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Q. Is there a safe and easy improvement on the method of removing head lice? My wife is a kindergarten teacher and this annual ritual is wearing us both out. Her students bring lice from home, and they spread to the teachers and other students. Please help!
A. There is one novel approach that is both easy and safe. Dampen the hair, coat it with the facial cleanser Cetaphil and then use the blow-dryer. The Cetaphil hardens and forms a barrier that suffocates lice. Leave it on overnight, then shampoo it out in the morning (Pediatrics, Sept. 2004).
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My daughter came home from school with head lice a few years ago. I spent an entire month using lice shampoos and combs and could not get rid of the little things. I found some information about Desonex. There are two types. One with Coal Tar and one with Salicylic Acid. You have to use both. The one with the Salicylic Acid dissolves the glue holding the eggs onto the hair shaft and the one with the coal tar repels the bugs. The head lice were gone in just a few days.
There is a product in health food stores called "Lice Be Gone" that is herbs and natural ingredients, which can be used every night and is non toxic. It cured a case that we had that kept reccuring for 3 months! It is wonderful and safe.
THANK YOU!!! After a month-long battle with Head Lice (Kindergarten nightmare!) I found a tidbit in your book about white vinegar dissolving the "glue" which attaches the egg, or nit, to the hair shaft. This worked like a dream!
I also discovered that permethrin creme rinse (but not Pyrethrin shampoos) works to kill live lice, but NOTHING kills the eggs so you MUST get rid of them PHYSICALLY. After a month of literally snatching out the child's hair with a metal lice comb, tears, despair, The white vinegar is the savior!
Thanks AGAIN (and again and again).
I have battled these since I found out I had a horrible infestation in January--still have the remainder of it, and am desperately trying everything to get rid of them!!! Things I have tried? Over the counter preparation (like Rid X) this did nothing---they were still there the next afternoon, also tried olive oil, mayonaise, Listerine (this was actually pretty good, but not adequate), Dawn dish liquid, White vinegar, and a lot of crying and broken combs! I am determined to get rid of the buggers so now I am trying the Cetaphil and a lot of blow drying!
Also will be using Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, and I already use the Coconut Conditioner every time I shampoo, which does seem to keep them at bay, if the Cetaphil doesn't work I may shave my head (I have hair to my waist!)....I am a grown woman and this is my first run in with them, I taught high school over 15 years and never knew how awful they are, don't know where I got them, but I am exhausted with nit picking, crying and trying everything I can to eradicate them!!!
Cetaphil was the only thing that helped my sister's kids...they had tried EVERYTHING, and lice like clean heads rather than dirty ones, so having their hair all clean after the shampoo doesn't help when they go back to school the next day. Put some cetaphil on the kids' hair (or yours!) before letting them go to school so the lice can't jump in there again!
I was told by my pediatrician to put it on dry hair, blow dry and out on a shower cap over night. After rinsing and combing through the next day 99% were gone. I like the white vinegar idea cause I found 3 more eggs on my daughter's head when I did it a second day in a row. I like this method because I can treat as often as I want without overexposure to toxins. I haven't made it past the first 10 days though, so wish me luck!