Thorough combing for treating head lice
February 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Thorough nit combing as a means to eliminate head lice is rapidly becoming the nit treatment method of choice for many parents as the persistance of head louse infestation in some schools is making it an unpleasant prospect using chemicals on childrens’ head in the medium to long term.
Pesticides are all toxic to some extent and can eventually lead to head lice becoming resistant to them.
Other treatments for head lice have uncertain safety or efficiacy records (as discussed in earlier posts) and some, such as flammable treatments, are downright dangerous!
For all of the above reasons, many pharmacists are recommending using a high quality nit comb such as LiceMeister and Nitty Gritty combs which have the capacity to remove unhatched eggs, nits, nymphs and live lice from the scalp. Combs such as these top of the range nit combs make nit combing an easy job.
I remember the first time that I used the NittyGritty comb on my daughter’s hair. I had carried out what I thought was an effective nit combing with a cheap metal nit comb one day previously and believed myself to have done a thorough job. Two days later I pulled out over 100 nymphs, 13 more adult lice and a terrifying amount of nits and eggs. A high quality nit comb is a must if your child is being contaminated with head lice. With a bit of conditioner and a thorough nit combing of the hair every two days, an head louse infestation can be completely cleared up within a maximum of 2 weeks without any toxic chemicals going onto your child. They will then stay clear of head lice provided they are not in continued contact with someone who has lice. For this reason, it is wise to check the whole family’s scalps for lice when you first suspect an outbreak.
Additional symptoms of head lice infestation
January 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Several key symptoms of head lice have been covered in earlier post. These head lice symptoms include itching, tickling sensations (from head louse movement) and evidence of head louse eggs and nits on the hair shaft.
An additional symptom of head lice can also be lice feces. You may find lice feces inside your shirt / blouse collar or left behind on your pillow in the morning. Head lice faeces will be small dark specs that become lodged in the collar area of your clothing. With perspiration around the neck these may smear onto the collar as the head turns from side to side giving additional clues to head louse infestation.
Other additional symtoms of head louse infestation incluse “railroad scratching” to the scalp where the itching has caused aggressive scratching in parallel lines from the finger tips. These scratches can become infected so they should be checked out by your pharmacist if becoming sore or uncomfortable as they may need antibiotic treatment.
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.
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.
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.
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“.
What do nits look like?
December 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Sometimes people mistake the name “nits” for head lice. This can cause confusion as nits are the empty egg casts from the hatched head louse nymph. The head louse is the actual creature that has been breeding and causing the infestation. In reality, to say “You child has nits.” usually means “Your child has head lice.” The nits left by the nymphs may, however, be the first obvious visual cue that head lice are present on a scalp.
So, what do nits look like?
Nits look like a fine dusting of white sugar grains across the hairs ….usually found on the hairs behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. This is because these areas of the scalp form the warmest place to successfully breed. The closer to the scalp the nit is, the more recent it is. Nits a long way down the hair shaft are just a sign that head lice bred there a long time ago. They may nolonger be present if treated.
What does a head louse look like?
A head louse looks like the little critter you can see in the banner image….although the colour has been changed there for aesthetic reasons, the image of the louse is accurate.
A head louse can vary in colour from almost translucent beige to nearly black as they have the ability to adapt their colour to their host’s hair colour so as to avoid detection. An adult head louse can grow up to 3mm long and will be easily identified from the above picture once removed from the scalp. A nymph is smaller than a pin head and often very dark in colour. Their smallness means that a very fine nit comb is needed to remove them.
Olive Oil and Head Lice – An effective remedy?
December 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Most over the counter head lice remedies are pesticides and, for this reason, many parents are reluctant to use them too often (if at all) because of potential side affects from long term usage. As a result, a natural home head lice remedy becomes an appealing option. Nobody wants to risk their child’s health and we are all more environmentally aware these days of what we are washing down out drains. Lindane (an ingredient of one prescription head lice treatment), for example, has been banned in California because just one treatment contaminates up to 6 million gallons of water. In addition it has been shown to increase carcinogenic risks in children.
So, olive oil and head lice…a marriage made in heaven or an effective remedy for head lice?
Olive oil is a popular home remedy for head lice. If you put enough of it on the scalp, the lice will be suffocated then the oil allows them to be slipped out of the hair easily using a nit comb. In this way it aims to work in a similar fashion to the mayonnaise approach. It is more effective than just using conditioner and nit combing as there is less opportunity for the lice to survice the treatment.
