Guatemalans use the leafy shoots for coughs and grippe, Jamaicans put the leaves in the bed, the bath, or the teapot for colds and fever. Cubans use the essential oil for bronchitis, bladder and liver infections, lung ailments, malaria, and stomach trouble. Mexicans chew the fresh leaves to strengthen the gums. Mexicans also use the leaf decoction as a vaginal douche. They argue that daily drinking of the leaf infusion can reverse diabetes in 8 days.
Homeopaths use the plant for bronchitis, colds, flu, laryngitis, and rheumatism.
In Australila, the leaves of the bluegum are still widely used as a household remedy in the treatment of many diseases and minor complaints. In Britain and Europe the essential oil, which is powerfully antiseptic, was given for fevers and febrile conditions, for pulmonary tuberculosis, and was applied or inhaled for relieving asthma, bronchitis, sorethroat, croup, whooping-cough, scarlet fever, and even diptheria and typhoid. Europeans in Africa and Africans themselves may wear the leaf in the hat or place it around the residence as a flu preventative. It is also regarded as a malaria preventitive. African herbalists believe the root is purgative.