Best treatment for head lice

Each year as schools across the country open there doors, head lice infestation becomes a major concern for many parents. Health Departments gear up for visits to the schools to check the heads of each student. Forms are then sent home advising what to do to rid the child/children and the home of these mite sized pest.

Head lice is a minute sized insect that attaches itself to strands of hair. The adults then lay grey colored eggs called nits. The head lice cause itching and will multiply if left untreated. They are transmitted from one person to another by sharing hats, combs and can be transferred from one person to another if the coat a person is wearing come in contact with another coat. This is why children in schools seem to be the perfect host for head lice. A child with head lice may store his coat in the coat closet or on an over crowded coat rack and transfer the lice from one garment to another.

Head lice cause itching which can cause a secondary infection from scratching. The nits look like dandruff except it doesn’t flake off as in the case of dandruff.

Once head lice is determined the battle begins. Cleaning the pest out of the hair is the first step followed by cleaning the home in order to prevent re-infestation.

There are products such as RID and NIX on the market to shampoo into the hair. These contain chemicals which kill the lice and there nits (eggs). Then one must use the fine toothed comb provided in the package to remove the nits from the hair. Combing each strand of hair is time consuming but must be done in order for the treatment to be effective. This process should be repeated within 10 days to make sure the lice is dead and no nits remain.

There are home remedies provided on various websites to help with the removal of head lice. One website suggest using mayonnaise as an alternative to the store bought product. Cover the head with mayonnaise for about two hours and rinse with vinegar. This is supposed to smother the head lice. Another suggestion is to use vegetable oil or olive oil for the same results. This is said to work if repeated after 6 days. The author of this suggestion said they tried this method after their daughter complained about the smell of the mayonnaise and the chemical treatments left the hair to brittle.

Treating the home is a bit more challenging. All stuffed animals and dolls which have hair should be closed up in a plastic garbage bag for at least two weeks. If they can be washed and dried, they should be. The bedding used in the home should be washed in hot water and thrown into a hot dryer. This is to kill the nits as well as the live lice on the bedding.

There are chemical treatments available on the market for carpeting and furniture. Read the directions carefully when using around children and pets. Vacuum all surfaces and take the bag out of the vacuum to the covered trash can outside. If the problem still exist after all these treatments consider using a bug bomb to help eliminate they problem.

Many people treat the hair but don’t do a thorough job of ridding the home of the pest. This makes reinfestation almost certain. One myth that is associated with head lice is that the person is dirty and doesn’t come from a clean home. This is not true. Head lice can be found on people from all walks of life. They only need a head of hair to survive and they don’t care if the person has money or not.

Learn more about this author, Dee Cain. Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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