Can’t Get Rid of Head Lice?
There are a few common reasons that people continue to be plagued with head lice in their home. Are you one of those parents who has worked tirelessly with home remedies, over the counter shampoos, deep cleaning your home and nitpicking your child’s head only to realize a few weeks later – the problem has returned?! Here are some of the facts about head lice and why these methods just aren’t foolproof.
-Kids are most likely to get head lice, but parents can catch it, too! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teach us that children between the ages of 3-10 are the most common victims of head lice. Why? Head lice are passed most often through direct head to head contact. Children at preschool, kindergartens, elementary schools or just living and playing amongst other children are more likely to have direct head to head contact and pass along head lice. That can mean that they bring it home and give it to mom and dad as well! If you have not checked EVERY member of your household for head lice, you are likely going to continue to have a problem. Our clinic offers head lice checks if you are unsure what to look for.
-Home remedies are NOT an effective, proven method against head lice and their eggs. Many mothers and fathers will go for the inexpensive, non-chemical methods such as essential oils, mayonnaise, vaseline or several other online ideas they can pick up from blogs. Unfortunately, these methods will do little in actually killing active head lice and especially their unhatched eggs from hatching in 7-9 days. Even if the suffocation methods kill the adults, in a few days time you will have a whole new generation of head lice pop up. These methods can also be dangerous, such a kerosene, or using plastic wrap on your child’s head. We do NOT recommend such ways to eliminate head lice and hope you will steer clear of these old wives tales.
-Drugstore treatments have an active ingredient, pyrethrin, that does NOT kill head lice anymore. Over the years the overuse of these products has resulted in a new generation of head lice that show strong immunities to them. In fact, people often use the product more often than recommended on the bottle in a desperate attempt to get rid of their head lice problem. This has resulted in lice shampoo burning children’s eyes causing irritation, tearing, scratches to the eye and even blurry vision. When it is inhaled it can cause damage resulting in a runny nose, coughing, difficulty breathing, vomiting, and diarrhea, according to the National Pesticide Information Center.