Elecampane is used to flavour food and drink, as well as in the manufacturing of soaps, fragrance and cosmetics. Used externally for sciatica. Chinese Medicine consider it to have a warm energy, acrid and bitter flavour, and useful for strengthening the spleen and stomach, promoting energy flow and alleviating pain. Also used widely in Ayurvedic medicine.

Actions include: expectorant, diuretic, stomachic, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, anti-asthmatic, vulnerary, a gentle stimulant.

Common medicinal uses include: the treatment of asthma, bronchitis and whooping cough. Other uses include improving stomach function, treating nausea and diarrhoea and killing intestinal worms.