Why Over-the-Counter Head Lice Products Won’t Work

When a child has head lice, many parents go into panic mode and will do almost anything to get rid of the lice as quickly as possible. After grabbing the first lice “shampoo” they see at the drugstore, they race home to treat their child. Sadly, weeks later they are often still combing out lice eggs and even live lice bugs.

There are three problems with OTC treatments that lead to treatment failure. Let’s investigate:

 

“For starters, a majority of over-the-counter (OTC) products don’t work anymore, at least not those allowed in the United States,”  “According to the website ‘Beyond Pesticides,’ virtually all lice in the United States have developed resistance to the OTC and prescription shampoos containing the pesticide Permethrin. Several recent studies have confirmed the widespread resistance of head lice to retail products.”

 

“This isn’t really controversial,” said John Clark in a 2014 article titled “Head Lice Growing Resistant to Standard Meds.” Clark is a professor of environmental toxicology and chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and co-author of one of the studies of resistant head lice. “This is a problem we’ve been showing in development over a period of about 20 years. But our new work now shows that head lice are now almost 100 percent [resistant]. That means there’s an awful lot of resistant insects out there in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

 

“The second reason to avoid commercial lice-removal products is that they may not be safe as currently used.” Lice treatments are marketed as a “shampoo” but most contain the pesticide Permethrin – a neurotoxin that kills lice by shutting down the insect’s central nervous system,”  “Lice-removal products have been deemed safe when used as directed, but as they become less effective, overuse is common. Panicked parents often apply the product repeatedly or use multiple store brands not realizing that they are all the same Permethrin formulation. Overuse  may cause serious health problems.”

Richard Clapp, an environmental health expert and professor emeritus at Boston University, has said that Permethrin, especially when combined with other problematic chemicals, can cause seizures and, down the road, behavioral problems. In a 2009 memo, the EPA classified Permethrin as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans” in some conditions.  Environmentally relevant levels of pyrethroids—the class of pesticide that includes Permethrin—are also common in some household insecticide products. This means that adding lice shampoo, even the amount directed, to the level of pyrethroids already in a home can overexpose children to the pesticide.

 

“Finally, the third reason for poor results with OTC lice-removal products is that they are not ovicidal, meaning, they don’t kill lice eggs, or nits, which is a real problem in the battle against head lice,”

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pyrethrins (another type of pyrethroids) can only kill live lice, not unhatched eggs (nits). Nits are affixed to hair shafts with a very strong glue-like substance and must be manually removed. “If every nit is not removed, you’ll simply get a new case of head lice when the eggs hatch a week or so after the treatment is applied,” “This is the primary cause of OTC treatment failure, regardless of the treatment product used – parents greatly underestimate the level of combing required to successfully treat head lice at home. The expectation is that the treatment kills everything, when in fact, it is only meant to kill the live bugs. Nits (eggs) must be completely combed out.”

 

Fortunately, there’s a pesticide-free alternative to lice-removal medications. It’s a medical device, known as the AirAllé device, that uses heated air to dehydrate and kill head lice and 99.2 percent of lice eggs. It’s been clinically proven to be safe and effective and has been cleared for use by the FDA. Treatments using this device are available exclusively at Lice Clinics of America treatment centers throughout the United States and around the world. Treatment is only one single 60- to 90-minute in-clinic process and the treatment is guaranteed to be effective by the clinic.

 

Lice Clinics of America has successfully treated more than 1 million cases. The company has more than 265 clinics in 20 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. Lice Clinics of America – NOVA has clinics located in Herndon and Falls Church and is open 6 days a week by appointment. Call 703-686-5253 or visit www.LiceRemovalNOVA.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.