Lice-what do I do???

[NYCgrrl]

Would you soak your kids head in Ammonia, Liquid Bleach, Nail Polish Remover etc???

Ahhahaha...you can't "cherry pick" what I wrote to make your point valid ( Debate Rules 101 learned in JHS and HS on this end).
Of course it's still an invalid point since many do soak their fingers in nail polish remover (acetone based or not) either as adults or children. The children is a nowadays thingie; I canna stand when DGD's mother puts nailpolish on her but remain quiet because the mantra "Not my child" keeps running through my head.
Still I'm sure you wrote this post as a perverse joke and will accept it as such.

To simplify this convo we need chemicals daily because of course that's what oxygen and carbon dioxide are.
The trick is to find the bad ones and limit or eliminate their longterm use.

 

[mjkacmom]

I never said pesticides were the easiest way. The doctor in the article I posted stated it was the most effective way with the proviso that the insects seem to becoming immune to certain chemical based products used in the past. Makes sense from what I know of pesticides used for other insects commonly found in residential, commercial, and institutional locales.

I will say if you've the skill and time to painstakingly remove them by combing your child's hair in the recommended manner whether using unproven and possibly dangerous products or nothing but manual lobour, I commend you and say go for it. Or pay someone to do it. Or use the OTC products where you still have to take care to comb the hair through. Seems like meticulous hair combing is an integral part of the process for the above methods.

My firsthand experience is......31 years and 11 days old. They are still using the same formulations in OTC products then as now.
How do I know the exact date? Youngest son was off to France to visit the ex (able to celebrate 4th of July in USA and Bastille Day in France) and upon taking him to the barber shop it was discovered he had head lice which I thought died out with the Bubonic Plague. Ohhhh the horrors!
Off to the doctor, a quick run to the drugstore and Rid it was. Got on the plane the next day head lice free. Had they low tech head lice removal services then I'd of jumped on it quick fast and in a hurry no matter the cost. The son is still grossing about the Air India JFK-CDG flight but not the hair lice.

I'm all for "cleaner" living particularly in the food chain where no child I care for eats chicken nuggets, anything an unatural shade of orange or pre-formed burgers or meat in tubes from the supermarket out of my kitchen. Still you have to know when to fold and I think at this point moderation in the use of chemicals is a good thing and part of today's life. I don't want people to smell me coming so I apply antiperspirant deodorant; I prefer not to be a living blood donor for bugs so I use repellant. i could go on and on but you get the point. Chemcals are all around you and in regular use.

As for businesses that remove head lice many DO sell products and generally for much more than at the pharmists'.

I believe all of the lice treatment centers use “natural non toxic” products, whether they are special oil infused shampoos they invented, or plain old conditioner, no matter the product, all require tedious combing. I think a major problem with the spread of lice is that some must use the shampoos without the necessary combing, and parents not giving the heads up to other parents, so even if their kid gets rid of them, they get infected again.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We did the shampoo when we had lice. We still had to do all the combing. 3+ hours several days in a row, then ~1 hour for a week after. Next time (hopefully there won't be one) we'll just do the combing. Not because I'm afraid of the shampoo, it's just I don't really see the point. The combing will get the live ones just like it gets the nits. In fact even after the shampoo there were many live ones still left that we got with the comb.