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Disease & Conditions

Head Lice

Head Lice Treatments

Head Lice: Head Lice Treatments

Head lice are tiny annoying insects that live off of their human host's head and neck. Living amongst the human hair head lice have about a thirty day life span. A short life span to be sure, but they make the most of it as the female louse can lay upwards of 200 eggs.

Because of the amount of eggs a female can lay in such a short period of time, it's easy to see that the head louse can infest a persons head in a very short period order.

How are infestations treated?

Hand Removal of lice and their nits (eggs)

Evidence is available that using a special comb that has very fine teeth is one of the more effective methods of delousing.

In order to get the most out of this method it is the best to wet the hair, apply conditioner or olive oil and methodically comb through the hair with a fine-toothed comb, called a louse comb. This method removes any lice or eggs that are in the swath path of the comb. To be effective, this process needs to be repeated for three or four days, or until there are no lice being removed by the comb.

Malathion

Malathion is a type of insecticide that works well against head lice. The method for using Malathion is to apply the Malathion to dry hair and leave for eight hours, after the eight hours you can wash the Malathion out. If there are still lice in the hair after 7 days then you can repeat the treatment.

As with any type of chemical treatment you will want to purchase and use pre-measured doses specifically for the removal of head lice and follow the instructions explicitly.

Lindane

Lindane is yet another type of insecticide and is stronger than other insecticides and has neurotoxin chemicals so it must be used carefully. Lindane is used by applying to wet hair for only four minutes before washing out.

Although the FDA believes the benefits of Lindane outweigh the risks when used as directed, given the potential for neurotoxicity, patients should only be treated with these medications if other treatments are not tolerable or other approved therapies have failed.

Pyrethrins

Pyrethins are used in head lice shampoos and normally make up only a third of a percent of the shampoo. This treatment involves using the shampoo as normal but leaving it in the hair for ten minutes before washing it out. You may need to use the shampoo more than once, if you do then there needs to be at least 7 days between each application.

Permethrin

Permethrin is said to work better than Lindane and is less damaging to humans. Permethrin comes in a creme and only makes up one percent of the creme. The creme needs to be applied to the hair and left for ten minutes before removal, if the creme is removed to early then the lice may become resistant to the treatment rendering it useless.

Summary

These are just a few of the different treatments available with combating head lice. With natural and manual methods, you'll have to be a bit more persistent and patient but head lice can be removed.

With insecticides, caution and prudence is of utmost importance. Use the dosages exactly as directed and take all of the necessary precaution illuminated on the directions label.

For more important information on getting rid of head lice be sure to visit www.rid-headlice.com where you will find advice and tips on head lice treatment and removing those annoying critters.