The olive oil treatment for head lice needs you to be patient and diligent.
- Soak your child’s head in olive oil (some people leave it on their child’s head overnight covered in a plastic cap). Once soaked with oil, divide the hair into sections and, one by one, comb the live lice, eggs and nits out of that section of hair.
- After thoroughly combing the hair with a fine nit comb, wash the hair thoroughly.
- Repeat this process every 7 days until completely clear of lice (to catch lice as they hatch and before they are old enough to breed).
Whilst olive oil and head lice are a fairly effective remedy, the main success of this approach depends upon the diligence of the nit combing. However, it is safe for your child.
Head Lice No More offers a very effective home remedy for head lice for less than the price of a couple of bottles of olive oil. Cheap and easy to implement, the approach in this ebook uses items that many of us have at home so you will be off to a quick start with sorting out this perennial childrens’ problem.
What does head lice look like?
November 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
How do I identify head lice?
Head lice are small flat insects approximately the size of a grain of basmati rice (2 – 4 mm long) when fully grown. They do not have wings and are therefore crawling insects that can only be caught through head to head contact. They can not fly.
As shown in the banner picture for this site, they have six legs. The front two legs have strong claws allowing the head louse to grip to the hair follicle or the scalp whilst feeding or procreating.
Are head lice easy to spot?
Head lice have a useful ability (for them) of changing colour to blend with the hair colour of their host. For this reason, when considering “What does head lice look like?”, you need to be prepared for the colour of these insects to range from almost translucent (when on blonde hair) right through to almost black (on dark hair). When my family has had lice I have seen all manner of shades by the time I have checked everyone’s scalps. Delightful!
The tickling sensation of lice moving on the scalp if often experienced most intensely on the crown of the head, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. With a serious head louse infestation, you will be able to detect movement on the head without even going close. With a small number of lice a bit more detective work is needed.
Newly hatched lice usually appear as almost black and start life about the size of a pin head.
Using good lighting, move slowly over the scalp separating hairs. By looking closely at the scalp you may strike lucky and spot a moving head louse. The more effective way to catch them is to check the head with a nit comb and some hair conditioner or by spotting eggs or nits (empty cases of hatched head lice).
What other visual clues might identify head lice?
The growing louse eggs look like tiny white / brown ovals. These will be glued firmly to the hair right next to the scalp so that the newly hatched louse can start feeding straight away. If you see white dots (in severe cases like little grains of sand on the hair – but particularly under the hair near the ears or the nape of the neck) these indicate newly hatched lice. However, if nits are more than a quarter of an inch away from the scalp then that will identify head lice that hatched some time ago.
Can hair dye kill head lice?
November 11, 2008 | 1 Comment
Can hair dye kill head lice or is it a myth?
Some people claim that permanent hair dye can be useful in killing head lice. This is on the basis that the chemicals would, at least, suffocate lice as well as sterilising their eggs.
There may be some merit is this as an idea….and for mature women, who might dye their hair anyway, it is as good as killing two birds with a stone (or is that two bugs with a bottle?). However, the effectiveness of this approach has not been scientifically proven.
What are the risks of killing head lice with hair dye?
- The most obvious risk is that excessive dying of the hair will cause permanent damage to the hair by drying it out. This may leave your hair more brittle if you need to nit comb it later on ultimately leaving it in bad condition.
- There is much anecdotal evidence on the forums of the success of this method to treat head lice. There is also a similar amount of evidence that it is not an effective head lice remedy as eggs remaining will still hatch withing the next 7 – 10 days and further hair dye application to kill head lice is not a healthy option for your hair.
- The fact that you will still need to comb out nits means that your newly treated hair (already susceptible to damage due to treatment) may be left in poor condition….especially if you have a pre-existing health condition or take prescribed medication that increase risk of hair loss.
On balance, there are safer and less harmful approaches that can be taken in the treatment of head lice that will probably be more reliably effective.
One such product is Joy Elizabeth’s “Best Head Lice Remedy”. This inexpensive book will give you a tried and tested home remedy for head lice that will cost less that a single treatment from your local pharmacy yet can be used again and again when your kids pick up lice from school. Training videos, audio support and email answers to questions from the author make for a really successful and safe home treatment that I can personally recommend.
