Chicks-n-Scratching

Last week we discovered that my daughter had returned from camp with lice. Ew. Double Ew. Triple Ew. EW. Still, if you have a kid that’s around other kids, you can probably expect them to acquire lice at some point.

But, naturally, our primary objective was to get rid of the nasty beasts.

Here’s what I learned.

1) The chemicals don’t work as well as you might think. The literature varies on this, giving effective rates for over the counter lice treatments of between 50% and 70%.

2) The chemicals in question are neurotoxins. And they might be absorbed in small amounts topically. Nasty stuff.

3) Even if you use the chemicals, you still have to remove the nits by hand (or, rather, by nit comb).

4) Lice eggs (nits) take around 10 days to hatch.

5) A louse can lay between 3 and 10 eggs daily. Average is around 4.

6) Nits are tan or dark when they contain a louse, but white after hatching.

7) A louse takes between 8 and 24 days to reach sexual maturity.

8 ) A louse breathes through holes along the side of it’s body. It can hold it’s breath for several hours.

9) Lice prefer clean hair for laying eggs. Eggs don’t attach well to hair shafts coated in styling products or dirt.

10) Human head lice can’t live on pets.

11) Human head lice can only live 24-48 hours off a host. They also require a blood meal (host) within 10 hours of hatching.

12) There are several effective non-neuro-toxin treatments for lice. I’ll detail 2 – but I’ll also say that if you have a boy – or a very secure girl – just shave the head. Wash the head thoroughly and without hair to adhere to, no eggs will be laid. For all treatments, it’s a good idea to wash clothing, linens and towels in hot water. Stuffed animals and other non-washable items can be tumbled in a hot dryer for 20-30 minutes. The prolonged heat will kill the lice (keep in mind that if your dryer has a cool down feature, you should extend the drying time to ensure that the high heat lasts at least 20 minutes).

13) The mayonnaise treatment. This is what we used – and it was extremely effective, though also extremely labor-intensive. Mayo works by suffocating the lice. It must be left on a minimum of 4 hours, and preferably overnight. Do not use light mayo or “salad dressing” style mayo – use cheap, full-fat, “real” mayo. You’ll also need SEVERAL shower caps. The mayo needs to be applied to the roots of the hair and all over the scalp. This is most easily accomplished by doing it in small sections and working it into the roots and scalp. Be VERY generous. Once the scalp and roots are covered, coat the rest of the hair. My daughter has short hair and we used 1/3 of a large jar of mayo for each treatment. After the hair is coated, put on the shower cap. You can seal the shower cap with gauze or something similar to hold it in place overnight. In the morning, remove the cap and comb out as much excess mayo as possible using a regular comb. You’ll want to have SEVERAL towels or rags available, since you will need to wipe the mayo out of the comb frequently. At this point, the mayo will be loaded with lice and some nits. You’re going to need to wash those towels a couple of times in hot water. After you’ve combed out most of the mayo, section the hair into small sections, no more than about an inch square. I used hair pins to secure my daughter’s hair during this process. Now, using a nit comb, starting at the back hairline, moving around toward the ears and up the head, comb each section carefully with a nit comb. I dipped the nit comb in rubbing alcohol to help unstick the nits. Again, you will be wiping off lots of mayo, so be prepared. The first time we did this it took about 3 hours – I didn’t know what I was doing so it took much longer than necessary. By the last time we did this, it only took half that. In any case, after you have combed the entire head with the nit comb, wash the mayo out. Repeat every 2-3 days for 10 days to 2 weeks. That should catch the entire life cycle. Yes, it’s a lot of work – but no chemicals and very effective.

14) Now I’ll tell you the easy way. The way I didn’t find out about until too late for us. But I’m sharing with you because I’m sure you don’t want to bother with the mayo treatment. Sure, it works, but daaaaang that’s a lot of effort. So, here’s the Nuvo treatment. The instructions are very detailed, but it’s important to follow them exactly. You will need Cetaphil cleanser, a regular fine-tooth comb, a hair dryer, a condiment bottle (the kind used for ketchup or mustard with the pointy tip), and possibly a nit comb. The treatment involves putting the Cetaphil on in a specific way, combing out the excess cleanser, then using the hairdryer to dry the Cetaphil onto the hair and scalp. The Cetaphil is left in place for several hours (overnight, usually), then washed out. This is repeated exactly one week later, and a third time exactly one week after that. If you are interested in trying this method, I urge you to read the instructions at the link above. This method is 96% effective. That’s pretty stinking good for no chemicals and not much effort.

So… now you know way more than you want to about lice. And, if you’re like me, you’ll have psychosomatic itching every time you think about it.

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