Head lice…. two words that strike fear in most adults. “Does my child have “it”? Do her friends have “it”? Who could have given “it” to her? “It” couldn’t have come from my daughter. She is always clean and my house is spotless. Who did this to her? Who did this to us? Now we must tear this house apart! No, we should just move! And what do we use to get rid of “it”? And what about super lice? Oh my!”
Before we lose our minds, let’s take a closer look at what we are dealing with when we discuss “it”. Yes, it is never fun to deal with lice. Do you need to pack up and move? I don’t think so! Is it dangerous to have lice? No! Won’t we get a disease? No. As disgusting as “it” is, and the idea of bugs crawling on us is gross, it is more of a nuisance than anything. They do not carry a disease. They just aggravate us.
And it really doesn’t matter who gave “it” to your child. Getting lice does not have anything to do with how clean your house is. Don’t play sleuth and try to figure out where it came from. Feelings will get hurt and “it” is not worth losing friendships over the little buggers. But, yes, there will be a lot of cleaning involved. You may be wondering if you need to have your home fumigated?
According to the CDC, No. Use of insecticide sprays or fogs is NOT recommended. Fumigant spray and fogs can be toxic if inhaled or absorbed through the skin and they are not necessary to control head lice. What is recommended is thoroughly washing, soaking, or drying items at a temperature greater than 130°F that will kill both head lice and nits. You want to clean anything the infected person used within 48 hours of diagnosis.
Dry cleaning also kills head lice and nits. Items that cannot be washed should be placed in a plastic bag and sealed for two days. You should wash combs, brushes, ponytail holders, etc. (with your favorite cleaner and hot or boiling water) or quarantine them or put them in the freezer for two days. Vacuum the house and the sofa/chairs where the affected person has been.
So, what do you use to rid your child’s head of lice? This is a serious question. You want to be sure you kill the lice AND the nits. But, is it necessary to use a pesticide? There is much debate about this topic. The first line of defense has been to use Rid or Nix to eliminate lice.
Pyrethrum, the active ingredient in Rid and Permethrin, is the active ingredient in the over-the-counter product like Nix are both classified as pesticides. Unfortunately, we now have super lice in 48 states. These are lice that have become genetically resistant to both these pesticides. So, they are becoming ineffective in their fight to destroy lice.
In addition, both these products have only proved effective in killing the live lice and not the nits. This is the reason you often need another round or two, increasing the amount of pesticide being used. There is more and more data that suggests use of pesticides can cause ADD and a host of other problems.
There is a relatively new product called Lycelle. Lycelle is 100% pesticide free! It can be purchased at your local Walgreens. My daughter and I were at Walgreens recently and looked for the product. I was surprised to see most products on the shelf were pesticide free. It certainly supports the trend that consumers want and are using pesticide free treatments more often.
Besides being 100% pesticide free another benefit of Lycelle is that it eliminates lice in just about 10 minutes. A major benefit is the ease of application (one and done application). It couldn’t be easier. And Lycelle eliminates lice, super lice and eggs. Lycelle was formally a prescription and is now available without one. You can learn more about Lycelle at http://ow.ly/JIxx30by6HP. You can redeem a $5.00 coupon at this site. And remember, use the comb provided and use it for a while. Research show that combing the hair is essential to really rid your child of the lice AND nits.
So, the next time you see a note from school telling you that someone in the class has lice, don’t panic! You are armed this time with education regarding lice and you know you don’t have to move or spend endless hours with messy, pesticide. As a matter of fact, next time you are at your local Walgreens, pick up a bottle of Lycelle and keep it on hand. Just in case “it” comes to visit your home again.
