Lice Infest the Air Waves, Part 2: Arthur

The episode “The Lousy Week” of Arthur, a PBS show based on the picture storybooks by Marc Brown and one of my childhood favorites, follows the primary characters as they battle head lice.

In the episode, head lice are depicted as an army, following a single leader.  This is not too incredible as one louse in a head of hair can wreck great havoc, though that single louse would have to be a pregnant female rather than a male.  According to the Texas Department of State Health Service’s “How Do I Know if My Child Has Lice and How Did They Get It?” a single female louse can lay up to 150 eggs at a time.

The lice first infect Muffy Crosswire, the wealthiest of her classmates, and Muffy learns firsthand that the myth that lice only infect “dirty” people, which she believed, is mere myth; lice infect anyone of any socioeconomic class and may actually even prefer washed hair according to some research.  Unaware as many are that lice are nothing of which to be ashamed, Muffy fears the ridicule and ostracism that might be imposed upon her by her classmates and unwisely keeps her infestation a secret, which precipitates in the careless sharing of her hat, against which the school nurse wisely advises, adding that sharing scarves and coats can also aid the spread of lice.  The episode strays from the truth, however, by suggesting that lice can jump between heads; lice can only crawl.

Lice can survive for up to 48 hours, according to the Head Lice Center, without a meal of human blood.  When Mrs. Read bags up the stuffies for “a few weeks” she is being far too cautious.  Stuffed animals can be rid of lice by being thrown in the dryer on high for 20 minutes, according to the Lice Treatment Center, LLC or by being sealed in an airtight bag for 4 days.

The children try many different treatments, including a number of home remedies that are popularly but erroneously believed to be effective at killing lice.  Arthur and his family begin by applying mayo to their heads, a home remedy that seems to prove ineffective as the Reads switch later in the episode to using olive oil.  In reality, neither of these home remedies will effectively rid a person of lice or prevent the pests from moving onto the scalp, according to Takano-Lee, Edman, Mullens & Clark (2004).

Muffy’s nanny applies a shampoo formulated to rid Muffy of lice.  Some treatment shampoos, such as all natural Jolis Cheveux™, can be effective at helping to rid one of lice, though resistance to popular ingredients in standard, chemical treatment shampoos has been noted in America and the UK.

Muffy and Francine bob their hair in an attempt to improve their chances of getting rid of the lice.  The effectiveness of this measure is not largely discussed, but the same treatments that are effective in long hair—nitpicking and certain essential oils—are as effective in short hair.  Short hair merely decreases the time to nitpick and the amount of product needed to effectively eliminate lice.

Binky’s mother, shown in her nursing uniform to demonstrate that her methods should be given credence—and indeed they should be—picks the nits and lice individually from Binky’s head, combing his hair for hours every night.  This form of treatment is, as shown in the episode, time consuming, and can be ineffective if the one doing the combing is not trained to recognize lice and nits.  A number of companies, including the Lice Treatment Center, LLC, offer lice removal services. Lice Treatment Center, LLC is the original “lice treatment center” not to be confused with imitators. Trained technicians from the Lice Treatment Center can be called to come to your home to rid you of head lice, using a combination of all natural Jolis Cheveux™ treatment products and nitpicking.

Lice Infest the Air Waves, Part 1: Potter Puppet Pals

Lice can be found anywhere—on any continent, on anyone’s head, and, as it turns out, in your video entertainment.  I’m sure that I’d seen some of these lice-related episodes before, but now, having this blog, I am noticing them far more.  This blog post series will dissect the truth from the lies about head lice in popular video culture.

Head lice infect Ron Weasley in the Potter Puppet Pals’ episode “Ron’s Disease:” (Warning: this video has the potential to offend as well as to humor.)

 

Potter Puppet Pals, a YouTube series that parodies J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series with hand puppets, tends to highlight the worst qualities of the Harry Potter characters as well as the secret thoughts of their teenaged minds.  The show does not shy either from violence or profanity.

In this episode “millions of tiny monsters,” called “wizard lice,” “have spawned on Ron’s already filthy scalp.”

By having the head lice infest Ron, known and referenced in this episode to be from a lower socioeconomic class, Potter Puppet Pals reinforces the lie that head lice infest only the poor.  Head lice will in fact feast upon the blood of any human of any socioeconomic class.  By referencing Ron’s scalp as “filthy,” the episode further fallaciously suggests that head lice prefer unwashed hair.  Some research suggests that head lice actually prefer washed hair, but again, they will infest anyone.

The episode is meant to entertain, not to give advice to YouTube viewers about how to rid themselves of head lice, and I truly hope that no one has ever used their methods.  The cure implemented by the “folksy” gamekeeper, Hagrid, is to suspend Ron upside down from the rafters and hit him with a large cudgel, theoretically, I assume, dislodging the lice from his hair.

