Household sprays for treating head lice
December 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Some companies have marketed aerosol sprays for treating head lice that patients can spray in their environment and on to furnishings.
What’s the problem with household sprays for treating head lice?
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As already discussed, head lice spread from head to head and do not survive for long away from a scalp where they can feed and breed. As a result, very few lice are in the environment unless they have been dislodged there from scratching and combing. As a result, the benefits of spraying the environment are minimal.
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Environmental sprays can encourage paranoia…say when a suspected lice carrier visits, spraying the household may be exuberant afterwards. We need to remember that lice-killing sprays are pesticides and it is not healthy to breath in high levels of pesticide.
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Spraying furnishings such as bedding means close inhalation of the spray for a full sleep cycle. This may cause irritation to the airways.
On balance, effective vacuuming and / or washing of the places where lice may have been in contact is a safe and sanitory control over those stray lice on furnishings.
Flammable chemicals for treating head lice
December 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
From time to time, newspapers report accidents whereby parents have used gasoline to treat a head louse infestation and the consequece has been accidental burning of the patient, parent and / or the family home.
Why people would even risk using flammable chemicals to treat lice rather that seek a pharmacist’s advice is a mystery. Possibly embarrassment over asking for treatment is a reason. However, schools and pharmacies should raise awareness of the serious potential risks of using flammable chemicals to treat head lice….such as difigurement, loss of life and damge to property.
Hair removal as a means of controlling head lice
December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Even if desperate to control persistant head lice infestation, parents are advised to avoid the temptation to shave their child’s head.
Whilst hair removal as a means of controlling head louse infestation will be effective (by removing any hair shaft for lice to lay eggs on), it will increase the risk of the child being teased or even bullied because of their different appearance.
Nit cement dissolving home remedies for head lice
December 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
What are nit cement dissolving treatments?
Nit cement dissolving treatments are old-fashioned home remedies for head lice that rely upon the use of acidic products to dissolve the cement that the head louse uses to attach its eggs (and subsequent nits) to the hair shaft.
Vinegar has been a historically popular example of nit cement dissolving techniques. However, for some people, the acidic nature of vinegar has been too harsh for their skin leaving irritation. Vinegar is, for this reason, best avoided as a home remedy for head lice.
As well as home remedies for head lice, there are also some commercial treatments being sold that claim to dissolve nit cement. Formic acid is used by Step 2 with this in mind. Clear have also claimed that their enzyme system has a similar nit cement dissolving action. The efficiency of either of these treatments is yet to be proven for treating head lice.
Visual checking for head lice
December 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If you are unable to check for head lice using the combing method or lack confidence in doing the nit combing for the first time, your pharmacist may be able to help. However, a visual detection process is never as effective as nit combing.
Your pharmacist should still use protective gloves and examine the scalp under strong light using a magnifying glass, if needed. This method is less effective than combing as if there are only one or two lice present they may be missed. Only more obvious head lice infestations will be detected this way.
Your pharmacist will be looking for live lice and nits as part of their evidence of head lice infestation. It is hard to discern visually whether a nit is an incubating nymph or an old egg cast. However, viable eggs are laid close to the scalp so that the nymph can feed straight away. Any egg casts (nits) more than 1 inch away from the scalp are signs of an old infestation. Eggs not laid near to the scalp are unlikely to hatch as they will not derive enough heat to incubate without heat from the scalp (the only exception to this being warm climates). In winter, viable eggs would only be laid near the scalp. During a hot summer there may be viable eggs further along the hair shaft.
How a nit looks is another clue to whether it is viable or not. Empty egg cases tend to appear much whiter and dull also lacking transparency. A viable nit that has an unhatched of dead nymph in it will appear darker and more translucent. Visual examination makes this quite difficult to discern. Often examination under a microscope is the best way to be sure.
Checking for head lice with a nit comb
December 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This is the most effective way to check for the presence of head lice. There are several steps that you should use to do this effectively:
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ideally wear disposable gloves to avoid cross-contamination
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find a well lit room. With direct light shining onto the scalp it is easier to see the head louse eggs, nits and any movement of head lice on the scalp. If good natural light is not available, a strong light is the next best alternative.
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brush or comb through the hair to get rid of all the tangles. Tangles can often be a place where lice lurk…especially if near the nape of the neck.
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if the person doing the examination needs corrective spectacles to see effectively, these should be used. Otherwise, a maginifying glass may be helpful.
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Divide the hair into sections approximately an inch wide. Pin back the section of hair not being examined to avoid cross contamination. Likewise, once a section has been examined, pin it to the hair that has already been checked.
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With each section of hair, use a fine toothed nit comb (plastic or metal) and comb it firmly and slowly through the hair from the scalp to the end of the hair shaft. The finer the gap between the teeth of the nit comb, the more effective it is at removing lice, nymphs, eggs and nits. Dip the comb into a cup of water after each section is combed. If debris of eggs, nits and lice biulds up between the teeth, clean them off with a nail brush, tooth brush or piece of dental floss to avoid spreading lice from a combed section to another part of the scalp.
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Continue with this process until the entire scalp has been combed.
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Should you find no lice on this occasion, do not be complacent. If there is a head lice infestation in your child’s school, regular checks are important and combing is your first line of defense.
What are pseudonits?
