Everyone remembers the nit nurse at school and the horrors of having to see her. But if you are a parent you will also wish Nora the nit nurse was back in business. Ever since my children started school we have been plagued by head lice. And sitting and combing long curly hair every night with a miniscule comb isn’t my idea of fun. I thought I had found a solution — using tea tree shampoo and conditioners seemed to get rid of them and for over a year our house has been nit free. But I recently heard that tea tree oil shouldn’t be used on children long term so stopped — and we’ve got nits again!! Does anyone know if this is true? What do you recommend to your clients? I’d love to know. ruthx
Ruth,
I am a licensed Cosmetologist and owner of a company that specializes in the safe, effective, non-toxic removal of head lice (www.louseynitpickers.com). Regarding your concerns with Tea Tree, there was a study that suggested that repeated use of Tea Tree on young boys can cause the development of breast tissue, but this was reported once in the press, and I’m not aware of any supporting studies. The American Head Lice Information Center cautions, “Many essential oils are extremely potent and should not be used on young children, babies or pregnant women.” We use botanical ingredients in our products to soothe the irritation related to head lice infestations, but there really is no substitute for the physical removal of the lice and their eggs.
Evan
Thanks for this. It’s amazing where myths and legends come from. We’re actually nit free now so fingers crossed! ruthx
Hi Ruth, You are absolutely right that every one wants the school Nurse back that was on top of lice and really tried to stop the spread. Here at Lice Solutions we are trying to do the same thing! We are the only non profit head lice treatment center in the country. We do school wide head checks (like the nurse used to:)) We use safe non toxic products and go through hair in paper thin sections. We also hold your hand to make sure you are safetly past it. Evan is right, there is no substitute for taking the time to do it right. As we say in our office, “if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, you must have time to do it again” The problem is that most people don’t know to look for nymphs (newly hatched lice) they look like a speck of dirt on the head. Take a pencil at its absolute sharpest and touch the point to paper. The tiny mark it makes is the size of a nymph. On top of that nits must be manually removed. Lice Combs and products simply aide you with the removal process. Nothing is a sure fix other than knowing what you are looking for and taking the time. We offer phone support to anyone who is outside our treatment area. Please call if you have any questions or concerns TN-615-227-3919 FL-561-842-9969. Or visit us on the web. We are here to help:)