This would never work against Muggle head lice.  First, it breaks the rule of thumb, and even a thumb-thick rod is now illegal to use against another person.  Second, it would be ineffective as nits—lice eggs—are attached to hair follicles with a glue-like substance that makes them very difficult to dislodge.  If it can be easily removed from your head, it isn’t a nit.

The episode further indulges the wives’ tales that cures for head lice include mayonnaise and setting one’s head alight.  Mayonnaise, a popular home remedy for lice, has been shown to be ineffective.  Potentially, the episode recognizes the ineffectiveness of this treatment method as it is included among such other ridiculous suggestions as rubbing meat in your hair and spinning in a circle and clapping your hands twice.  Lighting your head on fire is ill advised and dangerous to say the least; I don’t think this treatment method can ethically be studied.

The only truly effective method of ridding yourself of lice—which is never mentioned in this episode—is nitpicking such as the in-home service that The Lice Treatment Center, LLC offers, though all natural treatment products, such as Jolis Cheveux™, can help to ease the detachment of lice.  Chemical treatments risk being ineffective as lice have been shown to be developing resistance to the chemicals in these products in countries where such treatments are or have been commonplace, including America and the UK.

Alternative Alternative Lice Prevention by the Lice Treatment Center: A Response to The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal on December 13, 2011 published an article by Timothy W. Martin that airs the opinions of those who laud and those who scoff at all-natural lice prevention products.

This article, it should be said, does not warn perhaps strongly enough against the chemical lice treatments available, though it does warn that lice are evolving and becoming resistant to chemical treatments.  In addition to all-natural prevention products, Martin suggests prescription treatments to combat treatment-resistant lice.  I have found in my research, though, that prescription treatments often contain the same active ingredients—pyrethrin or permethrin—to which “super lice” are becoming immune.  Dr. Richard Pollack, who is quoted in this article, et al. in a 1999 study warn that these higher dosages of permethrin will not kill lice any more than lower dosages and suggest in the press release seeking an alternative treatment if permethrin and pyethrin treatments prove ineffective.

There are many all-natural lice treatment products on the market now.  I have been working with Jolis Cheveux™ and Lice Insurance™ products by the Lice Treatment Center, LLC, which are not mentioned in this article.  Jolis Cheveux™ and Lice Insurance™ offer lines of lice prevention and lice treatment products.  Jolis Cheveux™ further includes products for use on upholstery onto which lice might crawl and live for up to 48 hours without feeding on a human host.

Unlike other products mentioned in this article, Jolis Cheveux™ and Lice Insurance™ use cinnamon, peppermint, neem, and tea tree as their active essential oils in addition to the more commonly used rosemary, shown to be effective killers of head lice by Yang, Lee, Clark, & Ahn (2004).  Cinnamon, tea tree, and peppermint oils were all found to be effective by Veal (1996), and in 2007 Canyon & Speare confirmed the effectiveness of peppermint and tea tree.  Neem oil has been found effective against head lice by Heukelbach, Oliveira, & Speare (2006).  These studies all support the effectiveness of Jolis Cheveux™’s and Lice Insurance™’s active ingredients.

The least known of these oils is certainly neem, but neem oil is gaining a public reputation for its effectiveness against lice.  Robin Wasserman of LiveStrong, writes that neem oil “effectively kills lice in all stages of their life cycle.”  Discover Neem additionally lauds neem oils’ benefits to skin, hair, and the immune system, saying that it “promotes shiny, healthy hair, combats dryness, prevents premature graying and may even help with some forms of hair loss.”  Some of those benefits I can attest to myself.  Neem oil also, according to Discover Neem, “relieves dry skin, […] soothes itchiness[s], redness[,] and irritation, [and…] improves general skin health and immunity, combating bacterial infections, as in acne, boils and ulcers.”

The effectiveness of any prevention product is, as the article complains, difficult to verify, but we can test the effectiveness of treatments, and it seems logical to believe that what kills lice will also prevent them from settling on your scalp.

Jolis Cheveux™ and Lice Insurance™ lice treatment and prevention products will leave your hair clean and smelling charmingly of spicy cinnamon.  These products will make your hair disagreeable to lice without making it unpleasant to you.  With Jolis Cheveux™ and Lice Insurance™, instead of chemicals, your hair and scalp will be doused with beneficial essential oils, such as neem, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon, and tea tree.

Jolis Cheveux™: Looking Good on You Since Your First Use

I have used many different kinds of shampoo in my life.  My hair is long and thick, and I hurry through bottles, having to use so much product to lather my hair.   Everyone—let’s just admit it—has a favorite brand of shampoo, which, were money no object, she would purchase by the family-sized bottle as often as she needed it without regard to expense, and few women mind talking to their friends about hair care: what works for them, what does not, their favorite products, ridiculous things that they’ve tried in attempts to better the shine and body of their hair.