December 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
When determining whether you or your child really do have a head louse infestation, it is important to realise that there are some things that may be in the hair that resemble nits but are, in fact, something completely different and usually harmless. These things are sometimes known as pseudonits and can cause diagnostic confusion. When in doubt get a medical professional or pharmacist to give an accurate diagnosis so as to avoid unnecessary treatment.
Examples of “pseudonits”
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dandruff scales may give the impression of the hair being peppered with nits.
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dirt
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hair grooming aids can leave specks on the hair resembling nits.
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pollen may present as small white flecks resembling nits at a quick glance.
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hair spray flakes
As a general rule, if the item can easily be flicked away from the hair it will not be a nit (as a nit will be glued to the hair shaft and take more effort to remove).
Are all head lice the same?
December 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
As discussed earlier this week, there is clear evidence of head lice found by paleontologists and archeologists dating back to Ancient Egyptian times. There are nits found on mummies’ remains and in ancient combs and there are even indications that high priests in these time used to shave their heads in order to eliminate head lice. Close examination of these findings indicates that they are identical to their present day relatives.
Are all head lice the same….or do they vary?
Whilst todays head lice are descendants of the ancient head lice and have not shown significant evolutionary change, there are two types of lice that thrive more easily on different hair types.
Not all hair is alike. Caucasians , native Americans and Orientals have hair that is round when in cross section. By contrast, people of African descent have hair with a more oval shaped cross-section.
The most common lice to be found in the U.S are the ones that were thought to have arrived with the early settlers from Western Europe who were largely Caucasion. Understandably, these lice adapted to thrive with their hosts and to grasp effectively onto a round hair shaft. Because they cannot easily grasp onto an oval hair shaft it is unusual to find this strain of lice on black childrens’ hair. For this reason, every other group than those children of African descent have struggles with head lice infestation.
By contrast, African lice have developed so that they can effectively grip to the oval shaped hair shaft. As a result, African natives are at higher risk of infestation by this strain of head lice whilst other communities are unlikely to be affected.
The result? Nobody escapes the risk of infestation by one or the other types of lice.
Head Lice Remedies in History
December 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Some ancient remedies for head lice sound quite exciting, exotic and sometimes downright dangerous throughout history indicating how highly motivated a sufferer of head lice infestation is to get rid of the little critters!
- c1,200 BC – The Chinese were using mercury and arsenic based potions to eliminate head lice.
- c430 BC – Ancient Egyptian priests used to shave their heads to eliminate head lice.
- c64 AD – A physician in Nero’s army (Dioscorides of Anazarbus) suggested two possible remedies for head lice. (1) Rubbing on ceder oil). (2) A blend of oregano and garlic boiled together to kill lice and bed bugs (the only trouble is the enemy would have smelled them coming!)
- c64 AD – Pliny the elder suggested dog’s fat and eating serpents cooked like eels as a way to eliminate head lice.
- c 100 AD – The Chinese discovered Pyrethrum powder as an insecticide that was helpful to treat lice.
- c1020 – Mercury still used as a treatment for head lice even though there was now growing awareness that it is a neurotoxin.
- 1352 – Marco Polo discovered a string around the neck containing mercury was an effective insecticide.
- 15th Century – an array of daunting sounding remedies: (1) Strew horsemint around the house. (2) Wash hair in sea water. (3) Limewash and vinegar applied as a paste. (4) Wrap head in a strip of fabric basted in fat and mercury mixed together.
- 1653 - Apply a mixture of bryony, mercury, brimstone, potassium nitrate mixed with vinegar and oil plus other rare ingedients. This was acknowledged to be unsafe for young children….enough to make your hair curl (if not drop out).
- 1681 – Culpepper suggested a liquid of English Tobacco juice.
And so the list continues….makes current treatments seem quite innocuous by comparison…or are they. Over the coming weeks a discussion of the different prescription, over the counter and home remedies for head louse elimination will unfold. You decide.
A brief history of the presence of head lice
December 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Where on earth did these little critters come from? Are head lice a modern affliction or can they be traced back through history? Here we explore a brief history of evidence of the presence of head lice throughout human history showing that they do date back to time immemorial.
- c 105,000 BC – Kittler et al (2004) found evidence of head lice similar to those found on human head today. This was deduced using molecular clock analysis.
- c 8,000 BC – In northeast Brazil, Araujo et al (2000) found a nit attached to human hair at a 10,000 year old archeological site.
- c 7,000 BC- A skull found in a Neolithic cave in Israel’s Northern Negev showed head louse eggs attached to its matted hair.
- c 3,000 BC-Nit combs, nits and head louse eggs have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt.
- c 350 BC- Aristotle wrote on the subject of head lice and their profusion writing ” There is also a specied of louse called the “wild louse” and this is harder than the ordinary louse and there is exceptional difficulty in getting rid of it. Boy’s heads are apt to be lousy but men’s in a less degree; and women are more subject to lice than men” Some things don’t change much do they?
- c 72 AD – A excavation at a Roman Fort just outside Carlisle Castle in Cumbria (U.K) revealed an intact head louse.
- c 1399 AD “…lice rushed out of the King’s hair at the (coronation) ceremony for Henry IV.” [Hilliam, 2001]. If you’re suffering from head lice now, you’re in good company!
- c1650 AD The precursor to the magnifying glass was invented. Known as a “flea glass” it magnified by approximately 10 times.
- c1700s - popular belief was that head lice were spontaneously generated from body secretions. This belief streches back to Aristotle’s times.
- 1652 - Nicholas Culpepper devised an approved remedy to “kill head lice (and) cure the itch“.
