Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical
A topical lice treatment that kills head, pubic, and body lice using a plant-based insecticide.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 1 clinical label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
This product treats lice infestations on the body. It targets:
- Head lice — found in scalp hair
- Pubic (crab) lice — found in pubic hair
- Body lice — found on the body or clothing
💊How it's taken▾
Apply the product to dry hair or the affected skin area. For head lice, begin at the back of the neck and behind the ears. Leave the product on for exactly 10 minutes — no longer — then rinse thoroughly with warm water and soap or shampoo.
- After washing, towel-dry hair and comb through damp hair with a fine-tooth lice comb to remove nits
- Check daily for any lice or nits you may have missed
- A second full treatment must be done 7 to 10 days later to kill newly hatched lice
- Children under 2 years: ask a doctor before use
If the infestation continues after a second treatment, see a doctor for other options.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
Most side effects with this product are mild and local (at the spot where it's applied):
- Scalp itching
- Scalp redness
- Skin or scalp irritation
- Eye irritation if the product gets in your eyes
Stop using and see a doctor if breathing becomes difficult, eye irritation develops, skin irritation doesn't go away, or signs of skin infection appear.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Ragweed allergy: If you're allergic to ragweed, this product may cause breathing difficulty or trigger an asthma-like attack — ask a doctor before using it.
- Eyes and sensitive areas: Never apply near the eyes, inside the nose, mouth, or vagina. If lice are in the eyebrows or eyelashes, see a doctor — do not use this product there.
- Eye contact: Keep eyes tightly closed during use. If product gets in your eyes, flush right away with water.
- Children under 2: Ask a doctor before use.
- If swallowed: Call Poison Control or seek emergency help immediately.
🔀What it interacts with▾
No specific drug, food, or supplement interactions are listed for this product.
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Tell your doctor if you have ever had a reaction to this product or its ingredients
- Do not use if you are allergic to ragweed
- Do not use on children under 2 years old without a doctor's guidance
- Do not apply to the eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, mouth, or vaginal area
🚑If you take too much▾
If this product is swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away. Do not wait for symptoms to appear.
📄 Written from Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly does this product treat? ▾
How long do I leave it on, and do I really need a second treatment? ▾
Is combing out nits really necessary, or can I skip that step? ▾
Can I use this on my toddler or young child? ▾
I have a ragweed allergy — is it safe for me to use this? ▾
What side effects should I watch for, and when should I call a doctor? ▾
Is Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical available over the counter? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
📈 How widely Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical is used
A general measure of how commonly Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical prescribed? Of the 1,597 medications we measure, Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical ranks #919 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 42% of them.
Utilization by Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
piperonyl butoxide 40 MG/ML / pyrethrins 3.3 MG/ML Medicated Shampoo Most dispensed
Summed across the 3 of 68 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 283219
piperonyl butoxide 0.035 MG/MG / pyrethrins 0.003 MG/MG Topical Gel
Summed across the 1 of 1 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2058503
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 4 of 69 listed Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical NDCs with Medicaid activity.
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Pyrethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide Topical is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 1 FDA-filed SPL label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. GM Pharmaceuticals, INC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.