Head Lice Treatments for Kids

On one side of the debate are the people who believe that head lice have developed resistance to regular treatments, so that they no longer work. Other experts believe that resistance is not a big problem, and treatment failures are because parents didn't remove the nits or that the child was misdiagnosed.

Head Lice Symptoms

Diagnosis of Head Lice

Another sign that can help you make the diagnosis, is finding nits, or lice eggs, attached to your child's hair. Nits are small, oval shaped and usually a yellowish-white color and are firmly attached to the side of hair shafts. If you confirm that your child does have live lice or nits, it is important that you don't panic about your child's head lice.

Head Lice Treatments

For light infestations or if you are uncomfortable using an anti-lice shampoo, you can try to simply remove the live lice and nits manually.

As there are often a lot of nits on a child and they are hard to find and remove, you may continue to find nits for days after treatment. This doesn't mean that the treatment didn't work. If you continue to find live lice after treating with a anti-lice shampoo then that likely does mean that it didn't work or your child was reinfected.

Also be sure to wash your child's clothing and bedding in hot water and vacuum to remove lice and nits from furniture, carpets, stuffed animals, etc. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you really only have to clean "items, clothing, furniture, or carpeting that have been in contact with the head of the person with infestation in the 24 to 48 hours before treatment," and not everything in your house though. And you can put anything that you can't wash in a large plastic bag for a few weeks if you are really concerned that it is infested.

What You Need To Know

• Don't Panic About Head Lice - Unfortunately, the first reaction for many parents in dealing with head lice is to panic. Panicking is not going to kill the head lice though and will likely lead to over-treatment and anxiety in your child who may be concerned that they have "bugs" in their hair.
• Nits hatch in 7 to 10 days and develop into an adult in another 7 to 10 days which can then lay more (up to 100) eggs. So it is important to remove all of the nits to break this cycle. Also, since anti-lice shampoos don't usually kill nits, you have to usually retreat the child in 7 to 10 days to kill any newly hatched lice.
• Children are often misdiagnosed with head lice because they have hair casts that resemble nits, or they have dead or empty nits that are far away from the scalp. If you think your child has lice but you don't actually see any live lice, see your Pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis.
• Be careful before trying 'alternative' treatments, like mayonaise, vaseline, olive oil or Tea tree oil. Although they are 'natural' treatments, they are untested, and products like mayonaise can be hard to get out of a child's hair (dishwashing is supposed to make it easier though).
• Alternative medications for resistant lice might include Ovide (malathion, an insecticide), the antibiotic Bactrim (which kills symbiotic bacteria inside the lice), Ivermectim, or using Elimite, a stronger version of Nix which is usually used to treat scabies.
• Do your homework or see your pediatrician before treating your child with multiple remedies. This head lice information sheet at the Harvard School of Public Health and the The National Pediculosis Association are great sources of detailed information on head lice infestations.

_Sources:

American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report. Head Lice Pediatrics 2002 110: 638-643.

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