what is the best way of getting rid of head lice?My child has it and I cannot get rid of it with otc treatment

Answer 1

pine sol for 20-30mins. dry the hair. go over it with a robie comb.

Answer 2

The OTC kits sold to kill head lice are the most effective ways to do it. If you have had a treatment failure, then there are a few possible explainations. First, you really should do a second treatment in two days time to get the hatchlings you didn't kill as eggs. You also have to treat the brushes, combs, hats, hair bows, etc at the same time. You can either soak them in a mix of the shampoo and water, then microwave them a few minutes, bake them dry in the dryer, or freeze them at least a full day in the freezer. You also want to get the pillow and pillow case done. If your child has long hair, braid it and keep it pulled back to the rear of the head. And watch out for the friends, if they have them and aren't treated, all the work in the world won't save you from a reinfestation. If this child is a boy, you also have the option of one really close haircut, a down to the skin buzz of the hair. Plan to shampoo everyone in the family all at once, then repeat the treatment again on the infected child in two days. If its bad at school, complain. Check for eggs at the base of the head, underneath all the hair, and behind the ears. Sometimes you have to just scrape the eggs off between your fingers- the combs are good, but sometimes those little suckers can just be stubborn. But make noise at the school as well, because unless every single child with them is treated correctly, nobody is going to have much luck getting rid of them. It only takes one child to infect the class.

Answer 3

Remedies such as gasoline and kerosene are not only extremely flammable they are also highly toxic. Your scalp is extremely permeable and absorbs up to 60% of anything you place on it. It must be remembered that it is not actually the gasoline that ignites but the fumes, so an open flame in any part of the room or immediate vicinity could mean everything exposed to the fumes will be engulfed in flame. Please do not use Kerosene lest you feel like a quick trip to the ER.

Adults and nymphs are only able to survive for 2-3 days off the host in optimal conditions.

Under normal circumstances however this is more likely to be measured in hours rather than days as the adult louse is highly susceptible to dehydration and will quickly starve.

Wash pillowcases and sheets as a precaution, but a nit that falls out attached to a hair needs the warmth of the scalp to hatch. Without this, it will simply die. The chances of it finding its way back to that scalp are zero.

With this in mind it is fairly obvious that compulsive cleaning is totally unnecessary.

It is more important to make sure there is no live lice on the head than there is on the floor or furnishings.

Malathion (or Maldison as it is know in NZ and Australia): Is a highly toxic derivative of nerve gas which works by disrupting the chemical reactions in the lice's (and our) nervous system.

As for chemical veterinarian products. Any chemical that kills pests is a pesticide, and all pesticides have the potential to cause serious side effects. Flea shampoo is even worse for you because it is not intended for human use.

No chemical head lice treatment is legally allowed to be labeled as 'safe' as every insecticide is a poison. Every pesticide preparation has the potential to do serious damage depending on the individual.

If a lice treatment does not work once it is not going to work twice, in fact the lice that live will breed into a whole new batch that are resistant to that chemical.

The bagging of items such as toys and personal belongings is also a good idea, but there is absolutely no need to do this for weeks at a time. 48 hours is absolutely ample as the louse will be a shriveled skeleton without food or more importantly – hydration.

Using pesticide bombs also unnecessarily expose your family to dangerous chemicals. Eggs can survive away from the host for up to 7 days but will not hatch without the warmth of a human host. With this in mind it is fairly obvious that compulsive cleaning is also unnecessary.

For proper, researched advice please read the following articles. Good luck, we've been there.

Answer 4

First of all you must treat the entire family. If one child has it assume the entire family is infected take it from me, i know. Second you MUST search through the children's hair 2 times a day and remove all the nits. This must be done because nits are where the lice come from. Second you must sanitize all bedding, couches , car seats clothes jackets, just about everything that is cloth that the children come in contact with, Boil your hair brushes hair ties etc, for 5 min in soapy water or buy new ones. Ok things you can use Lysol disinfectant spray- to spray liberally on things that cannot be laundered.Like the couch the crib mattress, the car seats etc. You must be vigilant in looking for nits twice a day in the children's hair., You must treat all family members as if all are infected. You launder the bedding and blankets in hot water if not a hot dryer for at least 3o minutes. Vacuum the kids room and entire house and spray the lysol on the carpet . Also if your children are getting exposed to too much insecticide you can use a suffocate for at least 8 hours. Vegetable oil poured liberally on the hair and then put in pony tail etc., Wash out with a good shampoo and rinse with 1 part water 1part white vinegar, This is supposed to help unglue the nits from the hair shaft. Keep looking for nits 2 times a day and eventually it will be gone, Good luck and don't give up. Vegetable oil will wash out believe it or not rather easily. This smothers the lice and is much less toxic than Insectisides .All family members must be treated.

Answer 5

I had a terrible time ridding headlice from my school aged child.In the end as a last resort I painted on kerosene with a tint brush,left it on for 10 minutes,rinsed and applied conditioner.I then combed out the dead lice with a nit comb and repeated this once a week until there were no more lice.I found the commercial products too expensive and they never worked.If you don't like the idea of kerosene why not just use the conditioner method.Good luck!

Answer 6

I kept getting lice like a bagillion times 3 summers ago. I kept trying all these stuff that I got from like Walgreens and CVS and stuff, but it all smelled like chemicals and I couldnt read the ingredients because they were really long words that I could tell were bad for me. They never worked for more than like a day. After I used Lice X, I never got lice again. It is an all natural solution and it is made with Tea Tree Oil, Orange Peel Extract, Mate, and other essential oils and stuff. It leaves your hair kind of oily and smelling like a citrus bucket, but it certainly gets rid of lice and I have NEVER got lice ever since I used it. And lice is very common in my area for some reason. I think you have to order it online. I dont know, I got it from my aunt.
Lice X WORKS!

Answer 7

I've actually read there are professional nit-pickers for children because head lice is becoming such a problem (and the OTC treatments aren't working so well). Ask your child's doctor's office if they can make a recommendation.

Answer 8

There are little metal combs that you can buy for like 5 bucks at a CVS. Then, get olive oil, and after you wash their hair with dish liquid, use it. The dishliquid that my mother used on me and my siblings when we had it was Dawn green. So get shower caps, rub oil all over their head, and put a shower cap on. Bag all stuffed animals, boil hairbrushes, hair elestics, etc. This should work. If it really wont go away after this treatment (my family has used it for years) then call a doctor. You might be able to get a prescription.

Answer 9

Saturate White Towel in White Vinegar and wrap around head then cover with a shower cap. Leave on all day / night.
Check and repeat for 3 days.

This is the safest / non-toxic way to remove head lice.

Answer 10

walgreens has this robi comb that works good it cost about $35 but its the best thing ive found you have to use it every day for so many days but it gets rid of them i wouldnt trade mine for nothing it runs on battery