Get Rid of Lice – Without Toxic Chemicals!

It’s back to school – time to think about bookbags and and pencils and lunches…and lice. Did you get that dreaded school letter yet? Without fail, it seems to arrive the first or second week of school starting. Last summer my own daughter was the little vector who brought it into her school…likely a gift from her days at summer camp spent frolicking with hundreds of other kids. I admit, when I saw those little brown bugs crawling all over her head…I panicked! Yup, even though I’m a doctor somehow it felt very different seeing it in my own kids hair. And suddenly my head felt very, very itchy. Well..that was with good reason since I had gotten infected too. And my son. Aaagh!

Speaking from firsthand experience I am going to tell you what to do if you or one (or all) of your kids gets lice.

Step 1: Do not panic. Calmly explain to your child that they have a few bugs in their hair that have to be removed. It’s ok to be all grossed out and repulsed by your kid, just keep it to yourself

Keep in mind that lice are HARMLESS. They do not carry disease. They do not have a preference for dirty or clean hair. They are just itchy…that’s all.

Step 2: Do NOT drive to the pharmacy and purchase a toxic anti-lice treatment that is going to cost you a bazillion dollars and do absolutely nothing. Lice are really, really old critters. They are resistant to these products. The only thing that gets rid of them is manual removal…like ape-style. That’s right, get your fingers warmed up, you are going in!!

Step 3: Do drive to the dollar store and purchase these items:

• Cheap con ditioner

• Hair clips

• A Lice comb (I HIGHLY recommend the NitFree Teminator which can be purchased for $10.95 at www.ecoginesis.com)

• A spray bottle (to put the conditioner in so you can spray it on the head)

• Paper towels (separated into sheets and piled up)

Step 4: Choose a place in our house with good lighting. Get your kid all set up and comfy in front of the T.V….this is going to take awhile

Step 5: Using the hair clips, start by sectioning 1/2 of the head into 4 sections. Start at the top of the section and separate out a thin section of hair. Spray the hair liberally with conditioner. Using your comb, start right at the scalp and pull up all the way to the end of the section. Wipe your comb on a paper towel.

Step 6: Inspect the paper towel. If you see any brown/grey specks these are the lice eggs that haven’t hatched yet or even the lice itself. Booya! You got em! Eggs that have hatched will be white and are harder to spot on the paper towel. Throw out the paper towel. Continue to pass over that section of hair until you don’t see any more spots on the paper towel when you wipe your comb.

 Our little Buddha after we shaved his head!

I know, I can hear you groaning…this is a real time suck. If you want some help I highly recommend you call Jackie at Lice Crusaders. She is professional, efficient and fantastic. She charges 150$ per person and that includes 2 visits so you can be sure you got all the critters. She cleaned my hair and my daughter’s (we shaved my sons head). Jackie made the whole thing such a pleasant experience that my daughter still asks “When we are going back to see Jackie?”…to which I politely reply “Hopefully NEVER!”