What is Spigelia anthelmia?

Spigelia anthelmia is a single homeopathic remedy. It is made from a small tropical plant called pinkroot. Homeopaths reach for it most often for sharp nerve pain in the face and for a heartbeat you can feel thumping or fluttering.

The remedy is made by diluting the plant over and over. At 30C, the usual shop strength, no plant matter is left in the pill. In trials, remedies made this way have not beaten placebo (a dummy pill).

It has a firm place in homeopathic books going back to the 1800s. Long use is not proof that a remedy works. This page gives you both facts so you can judge for yourself.

The raw pinkroot plant is a different thing from the 30C pills. Raw pinkroot is toxic. Old worm cures made from it caused vomiting, fits and deaths in children, which is why the raw plant and strong extracts need care.

How does Spigelia anthelmia work?

Short answer: no one has shown a way this remedy could work in the body.

Homeopathy rests on an old idea called "like cures like". A plant that brings on a symptom in a well person is given in tiny amounts for that same symptom. Pinkroot can cause face pain and heart flutters, so it is given for those.

The plant is mixed with water or alcohol, then diluted again and again. Homeopaths hold that the shaking leaves some imprint of the plant behind. Chemists find nothing left to measure, and tests have not backed the idea up.

So when people feel better, the most likely reasons are time, rest, and the care they got. Face pain and odd heartbeats often come and go on their own.

What forms does Spigelia anthelmia come in?

The number on the label tells you how dilute the remedy is.

Small sugar pills are the most common form. Liquid drops made with alcohol come next. A few sellers also offer a mother tincture, which is the strong raw plant extract and the only risky form.

Labels read 6C, 30C or 200C. The bigger the number, the more the plant has been diluted. 30C is the usual home strength, and at that point no plant is left.

Where it comes from:

Pinkroot grows in the West Indies and in warm parts of South America. Folk healers there used it to drive worms out of the gut. Some doses poisoned children, so doctors gave it up.

Homeopaths took the plant up in the mid-1800s. Their books list it for stabbing face pain, left-sided headache, eye pain and a pounding heart. It has stayed in homeopathic kits ever since.

What does Spigelia anthelmia help with?

• Trigeminal neuralgia (sharp, stabbing nerve pain in the face): This is the classic homeopathic use. Books describe pain that shoots through the cheek, jaw or eye and gets worse with touch and cold air. No human trial has tested the remedy for this pain, so we cannot say it helps. New or worsening face pain needs a doctor.
• Palpitations (a heartbeat you can feel): Homeopaths pick it for a heart that thumps, flutters or feels loud in the chest. There is no trial evidence behind that use. A heartbeat that races at rest, or comes with faintness, needs checking first.
• Chest pain felt over the heart: Old texts describe a stitching pain over the heart that is worse when you move or bend. This is tradition only, with no trial support. Chest pain can be a warning sign, so do not treat it at home.
• Left-sided headache: The remedy is listed for headache that sits over the left eye and worsens with noise or movement. No human trials exist. Most short headaches settle on their own.
• Eye pain and pain behind the eye: Homeopathic books link it to deep, boring pain in and around the eye. There is no trial evidence. Eye pain with blurred sight or redness is a reason to be seen quickly.
• Worms in the gut (old folk use of the raw plant): The raw plant was once given to expel worms, and it sometimes poisoned the person taking it. The 30C pills have no worm-killing power. Worms need a medicine from a doctor or pharmacist.

Which foods are rich in Spigelia anthelmia?

Pinkroot is a toxic plant and is never eaten as food.

What are the side effects of Spigelia anthelmia?

• Nothing at all, in most people
• Mild tummy upset from the sugar in the pills
• Gas or loose stools if you react badly to lactose (milk sugar)
• A short flare of symptoms, which homeopaths call an aggravation and which is not proven
• Rash or itch from an allergy to the pill base: rare
• From the raw plant or a strong tincture only: vomiting, a slow or odd heartbeat, and fits (seizures)

Good to know:

Most people who take the 30C pills notice nothing. That fits what the tests show, since no plant is left in the pill. The sugar or alcohol base is the only part your body meets.

The real harm with this plant comes from two things. One is swallowing the raw plant or a strong extract, which is toxic. The other is waiting at home with chest pain, a racing heart or new face pain instead of getting help.

How much Spigelia anthelmia should you take?

• Recommended daily: No health body sets a dose for this remedy. Labels for 30C pills often say 3 to 5 pills, two or three times a day. Follow the label you have, and do not take it in place of a treatment your doctor gave you.
• Best time of day: Any time of day. Homeopaths often say to take it about 15 minutes away from food, drink, mint and strong smells. That is custom, not a proven rule.
• With or without food: Take the pills on their own, away from food and drink, if you follow the usual homeopathic custom. It makes no measurable difference either way. Let the pill melt under your tongue.
• Time to effect: There is no proof it does anything at all. Homeopaths expect a change within hours to a few days. If your face pain or heartbeat worries you, get checked now rather than waiting.
• How long to take it: A few days is enough for a short-lived problem. If nothing changes in three days, stop and see a doctor. Do not take it for months for pain or heart symptoms that keep coming back.