page_title: Kambo cleanse
section_title: The ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: Kambo cleanse / The ceremony
caption_attribution_description: English: Giant waxy tree frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor)
context_page_description: A kambo cleanse, also known as a kambo circle or kambo ceremony, kambo, vacina-do-sapo, or sapo, is a purge using skin secretions of the kambô, a species of frog. The effects on humans usually include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; multiple deaths have been associated with its use. Kambo, which originated as a folk medicine practice among indigenous peoples of the Amazon, is also administered as an alternative medicine treatment in the West, often as a pseudoscientific cleanse or detox. The ceremony involves burning an arm or leg and applying the kambo secretion directly to the burn. Proponents claim that kambo helps with a number of illnesses or injuries, but there is no scientific evidence that it is an effective treatment of any kind.
context_section_description: "Kambô" is a common  name of Phyllomedusa bicolor, an Amazonian tree frog also known as the blue-and-yellow frog, bicolored tree-frog, giant monkey frog, giant leaf frog or waxy-monkey tree frog ("sapo" means "frog" in Portuguese and "toad" in Spanish).
  To collect the secretions for the ceremony, a frog is caught, then tied tightly to four sticks placed in the ground, and its limbs stretched between the sticks. This causes the frog to become stressed enough to activate its defence mechanism, and secrete a substance containing peptides from its skin. Once the secretions has been scraped off the frog it is usually released back into the wild. The secretions are then left to dry. In native use, small dots are deliberately burned on the skin, and a small dose of the frog secretions is applied to the open wounds.
  Outside South America, a kambo ceremony can involve just two people, the practitioner and participant, or a number of participants at once, which is known as a kambo circle. Participants are encouraged to bring plenty of water, a towel and a bucket. There are usually yoga mats on the floor and the ceremony room, which is often the practitioner's living room, is heavily incensed.
  During the ceremony the skin of the participant is deliberately burnt multiple times, usually on the upper arm or leg, by the practitioner using a smouldering stick or vine.  The frog secretions, which have been reconstituted with saliva or water, are then pasted on to the burnt skin. Outside South America, the ceremony is performed in a group or circle, where the participants are encouraged to shout "Viva" when one of them vomits into their bucket. Short-term effects include violent nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, edema (swelling) of the face, headaches, and tachycardia. The secretions seem to be vasoactive (affecting the circulation), which may explain why they are absorbed so rapidly. In native practice, the secretions are removed from the wounds after 10 to 15 minutes, ending the acute symptoms.
  Joaquim Luz, a Yamanawa leader, criticized commercial sales and the use of kambo without the preparation or permission of indigenous peoples, saying that users were put at risk, including the risk of death. Other native groups have also expressed concerns.
caption: Phyllomedusa bicolor
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