Head Lice Treatment Choices
Head Lice Treatment – A World of Choice
Finding out that you or your child has head lice is not a sign that your personal hygiene is lacking as the louse is just as likely to make its home in the hair of on who washes daily as one who is less frequent in their regime. Furthermore, it can be several weeks before the presence of lice is detected, these creatures are tiny and the itching that is the major symptom has been known to appear after as long as three months, meaning that by the time you make the diagnosis the lice have spread to others.
The various methods of head lice treatment can be wildly different, and while many people prefer to use over the counter, or prescribed, insecticide lotions and shampoos, there are a variety of home remedies for head lice that can be tried.
If you want to search these in depth then run a web search with the words ‘head lice information’ and you will be directed to a wealth of websites dealing in head lice symptoms, the head lice life cycle and more, and even to sites that display some quite amazing head lice pictures.
However, let’s look at a few of the more popular treatments for head lice: one that is essential whether used on its own or in conjunction with others is the wet comb technique, sometimes known as Bug Busting. This involves the use of a special head lice comb, a device with very close teeth that drags the louse from the hair and, hopefully, the nit too.
Another method of treatment is to wash with a shampoo containing the essential oil Tea Tree Oil, which comes from an Australian plant by that name and is known to have certain healing qualities. It is claimed to drive the lice away and, as it is completely harmless, may well be worth a try. Equally harmless is the practice of rubbing vinegar into the scalp, as this loosens the ‘glue’ with which nits are attached to the hair, making it much easier for the nit comb to remove them, but bordering on the bizarre are the smothering methods: in these, a substance such as mayonnaise, or preferably olive oil, is applied to the scalp, and it acts to seal the holes through which the mites breathe, thus suffocating them.
Whichever method you use there is plenty information available on websites, and it is worth reading the testimonies of others before trying out different methods.
Skin Mites
Skin Mites and Bed Bugs
There are a number of different types of mites that choose to live on our skin, or that of our pet cats and dogs and other animals, and they are widespread across the world. Most take up residence on animals, a few choose to live in our homes – often unnoticed – and some can result in rather nasty ailments that we should strive to avoid.
So what exactly are skin mites? Mites are not to be confused with lice, the creatures that affect children and live on our scalp, and are usually members of the arachnid family; some of the larger mites are just big enough to be seen while others are so minute they manage to live among thin layers of dust and not be noticed.
Great Sufferers Of Skin Mites
Great sufferers from mites, cats have to put up with several different types of skin mites, but in particular are prone to ear mites – which, of course, live in the ear – and to the scabies, or itch, mite which is also prevalent in people. Mites on dogs tend to be of these two types, two, although animals that are prone to roam can pick up harvest mites and some forms of tick – particularly the sheep tick – that live on other animals.
Ear mites, however, do not only live in the ear and can be found anywhere on the body of a cat or dog, yet it is the ear canal that provides food for the creatures; scabies mites cats suffer from actually burrow into the skin, as they do when they are present in humans and on dogs, and cause great problems as a result.
A proliferation of either mite on a cat or dog causes added aggravation and scratching which, in turn, leads to further irritation, while a congregation of scabies mites on cats or dogs can be the cause of the affliction known as mange (or scabies when it occurs in people.)
If you want to learn more about mites there are many websites that cover the subject, complete with mites pictures that are quite fascinating, from which you can learn a great deal about how these parasites live.
Getting Rid Of Mites
How to get rid of mites is a question that is often asked; the best method is to use one of the many insecticide mite and lice creams and lotions, or if you are not happy putting chemicals on your pet, to browse the internet and look up many of the home remedies that are said to the job equally well.
All About Skin Mites.
Permethrin Head Lice Treatment
Head Lice Infestation
Permethrin Head Lice Treatment
A head lice infestation presents a very real problem – how to treat it. This problem raises debate across the world as those who favor natural products go head to head with those who choose to use prescribed or over the counter insecticide lotions and shampoos, and there is much to consider when making what is an important decision.
One of the problems pointed to where natural products are concerned, in particular the popular Tea Tree oil shampoos, is that unlike the insecticide versions they are not scientifically tried and tested; this is not to say that they do not work, but that the jury remains undecided as to their natural worth.
As for the insecticide lotions there are three main substances used: Malathion is a popular insecticide, Lindane a very controversial one and Permethrin a substance that is accepted as being among the safest of its family.
The controversy with Lindane has led to its use being banned in some countries, although it is still prescribed in the USA. However, shocking cases of it causing convulsions, and even fatalities, in the young abound, and it has to be said that Permethrin remains the preferred insecticide for head lice treatment.
Permethrin is found in the very popular head lice infestation treatment known as Nix, and this is known to be an effective killer of lice. However, it is important to remember that neither Permethrin nor the other insecticides will kill the nits – the tiny eggs – hence these need to be treated in a different manner, perhaps with the use of a nit comb, persistently and repeatedly, until they are all removed.
Using Insecticide Products For Head Lice
One problem that is reported when using insecticide products is resistance to the substance; colonies can develop resistance to the likes of Permethrin, and if lice are not killed within 30 minutes of the application of an insecticide shampoo or lotion then the treatment has failed. The option now is to try a different insecticide lotion, or resort to one of the natural versions or, more wildly, to smother the creatures in mayonnaise or olive oil, a messy but reportedly effective method of treating these tiny mites.
The controversy surrounding insecticide lotions and the use of Permethrin and its related products is one that will rage for ever more; there is no truly, entirely safe insecticide as all are poisons, yet if you follow the terms of use you may find that they present a successful solution; on the other hand your preference may be for natural products – the choice is, after all, yours.
Choose The Best Head Lice Treatment
Liceadex Lice & Nit Removal Gel
Liceadex One Step Lice & Nit Removal Gel is a special, one of a kind, natural formula that provides a safe effective way to kill lice and their eggs, without traditional and potentially harmful pesticide ingredients like permethrin or pyrethrum found in many over the counter solutions or expensive, multiple-step, essential oil-based solutions. Our formulation, using specialized surfactants and minerals such as bromides, is the fastest-acting and most effective head lice products you will find today without using pesticides.
- Kills all lice and eggs naturally in minutes
- Contains no pesticides
- Allows for easy pain-free, tangle-free nit and debris removal
- Rinses completely clean without oily residue
- Can be used multiple times safely
- Can be used safely after “other” treatments have been done
All about head lice.
