The study (HERE) is from 2004 (so I'm surprised I never saw this before). They took 8 people for whom other lice treatments were not effective and slathered their hair in conditioner for 2 hours. Then they did the same thing a week later. In the 8 subjects, it was 100% effective in killing their head lice. The author suggests that the conditioner may block the spiracles or breathing holes of the lice. We don't know what it did to the nits but if conditioner can help dissolve nit glue, I'm sure it does some damage to nits as well.
This study may be teeny but it shows once again, that hair conditioner is your friend in the fight. And since it is inexpensive, safe, easily attainable, and something I already recommend that you use in wet combing, I have no problem with you giving it a try. (I still recommend the combing though. Get those bugs and eggs off your head!)
(One word of caution: Anytime I see people put some creamy or oil based solution on their head for a long time to battle head lice, they tend to want to cover it up with saran wrap or a shower cap or something to keep it from being so messy. Whatever you do, do not go to bed with your head wrapped in plastic or wrap up the head of a young child. It can have tragic consequences.)
I am struggling a bit with the conditioner and the nit comb. So much conditioner comes out and blocks my ability to see what is in the hair. It is just a sticky white mass. I have only used enough conditioner to reach all the hair. I didnt use any water first - is this where I went wrong? I found my only 2 lice by combing when dry.
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