LICE / PEDICULOSIS

What are Lice

Lice are small insects. They move quickly and are sometimes hard to see. They look like tiny flies that are grey and about 1/16th of an inch long. They lay their eggs at the base of hair shafts. The eggs are called nits, they are a little larger than the mobile lice, are white and are easily felt by feeling the hair. The lice hatch in about 1 week after being laid.

CAUSE

Lice are small insects. Lice infest humans rather than infect them. This is an important distinction, because many parents have misconceptions about how the infestation is caught and cured. An infestation is like having relatives that you don’t like come and live with you. Once they are gone, your cured of that infestation, but that does not prevent future visits. While an infection can be permanently cured with an antibiotic and your immune system prevents future occurrences (depending on the type of infection). Lice can only live on humans. They can only survive for up to 3 days off of humans. They can survive on bed sheets, pillows, stuffed animals, hats, coats, clothes, etc.

CURE: concepts

Regardless of how we treat lice, there is one central concept you must understand: If you don’t get rid of every single nit (egg) and lice, you will not get rid of the infestation no matter what treatment you use. This is where the term “nit picking” came from. Nit picking is ensuring that you get every last one of the nits out. Most medicines used to treat lice only kill the lice that are crawling around on the head. Some claim to kill the nits, but they are usually not 100% effective. Here are some important concepts to consider:

You must remove all of the nits or they will simply hatch and you will have another infestation.

Lice can live on clothes, bed sheets, pillows, and stuffed animals for 3 days. You must remove the lice from these objects or you will simply be infested again.

Most store bought pediculides (Lice Treatments) are neurotoxic. Not following directions by significantly overusing these products has caused seizures, brain damage and even death.

Curing this infestation does not prevent re-infestation from household members, schoolmates, etc.

Cure: how to do it.

 There are 3 things you must do, kill the lice, get rid of the nits, and prevent re-infestation from the living environment.

KILL THE LICE: There are several methods of killing lice. The least toxic is to suffocate them. There are several methods of doing this.

Mayonaise or Vaseline: Coat the hair with Vaseline or mayonnaise, cover the hair with a shower cap, sleep with this overnight, and then wash / remove what you applied the next morning. For lice in eye lashes, place Vaseline on the eye lashes daily for 8 days to kill the lice and remove nits.

Cetaphil Cleanser: Apply this product to wet hair at night, then dry it on the hair using a hairdryer. When this is done, the product forms a sort of shrink-wrap. This is much less messy than the first method. Simply wash / remove the product the next morning. Recent studies show this method to be 97% effective at killing the lice and nits.

Pediculides: There are several over the counter Pediculides: Rid, Nix, etc. All of them are very effective at killing the lice and some are of limited effectiveness at killing the nits. None of these removes the nits.

GET RID OF THE NITS (NIT PICKING): There is only one good method of doing this. Buy a lice comb and comb through every hair on your child head several times to make sure you removed EVERY SINGLE NIT. Soaking the hair in a mixture of half vinegar and half rubbing alcohol before combing will help release the nit from the hair shaft.

PREVENT RE-INFESTATION: Essentially this means killing all of the lice in your environment.

Wash all cloth materials that touch the body in 130-degree temperature water.

Place cloth materials in the drier for 15-30 minutes

Anything that can’t be washed, place in a black plastic garbage bag sealed for at least 3 days

Vacuum the floors where the child lies / plays daily for several days

Soak combs and hair brushes in a solution specifically meant to kill lice or a solution made from the lice killing shampoo.

Consider use of a chemical bomb treatment specifically meant to kill lice in the house. Follow directions exactly as prescribed on the container. Many feel this step is unnecessary.