The frustrating problem of head lice has recently taken on a new dimension, when it was announced that some 68% of children in our schools are infested. The situation gets worse every year and the millions of pounds which the parents and the NHS spend, seem to make no difference. So how is it possible that with all that money and a wide array of conventional and alternative treatments on the market, we are in the midst of a head lice epidemic?

Parents are often too eagerly blamed by the head lice treatment manufacturers for being incompetent and not applying the products correctly. But surely most adults can read and follow simple instructions. So, if it is not the parents who are at fault, is it possible that some products do not work?

There is strong evidence that the licensed chemical treatments, which promise to kill head lice and their eggs are ineffective (one wonders how they managed to receive the licenses). The ever more popular excuse one hears is that the bugs became resistant to them. That begs another question. Have these products ever been 100% reliable? Surely, if they did kill all the lice and nits in one application, the parasites would not be able to build up immunity to these substances. Dead organisms do not build up resistance because…..they are dead.

However, if they are only partially eliminated or if the eggs survive, then over a period of time species can evolve and become stronger and more resilient. If that is the case, ineffective treatments should not be sold as licensed medicines.

So, what about the natural products which promise to do the trick? It they work, why do they instruct the user to apply them on days 3, 7, 10, 14 and -if that is nor bad enough - to use a nit-comb. Surely, this is obvious proof that they do not stop the infestation in one application; that they do not work on contact. Instead, they tell the user to keep nit-combing, i.e. to keep removing, manually, live lice as they hatch. That is why the procedure has got to be repeated over so many days.

However, if you are a parent, who tried this method, you know it rarely works. It can only be successful if the child does not fidget, has got short, fine hair and is kept away from the source of infestation. But that seldom happens. The child goes back to school and is re-infested, so the whole procedure of following the cycle of lice hatching goes out of the window. Also, if you leave a few creatures behind (and they are easily missed) it is only a matter of time as they multiply rapidly and you are back where you started.

Inappropriately, herbs with antiseptic rather than antiphrastic properties are used in various natural formulas to fight parasites. This is why they are not effective on lice but are more suitable for the cosmetic industry to make soaps, face washes, body creams, etc. Just because garden bugs and flies avoid certain plants does not necessarily mean that these herbs will kill parasites and their eggs living on the human body. Such incorrect and hasty assumptions only cause more confusion.

It is worth remembering that treatments which effectively eliminate head lice will not require the use of a nit comb as the dead insects will drop out while washing the hair. Likewise, the effective treatments will not require re application on various days. If they really work, they should work on contact. If they only work on lice but not the eggs, then they would require-only two applications approximately 1 week apart. Any product which tells you otherwise is not worth spending your money on.

For those who choose to go ahead with the nit combing (despite its many drawbacks) the simple advice is to use a cheap conditioner (but watch out for the harmful chemicals in them) or a small amount of organic cooking oil as a lubricant. It will make the hair slippery and allow the nit comb to run through easily. Unfortunately, using the fine tooth comb rarely removes nits. The conditioner makes hair slippery and the comb cannot grip the eggs well, which are firmly glued to the hair. Prolonged nit combing also damages hair and its roots. It may lead to irritated and broken skin and secondary scalp infection. A four year old girl needed a skin graft at the Lister Hospital in Steven age due to the scalp infection caused by nit-combing with chemical shampoos.

The fine tooth combing is purely a cosmetic procedure, where live lice tangled up in a conditioner or shampoos are manually removed. This must be repeated thoroughly many times for at least 2 - 3 weeks. If re-infestation occurs in the meantime, this method becomes an endless and frustrating task. Additional problems which repeated nit-combing may cause are scalp irritation, secondary scalp infection, thinning out hair, dandruff.

Head lice are not a normal part of childhood and the condition should not be ignored. Parasites, as they feed on human blood and move from head to head are likely to spread some blood-borne diseases. These might lake years to incubate and let themselves be known. It is impossible to be certain what viruses or infections are being transferred from one person to another.

For more information about the real causes of the head lice epidemic in Britain please contact Healthpol, healthpol@tiscali.co.uk,
www.delacet.co.uk

Our thanks to Today's Therapist Magazine for allowing us to share past articles