Head Lice Becoming Harder to Kill

Last week CBS news reported a Harvard University study found some of the head lice samples that were taken from 75 different infected children, were not susceptible to the ingredient in one of the most widely used treatments for head lice. Permethrin, is the active ingredient in over the counter treatments such as NIX.

Over 10 million people get head lice every year, with most being grade school children who then pass the lice along to other children. Most pediatricians will tell you to treat the entire family with the over the counter treatments for head lice. But did you know that most lice treatments are pesticides and can be harmful if used too much? If the first treatment of the product you are using doesn't work, it is better to switch to a home remedy that might work, but will be less harmful especially to young children.

Adult lice are called louse and are about the size of a sesame seed. The eggs are called nits and are extremely small; they are sometimes mistaken for dandruff.

Home remedies

Olive oil, mayonnaise as well as petroleum jelly have been found to work. These products work by smothering the lice and killing them. You still have to get a lice comb to remove the lice and eggs from the hair, which can take hours. It may take several washes to get the petroleum jelly and olive oil out of the hair.

The best way to use a lice comb is to use it on wet hair and rinse it out in the sink as you comb the insects out of the hair. Even if you spend an hour the first day combing the lice out of the hair, you should comb through the hair again the next day and several days afterwards to make sure any of the eggs you may have missed the first day haven't hatched into live insects.

Do not rely solely on the over the counter remedies or the home remedies to take care of this problem. Manual combing the nits and adult bugs from the hair is the best method for getting rid of head lice.

How to get rid of lice in your home

In order for lice to live, they have to be feeding on human blood. Therefore they cannot live in your carpets, rugs, seats ect... for very long. The best way to get rid of the lice that may have been attached to falling hair is to vacuum the area thoroughly. There are sprays you can get over the counter that will kill the lice, but vacuuming should be sufficient.

Things you may not know

Lice have no wings or hind legs and therefore cannot fly or jump from one person to another. Once the eggs are laid, it takes anywhere from 7-10 days for the nits to hatch. Adult head lice will die within 24 hours if it doesn't have human blood to feed on. Head lice cannot be transmitted from or to pets; they need human blood to survive. A regular comb will not remove head lice, you need a special nit or lice comb, which can be found over the counter.