Pediculus capitis
Quick Facts
- What it is: A homeopathic remedy made from the head louse, diluted so far that at the usual 30C strength no source material remains.
- Main uses: Itchy scalp, Crawling sensations on the skin, Claimed use around head lice
- Best for: People already using a proven lice treatment who want to try a traditional remedy alongside it
- Active ingredients: None detectable at 30C, Lactose or sucrose carrier, Ethanol in liquid forms
- Forms: Sugar pellets, Tablets, Liquid dilution in alcohol and water
- Time to effect: No reliable time to effect; no measurable effect has been demonstrated.
- Side effects: Very few direct effects; the real risk is delaying treatment that clears lice.
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What is Pediculus capitis?
Pediculus capitis is a homeopathic remedy. It is made from the head louse itself.
Homeopaths have given it mainly for an itchy scalp. They also give it for crawling or tickling feelings on the skin. Some give it as a supposed guard after contact with head lice.
It is a single homeopathic drug. Latin name: Pediculus humanus capitis. Also known as: Head louse.
It is made by serial dilution (watering down over and over). The maker shakes it hard at each step.
At 30C, the strength sold most often, no louse material is left. What you take is a sugar pellet, or a drop of alcohol and water.
Here is the honest verdict, before all else. No human trials of this remedy have been published. Trials of homeopathy as a whole do not beat placebo (a dummy treatment).
Long use in a tradition tells you what healers believed. It is not proof that a thing works. That caveat applies to every claim on this page.
It is not a lice treatment in any real sense. A true case of head lice is treated by combing wet hair with a fine-tooth nit comb.
A lotion can be used as well. One choice is dimeticone, a silicone that coats and smothers lice. The other is a lotion from a pharmacy that kills insects.
How does Pediculus capitis work?
There is no known way this could work. None has been shown.
Homeopathy rests on two ideas from the 1790s. The first is "like cures like". A substance that could cause a symptom is given in tiny amounts to treat it.
The second idea is about dilution (watering down). Shaking and watering down again and again is said to make a remedy stronger, not weaker.
Neither idea fits what chemistry and physics tell us. Past about 12C, the odds of even one molecule of the starting material in a dose are near zero.
So why might a person feel better after taking it? The placebo effect is the best answer. The itch may also fade on its own, or other steps may have helped — such as combing out the lice.
What forms does Pediculus capitis come in?
Common forms are:
Sugar pellets or globules, put under the tongue Small tablets Liquid dilutions in alcohol and water, taken as drops
The strengths stocked most often are 6C, 30C and 200C.
It is taken by mouth. It is not a shampoo, lotion or scalp treatment. It does not kill lice or eggs.
Where it comes from:
Pediculus capitis shows up in old homeopathic materia medica. These are the reference books that list remedies and the symptoms matched to them. It has been listed there since the nineteenth century.
It sits in the group of remedies made from animal and insect sources.
It has always been a minor entry, not a widely used remedy. Most homeopaths would reach for other remedies for itching. For head lice, most modern homeopathic practice defers to combing and standard lotions.
Who should avoid Pediculus capitis?
- Do not use this remedy as your only treatment for head lice: use wet combing or a pharmacy lotion such as dimeticone (a silicone that coats and suffocates lice).
- Do not use it in place of, or to delay, any medicine your doctor has prescribed.
- Do not give alcohol-based liquid drops to babies or young children; ask a pharmacist for the sugar pellet form instead.
- Do not use the pellets if you have galactosaemia or severe lactose intolerance (you cannot digest milk sugar), as most pellets are made of milk or cane sugar.
- Do not use low potencies made from insect material: those labelled 3X, 6X or anything below 12C — if your immune system is weakened, for example by chemotherapy, HIV or medicines taken after a transplant.
- Do not take it again if you have ever had an allergic reaction to a homeopathic pellet or its sugar base.
- Avoid using it while a scalp infection is untreated: see a doctor about the infection first.
- Do not rely on it to protect a child from catching head lice at school; it has never been shown to prevent anything.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor or pharmacist if lice are still there after two proper treatments a week apart, or if wet combing is not clearing them.
Get medical advice sooner if the scalp becomes red, sore, weeping or crusted, if there is pus, or if the glands in the neck swell up. These can mean a skin infection that needs antibiotics.
Also see a doctor if a child under two has lice, if lice or eggs appear on the eyelashes, or if itching or crawling feelings continue after the lice are gone.
Get urgent help for a rash with swelling of the face, lips or tongue, or any trouble breathing after taking a dose.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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