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Help! We can't get rid of lice from my daughter's hair. She has had it on and off for years. She's now 10 and it's been going on since she was in Grade 2. We've tried everything. We've even bought a new mattress and pillows. Is there a medical treatment for this?
A. Head
lice affects about 10 percent of children between the ages five and
twelve in Canada. I certainly can understand your frustration. We know
that these infestations are spread by contact, so it’s important to
make sure that all members of the household are examined and treated to
break the circle of spread. Clothing, towels and bedding should be
washed in very hot water and by using the hot cycle in the dryer for 20
minutes or more. Health Canada suggests that dry cleaning is fine for
non-washables.
If there is a school nurse make sure to inform
her so that children in the classroom can be checked as well. Being
effective usually involves the application of a treatment that will kill
the
lice. Because these agents kill the lice but not all the eggs,
treatments should be applied twice, a week apart. Treatment of your
daughter includes manual removal of lice and nits from the hair by
brushing with a fine nit comb. This really is critical to the treatment
(other than cutting the hair).
While a number of household
products including petroleum jelly, olive oil, mayonnaise, vinegar and
mineral oil or essential oils sold at health food stores are used,
there are no published trials on their safety and efficacy. However,
it’s thought that essential oil natural remedies work by suffocating
and dehydrating the lice.
It’s important to know that head lice
really don’t present any great threat to our health and are not a sign
of being unclean. Get combing, and remember to clean any hair
accessories that come in contact with her hair on a daily basis.
Published in Summer 2009
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