated tannin and act by precipitating surface proteins on mucous membranes and skin, forming a protective, styptic film that reduces oozing, bleeding, and secretion. This makes powdered gall, or an ointment made from it, a traditional first reach for external hemorrhoidal care, often compounded with a small amount of opium historically to combine the astringent effect with pain relief, though modern practice replaces the opium with a topical anesthetic or simply omits it.

An excrescence on Quercus infectoria, Olivier, and other allied species of Quercus (Nat. Ord. Fagaceae), caused by the punctures and deposited ova of the Cynips tinctoria, Hartig.