Question:
I'm wondering if there's a FAQ out there re. head lice. My daughters
(ages 2.5 and nearly 5) have been battling infestations of varying
degrees for the last three months.
We've tried Nix several times, Lindane a couple of times,
vinegar/alcohol, steel fine-toothed comb, along with washing of
sheets, vacuuming of bedding, isolation of dolls, stuffed animals,
etc., to no avail.
Any advice? If they were boys or if they didn't have such beautiful
thick hair--I probably would have shaved their heads two months ago.
Thanks for any help.
Answer:
Two things that may help that we were told by our local health nurse here in
Melbourne Australia. ( In our area if you report a case of head lice to the
local health authorities they sent in a platoon of nurses to search out and
isolate the carriers and they are not allowed to return to school until
they pass a thorough inspection for lice and nits.) We were told:
-The over the counter quick fix solutions that you purchase from the pharmacey
no longer work as the head lice have become immune to them. We had
already tried a Lindane based solution that is left on for a short time but
there were still live head lice left and possibly viable eggs. She gave us a
solution that is left on for 12 hours and that is repeated a week later.
- It is neccessary to remove ALL the eggs by cutting out every hair that has
eggs attatched to it. The children are not allowed to return to school until
they pass inspection for this. The fine tooth combs don't remove all
of them. This is a tedious buisness . I bought a pair of cheap over the
counter reading glasses (+2.5 ) to act as hands-free magnifiers and set my
5y/o son up comfortably under a fluro desk lamp. I used a pair of curved nail
scissors to remove each hair that had eggs attatched to it. The eggs are
attatched to the hair about 1cm from the scalp. This process took over
4 hours plus a recheck the next day for any I might have missed. We both
stood up to the ordeal pretty well but i dreamed about head lice and nits for
the next 5 nights. He had no reoccurance. hope this helps.
