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Head Lice – Which Treatment is Best?
Your choice of treatment for head lice will depend on how severely the hair is infested and the local patterns of resistance. If a treatment has failed before, you will want to try a different treatment. Unfortunately, some head lice are becoming resistant to treatment with some pesticide shampoo.
Human head lice are parasites that feed on human blood. This means they need to feed on their host’s head several times a day to survive. Nymphs and adult forms of the lice will be found on the head and the female lays eggs on the hair shaft next to the scalp.
Head lice are common and are generally found in preschool and school age children. Although head lice have no respect for cleanliness or social cast, there is a stigma attached to an infestation of the pests. Head lice are not a result of not being clean, poor hygiene, or because the family is poor.
Head lice are harmless and typically without symptoms until the head have been infested for a couple of weeks or a month. Sometimes a secondary infection has developed because of repeated scratching. Antibiotics will then be prescribed to fight the infection and the lice need to be treated.
The effectiveness of the treatment will depend on which treatment method you choose. You can use over-the-counter shampoos that contain permethrin and pyrethrin. A prescribed prescription that contains lindane is available but there are safety issues when using this pesticide. Home remedies could be your choice of treatment. Many home cures have been passed from generation to generation and have proved effective.
One of the most effective treatments is shampooing and then using a special comb to pull out the nits. These eggs or nits glue themselves to the hair shafts and are not moved by touching them with a finger or comb.
Home remedies include methods of suffocation with Vaseline, olive or vegetable oil, and wrapping the head in a plastic bag is popular. Heat also plays a role in combating an infestation of head lice. Using the hottest water the person can stand, using a blow dryer after applying a suffocating product, and using a blow dryer while combing out nits may all prove effective in ridding the head of lice.
The method you use to rid your child of head lice will depend on many items. If this is not the first infestation, there may be a resistance to more common forms of head lice treatment. If you choose to use a shampoo with a pesticide, protect other parts of the body from contact with the medication. It is important to keep the shampoo treatment out of the eyes and the mouth.
Use caution when using Vaseline, and vegetable or mineral oil. They are hard to wash out of the hair. Time and patience will finally return the hair to normal after killing the lice and all nits. Whichever method you choose, combing out the nits is one of the most important steps!
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Sun 6 Jul 2008 02:30:05 CST | |