- The return to school means all children face the risk of getting head lice
- Insect expert Ian Burgess selects five of the best available treatments…
David Hurst For The Daily Mail
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The new school term means parents may be worried about the risk of head lice.
IAN BURGESS, director at Insect Research Development Limited and president of the International Society of Phthirapterists, selects five of the best treatments.
BUG BUSTER KIT
£6.30, chc.org
EXPERT VERDICT
This kit contains a rigid plastic comb with flat teeth 0.2 to 0.3mm apart that traps lice. There’s another comb for treating them — use it on wet hair with a conditioner, which immobilises the lice and lubricates hair to make combing them out easier.
HEDRIN ONCE SPRAY GEL
£5.99 for 60ml, pharmacies
EXPERT VERDICT
This 15-minute treatment kills lice by coating them with the active ingredient dimeticone. It immobolises the lice and stops them excreting water, causing them to burst.
The ingredient penetrol destroys the eggs (known as ‘nits’). It’s easy to use and not runny.
FULL MARKS SOLUTION
£6.15 for 100ml, pharmacies
EXPERT VERDICT
A mix of two chemicals destroys lice by coating them and their eggs in a similar way to Hedrin. But it’s runnier and colourless, so I don’t think it’s as easy to apply. However, unlike Hedrin, it needs to be left on for only five minutes.
BOOTS HEAD LICE REMOVER COMB
£3.99, in store and online
EXPERT VERDICT
There are hundreds of nit combs, but not all work and some shred the hair.
The best combs, like this one, have shorter teeth — 12 to 15mm — and are closely spaced so they trap lice and nits.
These combs are designed for removing the eggshells that stick to the hair rather than killing the lice (use it with conditioner to remove the lice, too).
But it’s better than a more expensive electric comb — there is no clinical evidence these work and most have teeth too far apart to pull out or kill all the lice.
For best results, deal with one strand of hair at a time.
LYCLEAR SPRAY
£12.99 for 100ml, pharmacies
EXPERT VERDICT
This spray also kills lice by coating them and their eggs — it contains a mixture of dimeticone and mineral oil — and takes 15 minutes.
Despite what some say, people with long hair have no more chance of getting lice than short-haired people, though lice may be harder to find on long hair.
Ian Burgess’s company has previously received payment from the makers of Hedrin and Full marks to carry out tests.
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