Hey Chloe...here's one for you...

I was just at the home of Chloe. She was hilarious with her jokes and scary stories. Sorry, Chloe, no play date, but my kids made up some jokes that they want to pass on to you...

How do you get lice? From someone else's head.

Click on this link to a great study that supports the idea the head lice are NOT effectively spread through inanimate objects (clothing, furniture, pillowcases, hats, brushes, etc.). This study is from the Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University, Austrailia. My favourite sentence from the conclusion is:

"We conclude that the control of head lice should focus on the head and not on the environment."

Incidently, this study also mentions how long lice can live without a meal:

Lice Advice via Classic Sitcoms: If it's "All in the Family" take it "One Day at a Time"

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it has been a dark and stormy night; we even had tornado warnings today. It is 10:30 pm. I just put my son and middle daughter to bed. Why so late? Because I found head lice on my daughter's head. Yes, no one is immune from head lice, not even the children of The Nice Lice Lady. But I wasn't freaked out or upset(though I wish I had noticed it at 7:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm.) I was quite happy - random lice checks work!

My daughter had been scratching the back of her head earlier this evening. She noticed that I saw her scratching and said, "C'mon, Mom, you don't need to check - it's just a mosquito bite." I may have replied by saying, "But, my darling daughter, you must understand that regular assessment for the condition of pediculosis capitis, or head lice, is the most effective way of detecting the condition before a more serious problem arises." Hmm. I don't think I said that. I think I said something more along the lines of, "Get over here; you know the drill."

I looked in the itchy spot but found nothing. Because we were going to start supper, I reminded myself to do a more thorough check later. Which I did. At bedtime. Yawn.

I found one egg on her bangs. So, I knew we had to do the whole big lice thing, the crazy production, the...just kidding. Head lice are a treatable problem that you have to take seriously, but it doesn't mean that you have to go crazy. You may be surprised at what a non-issue this is in our house. Here's what we did...

Video Link - How to use your lice comb.

As I have said many times before on this blog, the most helpful tool to have in your fight against head lice is a proper, metal lice comb. I have also said that not all combs are created equal. This includes metal combs. There are a lot of combs on the market with metal teeth that are positively useless. If the teeth can easily bend or separate, then they will still comb around the nits instead of scraping them out. The three combs I recommend are the Licemeister, the Nit-Free Terminator, and the lovely inexpensive generic purple duel-sided comb found at Walmart. For information about these combs, click here.

There is a video on YouTube about the Licemeister comb and how to use it. The techniques apply to any proper lice comb. I will provide the link to the video in a moment, but if you go to watch it, promise you will come back and read my comments about the video. Will you read the rest of this blog post? You will? Ok, then click here for the link.

I like this video because

Should I Keep My Child Home From School?

This is one of my most popular lice articles - it's an oldey but a goody. I still believe that a child should not have to miss school (or day care) because of head lice, and if you want to know why I feel this way, read this article. Be sure to read the comments section, too.

Head lice are like clutter.

In his book, "It's All Too Much", home organziation guru Peter Walsh challenges the notion that the answer to clutter is more storage. To avoid having to get rid of items, or to avoid having to make decisions about all our stuff, we buy into new "storage solutions" - more baskets, file cabinets, shelving and boxes. However, in the end, these do nothing to deal with the real issue - the clutter itself. In the end, to really deal with clutter, we have to find a way to actually have less of it.

This makes me think of how some people deal with head lice. They want to deal with the problem, but they want to do everything they possibly can to avoid actually having to remove the head lice. They buy "treatments", "shampoos", and concoct home remedies. And then, when they still find bugs living on the head, they call me and ask, "Which treatment should I use next?" Or, they spend all of their energy on cleaning their home from ceiling to cellar because of head lice paranoia but can't be bothered to actually deal with the activity on the scalp.

To quote Peter Walsh, "Enough already!" Forget the expensive solutions. If you have head lice, deal with the real issue - the head lice itself. It is only when you take the time to actually remove the bugs and eggs off of the head that you will see progress. And by dealing with the real problem right from the start, you will save yourself time and money in the end.

Why I don't use Adsense.

As you can see, the info on this blog is offered for free. But at one time, I thought about setting up Google Adsense . With Adsense, you get revenue for allowing advertisements on your blog. Then I realized that those ads would be related to the information on my blog - they would probably be ads for lice products. I am not a fan of most lice products and I would never want most of these products to be associated with my advice in anyway. So, this blog will continue to come to you ad free (with the exception of the offer of my services.)

Why do I offer free advice? Two reasons. First,

If you have information about new products, e-mail me.

I receive information on a regular basis that is sent to me by individuals in the lice industry - information on new products that someone wants to promote. However, I do not sell any products besides my services and I will not promote anything that I haven't tried myself. If you post a comment that links to your product, I will remove that comment from this blog.

Please, please, please get a proper lice comb!

The solution to dealing with head lice is very simple, but that doesn't mean it is easy. It is easy to say, "Just simply remove all eggs and bugs from the hair" but it is another thing altogether to actually get it done. It requires time and persistence over days or even weeks depending on the magnitude of the problem.

I know that you want to deal with head lice quickly - that's why people purchase the chemical treatments. These treatments claim to deal with head lice in less than a half hour! But, they simply don't work. I'm so sorry - I wish they did, but they don't.

But proper combs are effective. I have seen people spend dollar after dollar on treatments, but they don't want to spend the money on getting a proper lice comb and I don't understand this. Maybe these people think that one comb is just like another or that the comb that comes with the chemical treatment is sufficient. I'm not sure, but I do know that getting a proper comb will drastically cut the time spent on lice removal. And, it is of great value because you can use it again and again for years to come. I have gone to homes where the client is sure they have picked out every egg and bug, and then I take a look and also see no signs of active lice infestation. But then I comb through the hair with a proper metal lice comb and teeny live bugs are found.

So please, do yourself a favour. Get a proper metal comb such as the Licemeister (available in Edmonton at Split Enz Hair, 780-406-8181), the Nit Free Terminator, or the excellent purple dual sided lice comb that is selling so cheaply at Walmart. (The other combs at Walmart - the metal one with the blue handle, the all metal one, or the plastic combs - will NOT do.) Stop buying the chemical treatments and do something that really works. Once you get the right comb, follow the steps for picking lice out of someone else's hair, or the steps for picking lice out of your own hair.

If you have purchased one of these combs, I thank you. If you use it properly and regularly, your neighbours thank you, your kid's teachers thank you, and your co-workers thank you. Well done.

Lice: 1, Nix:0

As I have mentioned in previous posts, ALL of my business comes from people who have already used some sort of lice "shampoo" or treatment with little success. Doctors, pharmacists, and Alberta Health Services almost always recommend a permethrin based-treatment such as Nix or R&C. Once again, I recommend against the use of such treatments, and not just because permethrin is a pesticidal neurotoxin. I recommend against them because, in my experience, they don't work well.

I just came from yet another home that where a treatment was used on the child about 4 days before my visit. The parents thought that they had solved their child's lice problem, but they wanted me to check through the hair just in case.