When head lice first hit, most people are unsure if that's really why their child has been scratching a lot.  Slowly, they realize the ugly truth of the matter and may try combing them out.  They soon discover how painstaking and ineffective combing alone really is for head lice removal.

So they run down to the drugstore and grab the first thing that says, "for head lice" on it.  They might pick up Nix, a solution which is known as Permethrin 1 percent, and which contains the following ingredients, some of which are known carcinogens:  Balsam Canada, Cetyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, FD&C Yellow No. 6, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Animal Protein, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polyoxyethlene 10 Cetyl Ether, Propylene Glycol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Water, Isopropyl Alcohol 5.6g  (20%), Methylparaben 56mg (0.2%), and Propylparaben 22mg  (0.08%).The other most common head lice product is Rid.  Both Nix and Rid have been on the market for years.  Granted, when each of them was first introduced, they worked to a large degree.  Unfortunately, however, that degree has shrunk over the years, as head lice developed immunity to them, to the point that today they are highly ineffective in removing head lice.The other drawback to them is that they contain potentially harmful ingredients that may manifest in side effects, and if your child is already going nuts with scratching, she doesn't need something else to cope with, and you don't either!

As with Nix, Rid ( Piperonyl Butoxide 4%, Pyrethrum Extract equivalent to .33%  Pyrethrins)  has a frightening list of ingredients, including:  Cetearyl Alcohol; Isobutane; PEG-20 Stearate; Propane; Propylene Glycol; Purified Water; Quaternium-52; SD Alcohol 3-C (26.5% W/W).  Does that sound like something you'd like to put on your kid?  Also, if someone has an allergy to chrysanthemums, you want to stay away from this as well.

Similar products include Acticin, Clear, Pronto, et al.  You can read more about these toxins at several sites, and doing so may just scare the lice away!

Now, if you resort to a medical doctor, your costs to eliminate the lice are going to soar, and the doc is going to prescribe really strong stuff like Lindane, which negatively affects the kidneys, the liver, and the nervous system in humans-and also is a suspected carcinogen.  What kind of opinion of a doctor could one hold if he prescribed such a poison for your innocent little child?

Prescription drugs for lice that contain pesticides are given the rather obscure name of pediculicides.  You would think that, given the inherent dangers of the side effects of these substances, they would wipe out every vestige of lice, but they don't!  You have to use the stuff two or three times to do the job-nice, huh? One redeeming aspect of consulting a physician is that he can make a "for sure" diagnosis with something called a Wood's light.  If it is lice, the nits show up under that light as pale blue in color.

Another OTC head lice product is Elimite, and are you ready for its ingredients?  Here goes:  butylated hydroxytoluene, carbormer 934P, fractionated coconut oil, glycerin,  glyceryl monostearate, isopropyl myristate, lanolin alcohol, mineral oil, polyoxyethylene cetyl ethers, purified water and sodium hydroxide.  Formaldehyde 0.1% is added as a preservative.  Formaldehyde? Are they kidding?  That is a KNOWN carcinogen!

Read all about Permethrin at http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/permethrin/cox-report/cox.htm.By now, you probably have come to the same conclusion that I did after a lot of research and experience … the best treatment for head lice is found in natural, God-given products, not something from a chemical laboratory.