Treatment
There are many chemical and pesticide treatments available that aim to kill the louse, however except for hot air these often do not affect the eggs (nits). Wet combing is one of the most effective treatments, but persistence is required due to the life cycle of the louse, and it's recommended combing once every 3-7 days.
Another treatment is the "LouseBuster" machine which uses controlled, heated air to effectively dehydrate the lice and their eggs. Applying a blow dryer with proper technique works just as well on eggs, but not as well on hatched lice.
After treatment, patients are often instructed to wash all bedding and vacuum all areas the head may have been such as car seats, coat hoods and sofas, but this is not actually necessary since adult lice will die within 2 days without a blood meal, and newly hatched lice die within minutes of hatching. Combs and brushes may be deloused in boiling water for 5-10 minutes.
Tea Tree Oil is one of the few natural ingredients that have been proven to be effective in laboratory tests. Other home remedies such as putting vinegar, isopropyl alcohol, olive oil, mayonnaise, or melted butter under a shower cap have been disproven. Similarly, the CDC claims that swimming has no effect on treating lice, and can in fact harm the treatment by commercial products.
Read more about this topic: Head Louse
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“To me, nothing can be more important than giving children books, It’s better to be giving books to children than drug treatment to them when they’re 15 years old. Did it ever occur to anyone that if you put nice libraries in public schools you wouldn’t have to put them in prisons?”
—Fran Lebowitz (20th century)