I have just polished off my first bottle of Jolis Cheveux™’s Lice Prevention Shampoo, an all-natural, essential oils-based product designed to discourage lice from infecting one’s head.  Using it, I did not catch lice, but that’s not really what I want to discuss; I’ve already mentioned the lice-deterring benefits of Jolis Cheveux™ products by the Lice Treatment Center, LLC in numerous posts on this blog.  What I want to discuss here is how Jolis Cheveux™’s Lice Prevention Shampoo made me feel and made my hair look, apart from its efficacious lice prevention.

Lice Prevention Shampoo by Jolis Cheveux™ by the Lice Treatment Center, LLC.

Opening a bottle of Jolis Cheveux™ shampoo, one receives a waft of spicy fragrance emanating from the shampoo’s cinnamon oil primarily. This scent lingered on my hair and soaked into my pillow, and, yes, I caught myself taking deep breaths to inhale the scent when my hair swung towards my nose—and I’m missing that scent somewhat now that I am all out of Jolis Cheveux™ product.

Jolis Cheveux™ left my hair looking at least as shiny and as full as does my regular shampoo.  Within days of beginning to use the Jolis Cheveux™ product, I noticed the increased shine of my hair and, more significantly, that the frizz of an oil-heated home seemed to be diminished.  I spent some time, I remember, turning my head in the bright lights above the bathroom sink, examining my reflection with a smile.  Why Jolis Cheveux™ seemed to tame my winter frizz, I could not explain, but I was certainly not going to complain about the result; I have had but one product work so well against that pet peeve, and when I was using that product, my environment was so wholly different (it was during a semester abroad) that I can hardly attribute my conquered locks to shampoo alone.  Having tamed my frizz, I would expect Jolis Cheveux™ to be heavy, but it is not; it is one of the lighter effective shampoos that I have ever used, and only a little bit of product succeeded where others have failed.

So will Jolis Cheveux™ prevent you from catching lice?  I believe it will help deter the pests.  Will you regret putting it into your hair as you might some other lice treatments or general store-bought shampoos (yes, there are certainly shampoos for general use that react poorly with my hair)?  No, I don’t believe that you will regret it.  My own experience with Jolis Cheveux™ has convinced me that this is a shampoo that will help and not damage your hair, effectively cleaning it of excess oils, dust, and residue, increasing its shine, taming its frizz, and generally looking good on you.  That it should help deter lice too only increases its value.

My hair after almost two months of using Jolis Cheveux™.

Head Lice Myths Busted

Lice have been a frequent plague upon the world’s people for centuries.  In that time, we’ve accumulated a lot of myths about the pests:

Myth: Lice infect only people with poor hygiene.

Lice do not discriminate between washed and unwashed hair and may actually prefer clean hair according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the British National Health Services (NHS) because clean hair is less oily and easier for lice to attach to.  Showering, bathing, or swimming will not rid you of lice.

Myth: Lice more often infect people of a lower socioeconomic class.

Lice will infect anyone of any socioeconomic class.

Myth: Lice only infect children.

Lice more frequently infect children because children more frequently roughhouse, bringing their heads near one another, share headgear (helmets, hair ties, headbands, etc.), and share cubbyholes.  Their clothes are also more often hanging in a tightly packed classroom closets.  The arrangement of little heads during naptimes, sleepovers, and in camp bunks also allow lice to crawl from one head to another.  Lice will, however, infect anyone of any age.

Myth: Lice carry diseases.

Head lice do not.  Those are ticks and body lice.  Head lice are bothersome, but not dangerous.  Their worst symptom is a constant, irritating itching.  In fact, WebMD says that “the greatest harm associated with head lice comes in the well-meaning but misguided use (and overuse) of toxic treatments to eradicate them.”

Myth: Lice can jump from your pet to your child.

Also ticks.  Head lice do not infect animals.

Myth: Lice jump from head to head.

Lice do not jump, nor do they fly.  They only crawl “at a rate of 6 to 30 cm per minute” according to the Lice Treatment Center, LLC.

Myth: You will know that you have head lice when you begin to itch.

Head lice are not the only cause of an itching scalp.  If you do itch, you should be checked for head lice, though, and if you spy even one nit, you should get yourself treated.  Also, not all victims of a head lice infestation will itch, and few will do so initially.

Myth: I should shave my head if I have head lice.

There are better ways to rid yourself of lice.

Myth: Killing the lice on your head will be enough to cure you.

True only if you are also killing the nits or eggs attached to your individual hair follicles with a glue-like substance.  This is very difficult to do.  Lice removal services, such as those offered by the Lice Treatment Center, LLC, have proven to be effective at ridding patients once and for all of head lice as the only way to be sure all the lice and nits are gone is to check that they are.  Thorough combings will help when used in combination with treatment shampoos.

Myth: The best treatments are pyrethrin- or permethrin-based.

Some lice are developing resistance to these common ingredients in traditional lice treatment products.  Instead use all natural treatment products, such as those by Jolis Cheveux™.