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Detection
Head lice are difficult to detect in the hair. They can live on a person’s scalp without causing any itching for up to three months. The itching is caused by irritation in the scalp from bites and also skin irritation on the back of the neck caused from louse droppings.
The only way to diagnose a head lice infestation is to capture live head lice from the scalp. There are two reliable methods today to detect head lice;
Wet combing. A special nit comb is used on wet hair. Dry combing with a plastic nit comb will not always catch the lice as they will run away from the comb along the hair shafts.
Vacuuming-combing the dry hair with the patented medical device Lice tractor. This method will catch the louse in a filter attached to the vacuum- comb.
If a live louse is found, every person in the household should be examined.
Treatment
Once a head lice infestation has been detected it is important to get rid of the head lice as soon as possible.
The following treatment options are available:
Chemical treatments.
Different types of pesticides can be used to kill the louse. The treatments will kill the lice that are not resistant to the pesticide but it will not kill the egg.
-Marathon (brand name Prioderm) available on prescription only.
-Permethrin – (synthetic, brand name Nix,natural pyrethrins, Rid, A-200 and Pronto) available over the counter.
-Lindane is banned in most industrialized countries and in many states in the USA. Available on prescription only in Florida.
The above pesticides only kill the lice, not the eggs, therefore they need to be repeated 7 days later and even a third treatment might be necessary to kill the nymphs that have hatched. Some persons have experienced side effects from the pesticides such as severe allergic and neurological reaction.
Some strains of head lice have developed resistance to permethrin, they do not die from a treatment with this type of pesticide. Studies in the UK have shown a failure rate of 87% in permethrin and 64% for malathion. Studies in France and Denmark also show permethrin and malathiol resistance in head lice all lice are not killed within 30 minutes of the application of the pesticide, the treatment has failed and another method has to be used.
Lindane has caused severe adverse events such as convulsions and fatalities and is therefore banned in many countries.Permethrin is in this sense the preferred insecticide, however, children are more sensitive to toxins and there have been reports on side effect such as tremors, in coordination and increased aggressive behavior from the permethrin products that contain the neurotoxin synthetic pyrethroids.
The chemical treatments are fairly expensive as a second and third treatment is normally required the total cost for treatment is more than 100 dollars.
The chemical treatments will not stop you from being re-infested, wet-combing will still be necessary to assure no re-infestation.
Small children, pregnant and breast-feeding women should seek medical advice before using pesticides to treat head lice infestations.
Due to the side effects of using pesticides, not everyone wants to use chemical treatment options on their children. Therefore more efforts are made to offer natural and non-chemical treatments for this condition.
Mechanical treatments
To capture all lice and eggs in one session combined with washing all bed linen is an efficient way of getting rid of a louse infestation in a few hours.
It is possible with a good louse comb that will capture adult louse, nymphs as well as eggs to get rid of the colony at once. In order to succeed with this method, every single louse, nymph and egg must the removed at the same time.
Such thorough wet-combing requires a minimum of one hour work. It is imperative that bed linens and bedrooms are cleaned from any live louse and that the louse combing is made thoroughly.
Natural treatments
There are certain essential oils and herbs that are reported to repel head lice, so far though, there are no peer-reviewed studies that prove that they are effective.
Other methods such as using mayonnaise to smother the head lice has the same effect as the pesticide, it might in the best case kill most of the lice but the treatment will not kill the eggs. It is reported to be a messy and time consuming method.
In 2009 the HeadLice 911 medical-technical method is introduced in Florida.
The Head Lice 911 medical-technical method has been developed using the most proven techniques to eliminate head lice and their eggs in one treatment.
Tests on more than 100 patients in the Tampa Bay area has shown that this method combining mechanical removal with organic products has proven to be so effective that the founders of the company offers a 14 day head lice free warranty.
The HeadLice 911 method is a three step treatment that is performed at one occasion. The treatment takes one to three hours, depending on the length of the patient’s hair as well as the number of eggs to be removed from the hair.
Step 1 – Vacuum-combing.
The FDA approved and patented medical device, LiceXtractor developed by a dermatologist in Denmark, is used to detect, capture and remove all head lice from the hair. This method is safe for the patient and the person who is performing the treatment, as live head lice are collected in an enclosed filter.
Step 2 – Wet-combing with an organic oil.
A professional louse-comb is used to remove and destroy all eggs. The hair is treated with an organic oil spray containing natural head lice repellents.
Step 3 – Cleaning and follow-up schedule.
A check-list for how- to clean the house and prevent head lice to survive on clothes and bedding as well as a follow-up schedule for detecting signs of re-infestation must be followed in order for step 1 and step 2 to be successful.
How are the lice spread?
Head lice do not survive for a long time in other environments than the human scalp. They cannot be spread by animals.
The most common way for head lice to spread is to climb from one hair strand to another. In other words they spread by close contact between people. They occur most frequently in children between the ages of 3 to 10 years old. Approximately 12 million children in the USA are treated for head lice every year. More girls than boys are infested.
Ironically head lice prefer clean hair from dirty hair and they cannot drown from every day hair washing, they rather thrive in the clean hair.
Who is at risk for infestation?
The fact that more strains of head lice has become resistant to permethrine the number of affected school children is on the rise and new methods and medications must be developed.
Studies in the UKand Australia show that in some schools, more than 30% of the children have head lice infestations. Studies in Sweden also show that every fourth child has had head lice and in southern Sweden up to 36% of the school children have hadhead lice.
A clean home and a clean hair does not protect from head lice. Only regular head lice combing can prevent the head lice from spreading every year.
©2008-2011 HeadLice911®, LLC.
All images and text are ©2008-2011 HeadLice911®, LLC
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