Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Safe Head Lice Removal information

To rid the head of lice includes three problems:
1. Removing lice from the head
2. Removing nits or eggs
3. Removing of lice and nits from the environment of the person infested

The following routine must be done all at once, and continued daily for seven days! The nits are viable for two weeks unless smothered. Nits can exist alive in the atmosphere for two weeks and still continue to hatch and lice can also exist for a time without food so a vigilant check at 14 days from start of this routine is a must.

Lice are light, silvery colored under lights but are often brown or black creatures that live on the scalp by sucking blood from the victim. This causes small pinpoint red marks that start to itch after one week and may produce crusted red bumps. In severe cases, swollen glands in the neck and/or under the arms may develop.

Nits (louse eggs) are tiny grayish to white oval shaped louse-egg-sacs that are firmly cemented on the hair shaft close to the scalp and extremely difficult to remove. They may look like dandruff, but do not flake loose. When deposited by the female louse, nits form an organic bond with the hair, commonly called nit-glue, which makes manual nit picking frustrating, tiresome and often painful. Nits can be found close to the scalp, usually located at the nape of the neck, behind the ears and at the crown.

The life cycle or incubation period of the louse eggs, called nits is seven days. If they remain on the hair they will hatch into crawling lice within seven to ten days causing reinfestation. Because of this, when lice are first discovered, a three pronged daily treatment for the first seven days is a must (as it is not known when each existing nit was deposited - seven days ago or yesterday!!) in order to stop further nits from being deposited.

Therefore, at the same time the head is treated, for seven days, you must rid your house of the lice... because they ARE in your house if any member of the household has any head lice at this time!

Launder all used clothes (they can live in seams of clothing so be thorough), towels, pillows, washable stuffed toys, coats, hats, scarves, etc. in hot water and dry in a hot dryer. All linens & blankets and all clothes in contact with the infested person must be laundered daily for seven days. You may have to go use a launderette to get all bedding, etc. done at once.

Vacuum thoroughly daily for seven days, all mattresses (all sides), the carpets (every inch), all upholstered furniture (even bottom), etc. and change the vacuum bag daily.

Scrub every hard-surface floor with a solution of Barefoot's household cleanser and germicide. Spray a solution of the household and germicide on mattresses, carpet, chair backs and cushions, car upholstery, school lockers, home closets, etc. Whatever cannot be laundered (toys, pillows, comforters, wool blankets & coats, etc.) must be put into a large garbage or yard bag, add paradichlorobenzene crystals and store, tightly closed for at least two weeks or leave in hot sun for 30 days or store in garage for 60 days.

Everyone in the house and pets must be checked (even thought they do not live on pets, only humans). Any friends with whom the infested person has been in contact should be notified immediately so the infestation can be stopped. Everyone must work at it at the same time to alleviate the problem!

Avoid touching other people for seven days as lice are only spread to others by contact or by being close. Although head lice can only crawl, those ugly rascals "appear to jump" from one coat to another in a heap of coats or on coat-hooks, one hat to another, one church pew to your head, one movie theatre seat to your head, one desk to another, one car seat to another.Even out-of-control infestation has been eliminated within a week with this method if followed carefully with determination and diligence.

To treat the head put barefoot's all purpose cleanser full strength on hair, using enough to completely cover the entire scalp, rubbing it into the base of the hair shaft. This suffocates the lice and their nits (eggs) so they can be shampooed, combed, or picked out. Leave the all purpose cleanser on for thirty or sixty minutes. A shower cap may help keep it moist. This non-toxic, PH balanced product is safe and healthy to the skin, hair, your body system and the environment. Exception: If treating a very young child or person with very sensitive skin dilute with some water and treat for only 15 minutes so you are certain it does not irritate their tender scalp.

Shampoo the hair by adding water after the one-hour soak time. Rinse hair with Apple Cider Vinegar to help loosen the nits. Apply a hair conditioner ( Barefoot's Conditioner is healthy for you) and using an ordinary comb, remove all tangles and snarls. Next, to easier loosen nits, leave the conditioner still wet on the hair, separate and work with a one-inch section of hair at a time to comb out lice & nits.

Combing out lice and nits: Now it is very important at this time to use a fine tooth all metal lice comb. To comb out head lice and their nits of eggs from the hair, to prevent reinfestation, an all-metal Lice Comb must be used. Plastic combs are not effective to do the work. The teeth spread bend and break and plastic combs cannot be heated in 130° water or boiling water (212°) for 15 minutes to sterilize the comb.Medi-Comb by Health Enterprises will glide through the hair without snagging or pulling and is available at your drugstore.

How to: With the metal Medi-Comb's name facing away from the scalp, hold the comb in your right hand at a 45° angle. Place comb teeth as close to the scalp as possible, then lightly comb, passing through the same strands several times. Repeat this procedure until the entire head has been completely checked. Examine hair shafts very slowly and carefully using a 5X magnifying glass to locate nits (eggs) and to insure a complete job of removing head lice and their nits from the hair to prevent reinfestation.

Even after up to several hours of tedious combing, some nits may stubbornly cling to the hair. When spotted, clasp the hair shaft between the thumb and fingernail to the forefinger and gently pull through the length of the hair shaft and off the end to remove. Total nit removal is the only way to ensure complete lice elimination and guard against reinfestation.

Rinse the conditioner out of the hair thoroughly and carefully. Use a hot hair dryer to dry the hair and/or use a hot curling iron to curl the hair. When treatment is complete, clean and sterilize all combs by boiling in water for 15 minutes. Repeat daily for seven days.
Head lice dislike disturbance or light, so between treatments, brush the hair under a light with a good hairbrush to damage any young insects before they become established to prevent them from laying eggs. Boil the brush after each use for 15 minutes daily for seven days.

Continue several times during the second week to inspect the head after shampooing while the hair is still wet with applied hair conditioner, then weekly for a time, to be certain you have avoided reinfestation.

Avoid scratching the scalp to prevent infection.

Above Protocol recommended by a School Nurse from Syracuse, IN.

Note: Pediculicides often recommended are 200 Pyrinate, Cuprex, Rid, Nix, Clear, etc. We found none that worked. All or 30% of nits remained. Some oils were recommended but were so messy we gave up on them. Prescribed by M.D.'s is Quell or a similar product that contains Lindane. Lindane a chemical pesticide is sometimes prescribed to be applied and is allowed to remain on the head for up to three days. This is very hard on a person as the skin is so absorbent and the chemical so very toxic.

There are three types of lice: head lice, body lice and pubic or crab lice. Body lice may also be found on the eyelashes and can be treated with a salve. Pubic lice are the largest of all the mites that infest humans measuring one millimeter in diameter. All spread by direct contact and can be rid of by coating with all purpose cleanser concentrate for 30 minutes.

Never, never, never use a highly flammable product such as gasoline of kerosene on the head as it "burns" the scalp, the fumes are toxic when inhaled, it is extremely dangerous, only takes a spark to set it on fire and it doesn't work as the nits remain. It might kill the kid rather than the lice. How stupid! Such an incidence was reported in the news when a girl was engulfed in flames. So Stupid! Yuk!! Never try it!!

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