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Talk about a head scratcher. Your child comes home with head lice and instantly your own scalp starts crawling with guilt and fear. What do you do?
We consulted the experts for the best advice on how to get rid of the pests and keep them from coming back. Three things to know right off the bat:
1. Accept that there is no shame in getting lice, said Shirley Gordon, director of the Head Lice Treatment and Protection Department at Florida Atlantic University's Christine F. Lynn College of Nursing.
"That is a common myth, that it has to do with poor hygiene, poor parenting or a dirty household,'' Gordon said. "But we see it in all socio-economic groups - the children of doctors, the children of lawyers. In fact, head lice prefer healthy people and clean heads.''
2. There may be no obvious symptoms.
"Most people associate itching with head lice, but not everyone itches,'' Gordon said. About half do, she said, because of an allergic reaction to bites.
3. There is no miracle cure.
THE PRODUCTS
Until the mid-1980s, a parent's best hope for relief was a box of Rid or Nix from the drugstore. Rid and most generic products contain pyrethrins, an insecticide derived from chrysanthemums. Nix contains permethrin, a synthetic form of pyrethrins.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends treatment with one of these over-the-counter products, and if that doesn't work, consult your pediatrician for a prescription.
But many lice experts, including Lidia Serrano, clinical director of Lice Cleanique, a lice removal service with three South Florida locations, say these products are no longer effective.
"The lice have become resistant because the products are pesticide-based,'' Serrano said.
A crop of organic, chemical-free products have hit the market, offering families a less-toxic means of ridding their homes of the pests. But do they work?
Gordon says she's wary of natural products that don't have FDA approval. She recommends combing out nits - lice eggs - and reserving lice-killing products for live lice, not just nit sightings. In clinical trials, only a portion of nit sightings resulted in live infestations, she said.
At Lice Cleanique, Serrano uses a product called Lice Cure and said the odorless LiceMD also works well.
Katie Shepherd, executive director of Lice Solutions, a nonprofit treatment center in West Palm Beach, said, "The real solution is knowledge - what to look for - and using the right tools. There's no miracle product.''
THE TOOLS
Shepherd said using the right comb is the real secret.
"It gets about 85 percent of the bugs out of the hair,'' she said. "The more you get out with the comb, the less time you spend picking.''
We consulted the experts for the best advice on how to get rid of the pests and keep them from coming back. Three things to know right off the bat:
1. Accept that there is no shame in getting lice, said Shirley Gordon, director of the Head Lice Treatment and Protection Department at Florida Atlantic University's Christine F. Lynn College of Nursing.
"That is a common myth, that it has to do with poor hygiene, poor parenting or a dirty household,'' Gordon said. "But we see it in all socio-economic groups - the children of doctors, the children of lawyers. In fact, head lice prefer healthy people and clean heads.''
2. There may be no obvious symptoms.
"Most people associate itching with head lice, but not everyone itches,'' Gordon said. About half do, she said, because of an allergic reaction to bites.
3. There is no miracle cure.
THE PRODUCTS
Until the mid-1980s, a parent's best hope for relief was a box of Rid or Nix from the drugstore. Rid and most generic products contain pyrethrins, an insecticide derived from chrysanthemums. Nix contains permethrin, a synthetic form of pyrethrins.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends treatment with one of these over-the-counter products, and if that doesn't work, consult your pediatrician for a prescription.
But many lice experts, including Lidia Serrano, clinical director of Lice Cleanique, a lice removal service with three South Florida locations, say these products are no longer effective.
"The lice have become resistant because the products are pesticide-based,'' Serrano said.
A crop of organic, chemical-free products have hit the market, offering families a less-toxic means of ridding their homes of the pests. But do they work?
Gordon says she's wary of natural products that don't have FDA approval. She recommends combing out nits - lice eggs - and reserving lice-killing products for live lice, not just nit sightings. In clinical trials, only a portion of nit sightings resulted in live infestations, she said.
At Lice Cleanique, Serrano uses a product called Lice Cure and said the odorless LiceMD also works well.
Katie Shepherd, executive director of Lice Solutions, a nonprofit treatment center in West Palm Beach, said, "The real solution is knowledge - what to look for - and using the right tools. There's no miracle product.''
THE TOOLS
Shepherd said using the right comb is the real secret.
"It gets about 85 percent of the bugs out of the hair,'' she said. "The more you get out with the comb, the less time you spend picking.''
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