Benzyl Alcohol is an aromatic alcohol used in a wide variety of cosmetic formulations as a fragrance component, preservative, solvent, and viscosity-decreasing agent. FDA agency approved benzyl alcohol for the treatment of head lice. The drug acts on head lice by inhibiting them from closing their respiratory spiracles, allowing the vehicle to obstruct the spiracles and causing the lice to asphyxiate.

Spinosad is a natural mixture of pediculicidal tetracyclic macrolides—spinosyn A and spinosyn D in the ratio of 5:1. It is derived from species of actinomycetes bacteria - Saccharopolyspora spinosa and is a bacterial waste product produced by fermentation on a nutrient food source. It has since long been used as a pesticide and classified by the US Environment Protection Agency as a reduced risk pesticide product. Spinosad has a high level of efficacy for lepidopteran larvae, as well as some Diptera, Coleoptera, Thysanoptera, and Hymenoptera, but has limited to no activity to other insects and exhibits low toxicity to mammals and other wildlife. Spinosad overstimulates nerve cells by prolonging electrical impulse across synapses by acting like acetylcholine. After periods of hyperexcitation, lice become paralyzed and die. Recently, FDA has approved the topical suspension of spinosad 0.9% for treatment of head lice infestation in patients four years of age and older. It is both pediculicidal and ovicidal.

Ivermectin is a broad-spectrum anti-parasite medication. It was first marketed under the name Stromectol® and used against worms (except tapeworms), but, in 2012, it was approved for the topical treatment of head lice infestations in patients 6 months of age and older, and marketed under the name Sklice™ as well. Ivermectin is mainly used in humans in the treatment of onchocerciasis but is also effective against other worm infestations (such as strongyloidiasis, ascariasis, trichuriasis, and enterobiasis). Ivermectin binds selectively and with high affinity to glutamate-gated chloride ion channels in invertebrate muscle and nerve cells of the microfilaria. This binding causes an increase in the permeability of the cell membrane to chloride ions and results in hyperpolarization of the cell, leading to paralysis and death of the parasite. Ivermectin also is believed to act as an agonist of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), thereby disrupting GABA-mediated central nervous system (CNS) neurosynaptic transmission. Ivermectin may also impair the normal intrauterine development of O. volvulus microfilariae and may inhibit their release from the uteri of gravid female worms. It is sold under brand names Heartgard, Sklice and Stromectol in the United States, Ivomec worldwide by Merial Animal Health, Mectizan in Canada by Merck, Iver-DT in Nepal by Alive Pharmaceutical and Ivexterm in Mexico by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. In Southeast Asian countries, it is marketed by Delta Pharma Ltd. under the trade name Scabo 6.