Due to its powerful sedative action, it is used primarily in the treatment of irritating and persistent coughs when increasing expectoration is inappropriate, and thus has a role in the treatment of bronchitis and whooping cough and in the racking cough of debility or convalescence. It can be combined with other herbs to control asthma. Both the cyanogenic glycosides and volatile oil help to improve the digestion, and may be used as a bitter where digestion is sluggish. The cold infusion of the bark may be used as a wash in eye inflammation and as an astringent in diarrhoea.