Why are head lice such a mystery?

While head lice is an age old problem, in depth research about head lice is a relatively new phenomenon with almost all the scientific research happening within the last 100 years. Unlike some areas of research that have been studied more extensively, we are still discovering new things all the time about head lice. Studies that are just a few years old may already have been disproven. Each year, more comprehensive information is uncovered about head lice transmission and treatment. Why are head lice such a mystery? Here are my thoughts...

Common Sense Myths VS. Radical Research

I love the Internet. More specifically, I love a good search engine. I love being able to find information about almost anything in a matter of seconds via the Internet. Because of these technological advances, the common man has more access to information than ever before in history. We can learn about, and sometimes even seemingly diagnose, illnesses or conditions thanks to Dr. Google.

I think the use of the Internet has really helped in the fight against head lice. Without the Internet, I wouldn’t have access to research and you wouldn’t be reading this blog. That said, I find it sad that while we have new ways to share information, most head lice “experts” are offering up old information about how to deal with head lice. There are some head lice myths that most head lice authorities debunk, such as the myth that head lice can jump (they can’t) or that lice prefer clean hair (they don’t care about your hair, they just want your blood). But there are other head lice myths that are still promoted as fact by most websites and health authorities. Before I talk about them, I ask you, dear reader, to put away your assumptions about head lice; those strongly held believes about bugs or those compulsions that cause you to want to panic. The information I want to share will challenge so much of what you have been told about head lice. Have an open mind and read the research for yourself.

Common Sense Myth #1: To get rid of head lice, you must really clean your house and launder (or store away) your clothes, pillows, stuffed toys, and bedding.

Radical Research: Head lice are not a virus that infests your home or belongings. A louse is a bug that lives on the human head. Research has shown that extensive house cleaning or laundering makes no difference in the fight against head lice.

Why I want you to know this: It breaks my heart to talk to parents (mostly mothers) who are getting only 2-3 hours of sleep every night because they are constantly vacuuming, washing the bedding, bleaching the floors, packing up the toys, etc. I know the panic that head lice can cause in a household and I understand our desire to do everything we can to get rid of it. However, all this vacuuming and laundering is just giving you a false sense of security. It isn’t actually doing anything to get rid of (or prevent) the problem of head lice and it is using up precious energy that you could be using to actually focus on the head and deal with the problem effectively.

Read more about cleaning the Floor and see point #2 below

Common Sense Myth #2: You can get head lice by sharing the hat, brush, seat, or shirt of someone who has head lice and must take great care not to share or touch these items if they have been in contact with someone who has head lice.

Radical Research: Head lice are passed by direct head to head contact. Period. There is no real basis in the common notion that lice are transferred through inanimate objects.

Why I want you to know this: I know that this information goes against what we feel is common sense. This information was even hard for me to swallow – when I first started my journey into head lice removal, I always shared the conventional wisdom that said head lice could be transferred via our hats, brushes, etc. But the research is sound and shows us that time is wasted when we focus on trying to prevent the spread of head lice by controlling our belongings. If we spent less time trying to keep our kid’s jackets from touching other kid’s jackets in school and spent more time just checking for lice on the heads of our children, we would be so much further ahead in the fight.

Read More about transmission via inanimate objects

Common Sense Myth #3: You need to kill the head lice through the use of a pesticidal lice treatment, such as a product containing permethrin, in order to stop the infestation cycle.

Radical Research: Numerous studies have shown that head lice have become resistant to pesticides and are simply not as effective as they once were.

Why I want you to know this: In Edmonton, our health authority and school boards are still telling parents that these pesticidal treatments are the #1 way to deal with the problem of head lice. And yet, ALL of my business comes from people who have first used these treatments. These treatments are costly and rarely work. By putting our faith in these treatments, we are preventing ourselves from actually dealing with the problem. Well meaning, conscientious people, people who have diligently followed the advice of health professionals, are going out in public, assuming that they have solved their head lice problem when they may still be infested and at risk of passing on these parasites. The cycle continues and the problem grows.

Read more about pesticide resistance in head lice and specifically permethrin

Common Sense Myth#4: That chemicals are our only weapon in the fight against head lice.

Radical Research: Wet combing techniques and the use of hot air have been proven effective in the detection and treatment of head lice.

Why I want you to know this: Mechanical removal of head lice is a very accessible and effective technique in the fight against head lice. A proper lice comb is inexpensive in comparison to the cost of lice "shampoos" and can be used repeatedly with each family member. A warm air treatment that has a great success rate in drying out eggs and a substantial success rate in drying out bugs can be carried out with a low-cost hand held hair dryer.

Read more here about wet combing in lice detection

Read more here about wet combing in lice removal

Read more here about the use of hot air

Common Sense Myth #5: Health and school professionals know all about head lice.

Radical Research: Health / school professionals often misdiagnose head lice and recommend unnecessary treatment or call for the removal of children from schools though active cases of head lice may not be present.

Why I want you to know this: Many school boards and childcare centres have "no-nit policies" and yet may be misdiagnosing cases of head lice. Public health and school nurses usually recommend, and some even dictate, the use of chemical treatments. However, they may not know about the most up-to-date research. You can become the expert about your child's head lice. You can detect an active case of head lice through wet combing and with regular follow up, you can deal with this problem without costly treatments. You also have a right to expect your healthy child to stay in or return to school.

Read more about misdiagnosis here.

Conclusion: For every new study that debunks our old myths, many more new web pages come up that reinforce the incorrect stereotypes of having head lice and how to treat it. In fact, there's research about that too. Click here. If you would like to chat about what you've read, leave a comment or email me. Let's stay informed.

Update: Check out these amazing pictures of head lice up close. This is great information about lice anatomy and will help you understand how they live so well on your head.

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.