Chiric Sanango, or manacá, has a long history of indigenous use in the Rainforest as both a medicinal plant and a magical plant. It is a sacred and spiritual plant used by Curanderos in ayahuasca, in special initiation ceremonies and for bad luck. In the Amazon, the root is infused with aguardiente (rum) for rheumatism and venereal disease. A decoction of leaves is used externally in Peru for arthritis and rheumatism. Indigenous tribes take a decoction of the root for chills, and consider Chiric Sanango to be a diaphoretic and diuretic and use it for fever, rheumatism, snakebite, syphilis, yellow fever, colds and flu, uterine pain and cramps, venereal diseases and to clean the blood while using a poultice of the leaves as a topical analgesic.
The root of Chiric Sanango is said to stimulate the lymphatic system, and it has long been used for syphilis. In herbal medicine it is considered abortifacient, alterative, anesthetic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, hypertensive, hypothermal, laxative, and narcotic.