I recently spotted lice on my sons hair earlier this week. The month prior there was an outbreak at his school. They have a no lice no nit policy, yet he managed to get it. So we made sure the family was all treated with an over the counter lice remover (R&C Shampoo and Conditioner which was under $12), clothing, hats scarves, coats and bedding were washed that were used within the last 48 hours. Thankfully R&C worked really well, I saw dead lice rinse right out of his hair. Their medical ingredients are Piperonyl Butoxide Technical 3.0% and Pyrethrins 0.33%. I feel I need to mention that since the article says that Pyrethrins may not work on everyone, however they didn’t mention Piperonyl Butoxide Technical, and so far R&C has always worked for me.

Now for nit removal…They’re hard to spot…I think I managed to get 2 out but I have not seen any others (light blond hair…FUN!). Since I must wait 10 days before using R&C again to kill off any possible hatchers, I have used regular olive oil to grease up his hair and go through it with a nit comb which was included with the treatment. If you have to treat lice…invest in those long metal nit combs, and always stay close to the scalp. The one that was included with the R&C was short, small, hard to use and hard to keep clean, I’ll be sure to grab one of those longer nit combs on my next trip to the store.

For anyone who has never tried R&C, I recommend giving it a shot, its cheap and it’s always worked for my family. A quick way to find out if any of your treatments work for you is if you do spot a louse after treatment and it has not died or slowed enough to easily comb it out, then you should find a different product.

Just be careful! Treating your scalp too often with harmful products is not safe.

Good luck! I can officially call myself a nit picker=)

Ed

1) Using Bleach and /or Malathion is a bad idea.

2) Some people have hair all over their bodies that head lice seem to love.

3) Be aware that scratching can dislodge lice eggs and they will have 10 to 15 days to hatch and re-infest you.

4) Kerosene is like napalm to lice – HOWEVER:

Hundreds sources state that kerosene should never be used under any circumsances. Yet kerosene (or DDT) is what was used in the good old days before dozens of bug medical treatments took over the market. Make NO mistake – Kerosene is flamable and poison so it will make you ill if you leave it on your skin for more than a few minutes at a time. Too much exposure to kerosene will kill you. But if you have had lice for six months and have already tried using alcohol, bleach, malathion, etc … and just cant get rid of them, you might be desperate enough to try kerosene. If so recommend diluting it 1:1 with vegetable oil and leaving on for no more then ten minutes before thoroughly washing it out. Of course great care must be taken to avoid flames, sparks, etc. So although using kerosene to kill drug-resistant lice is dangerous as hell, the good news is that its cheap and it highly effective.

We keep our daugther’s hair in braids now and she is not to borrow things anymore, like hats.

CDC is really trying to combat these things, but honestly they don’t know what is going on and why they are mutating in such a rapid fashion that is becoming literally unstoppable. I don’t see “fleas” mutate like this…so why lice?

Anyway, great article!
Scott

We’ve been engaged in “Bug Wars” for almost 3 months now. Tried all the over the counter stuff. Tried 5% Permethrin Cream. Bought 10% permethrin insecticide intended for farm animals. Also Mayonase – Olive oil. Use the steel combs on a daily basis. Boil cloths, sheets, pillow, towels in water every day. Spray bed, furniture, bathroom, car several times a week with very strong insecticide.

Permethrin paralyzes the lice, so most of them die of starvation. But atleast 10% come back to life after the Permethrin wears off and go on laying eggs.

I shaved off 99% of the hair on my entire body, but they still manage to reproduce and thrive by hanging out in areas which are very difficult to reach – in ears, nostrils, eye lashes and “where the sun don’t shine”.

Trust me its really disgusting dabbing toilet paper with insecticide, sticking it up your nose and leaving it there for hours at a time.

Adding to the disgust are all the little scabs that form over the bites and seem to serve as protective shelters for blood sucking lice .

My doctor is afraid to have me come in the office – afraid his staff or other patients might catch them. He writes scripts over the phone.

I’ve beaten the population back to small numbers but still can not kill them off. Even tried bathing in a 20% solution of bleach. Recently bought Malathion from a local garden supply and bathed in a 1% solution.

I keep a small bottle of 1% malathion with me day and night and dab it on my nose, head, legs, arm, genitals any time I feel the slightest movement.

I tried ordering 3 mg capsules of Ivermectin over the internet but might not have taken a sufficient quantity. I only took 3 at a time and did not take it on an empty stomach. So now I’m trying it again taking 6 at a time on an empty stomach.

We’ve been very careful with our life style over the 3 months, working from home and avoiding public places as much as possible in order to try to prevent spreading these lice around our community.

One thing is for sure. We caught them through the routine of daily life. We did nothing more risky then eating in a public restraunt or sleeping in a decent hotel. So these lice are going to spread and increase in numbers until there is a major outbreak around the country.

The CDC and local medical experts need to gear up for these parasites quickly and not waste time with traditional treatments.

We’ve spent over a $1000 and nearly 3 months trying to get rid of these infernal bugs. Imagine what it will be like for large populations to deal with a major outbreak of these highly resistant lice.

It could make the H1N1 flu virus look insiginificant in terms of the economic and social impact.

Someone at the CDC needs to figure out how to deal with these things before it gets completely out of control.