If you’re a parent who has ever fought the head-lice battle,
you can sympathize with other parents fighting it. But what if
you find yourself treating your child time after time because
the little bloodsuckers keep coming back?

“You can’t just treat your child with over-the-counter
lice treatment and think you’ve solved the problem,” said
Jeanette Fleming, a University of Georgia county extension
agent in Pickens County.

“You have to apply the treatment, manually remove all
the nits (eggs), clean the child’s brushes and combs and launder
the child’s bed liners, scarfs, hats,” she said. “You
should also vacuum any upholstered furniture or car seats the
child’s head has touched.”

Fleming knows firsthand that lice are a big problem. Last fall
her county office, like many across north Georgia, had many calls
from desperate parents.

Don’t Treat Unless You See
Lice

“We were having a terrible time, and I knew we weren’t
the only ones,” Fleming said. “We had one parent come
in and her child’s hair was as dry as straw from all the
treatments
she had applied. And the child still had lice.”

Parents need to know when and how to treat for head lice.

“Lice treatments are actually pesticides designed to kill
lice,” she said. “We had parents telling us they were
treating their children as a precaution. These treatments aren’t
like dandruff shampoo. You can’t keep applying them over and
over.
If you do, you’re putting your child’s health in
danger.”

Fleming says lice-removal treatments like Nix and Rid are made
for treating lice, not as preventive treatments.

“Never use these products unless you see lice or nits
in your child’s hair,” she said. “And then follow the
directions precisely.”

Remember: Lice Treatments Are
Pesticides

Always apply the lice-removal medication by wetting and
rinsing
the child’s hair over a sink.

“Many parents are applying the treatment while the child
is in the bath or shower,” Fleming said. “This way,
the treatment is washed down the child’s body, which allows it
to penetrate the skin. This is a pesticide. Never let it contact
your skin, other than the treatment area.”

Even if you treat your child’s hair, there is no guarantee
that will solve your problem.

“More
and more health experts believe head lice are developing
immunities
to the chemicals in these treatments,” Fleming said.
“That’s
why we tell parents to sit down and manually remove the lice and
nits with a nit comb.”

Don’t Resort to Dangerous Home
Remedies

Out of desperation, some parents try home remedies such as
kerosene.

“Using kerosene is much more dangerous than using
pesticides,”
said Fleming. “And other home remedies like mayonnaise and
Vaseline are hard to wash out and leave hair greasy and
unmanageable.”

Fleming does recommend using olive oil to help remove
nits.

“Just rub the olive oil into the hair, leave it a few
minutes and begin removing the nits with a lice comb, baby safety
scissors or your fingernails,” she said. “It’s best
to divide the hair into sections so as not to miss any
nits.”

To help educate Pickens County parents, Fleming enlisted the
help of senior 4-H’er Miranda Brooks.

Brooks researched head lice and volunteered to help with head
checks at the local primary school. Then she designed a
prevention-and-treatment
display booth, “Don’t Let a Louse Get a Head.” The
display
won first place at the Coosa Valley Fair last year.

Brooks also presented a program to the PTA and wrote an
article
for the local newspaper.

“Head lice are one of the most misunderstood of human
parasites,” Brooks said. “People think having head lice
labels them as dirty and unkempt. But head lice are invading the
most stylishly cut hair, the finest homes and the most expensive
private schools.”

Brooks won a first-place state 4-H award for her project on
head lice.