Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Calcarea silicata is a homeopathic single remedy, not a blend of several things. It is made from calcium silicate, a mineral salt of calcium and silica. Its Latin name is Calcii silicas, and it is also sold as calcium silicate.
Homeopaths choose it by the whole picture of the person, not by one named illness. The classic picture is someone who feels cold all the time, tires fast and looks thin. Such a person may be shy, slow to heal, and worn down after a long illness.
The remedy is made by serial dilution. The mineral is diluted over and over, with hard shaking between each step. At 30C, one of the most common strengths, none of the starting mineral is left in the pill.
Trials have not shown homeopathic pills to work better than dummy pills. Long use inside a tradition is not proof that a remedy has a drug effect. This page reports both things side by side: what the tradition says, and what testing shows.
People take it for low energy, frequent colds, and slow healing. It is sold as small sugar pills or as drops. It is not a treatment for any disease, and it does not replace care from a doctor.
There is no known way this remedy could act on the body, and honest sources say so.
Homeopathy rests on two old ideas. The first is "like cures like": a substance that causes symptoms in a well person is said to ease them in a sick one. The second is that shaking during dilution leaves some trace or pattern of the mineral behind.
Chemistry does not support the second idea. By about 12C there is likely not a single molecule of the source left. At 30C the pill is sugar, and the drops are water and alcohol.
So any benefit people report most likely comes from other things. Feeling cared for in a long consultation can lift mood. Many complaints, such as colds and tiredness, also settle on their own with time.
It comes in a small number of simple forms.
Round sugar pellets, taken under the tongue, are the most common. Larger pills and plain lactose (milk sugar) powders are also sold. Liquid drops in a water and alcohol base are used by some practitioners.
Strengths are written as 6C, 30C, 200C or 1M. Higher numbers mean more dilution, not more substance. Some homeopaths use LM or Q strengths, which are made by a slightly different method.
Calcium silicate itself has been known to mineral chemistry for a long time. Its homeopathic use is much younger and much narrower.
The remedy was introduced in the late 1800s in the United States, and the proving is usually credited to Samuel Swan. It then appeared in the repertories of James Tyler Kent, which is how most homeopaths still find it.
It has never been a front-line homeopathic remedy. It is best described as a recognised smaller remedy inside one tradition.
See a doctor if your tiredness lasts more than a few weeks, if you are losing weight without trying, or if you keep getting infections. These signs need tests, not pellets.
See a doctor promptly for a fever above 38.5C that lasts more than three days, a cough lasting more than three weeks, or a wound that will not heal.
Get emergency help for chest pain, trouble breathing, weakness on one side of the body, confusion, a fit, or a rash that does not fade when you press a glass on it.
Also tell your doctor or pharmacist that you are taking this remedy, so your full record is accurate.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for Calcarea silicata is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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