Lice
Show 1375: The Science Supporting Home Remedies
This week, Joe and Terry Graedon entertain your questions and stories about home remedies. What do you do for leg cramps or heartburn? Call in your favorites at 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EST, or…
How to Treat Lice with Old-Fashioned Listerine
Lice are a vexing problem. Even though they are not dangerous, they are disgusting. Parents often find it difficult to treat lice adequately so that kids can return to school promptly and not spread t…
What Happened to Ivermectin? The Latest Disappoi…
I started writing about the drug ivermectin over 36 years ago. Back then it had the brand name Mectizan. Merck was giving it away in Africa to combat river blindness (onchocerciasis). We also gave it …
Putting Old Familiar Brands to New Weird Uses
Do you remember the old TV show called MacGyver? “Mac,” the hero, worked for some secret government agency. He was always being called upon to save the day by repurposing old familiar brands and p…
COVID-19 Lockdowns Slowed but Did Not Stop Sprea…
Last year, while the world was locked down against the spread of COVID-19, lots of other transmissible conditions dropped nearly out of sight. The cold and flu season was extraordinarily light, for ex…
How Does Rosemary Oil Fight Resistant Lice?
The parasitic arthropods we call lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) have always been persistent. Over the past few decades, they have also become resistant to some of the insecticides that we commonly u…
Dermatologists Are Unhappy with PediatricianR…
Many parents become so frustrated dealing with lice infestations that they are tempted to pull their own hair out. Some parents are concerned about having to use insecticides repeatedly. As lice devel…
How to Use Olive Oil to Overcome Lice
Head lice are not particularly dangerous, but they are extremely unpleasant. When they persist despite multiple treatments, people may become very frustrated. Some parents are concerned about having t…
How to Fight Lice with Cetaphil Cleanser
Nobody likes lice. Unlike other unpopular biting bugs such as fleas and mosquitoes, lice don't carry dangerous diseases. But they have become resistant to many of the compounds that were once effectiv…
Can You Kill Lice with Skin Cleanser?
Lice are a source of tremendous frustration for families around the country (and even around the world). These parasitic insects that live by sucking human blood were not a big problem in most parts o…
How to Kill Head Lice Without Frustration
Back to school time sometimes means the frustration of dealing with head lice. Many parents find this is an exhausting and distressing undertaking. Why Don't OTC Treatments Kill Head Lice? A comprehen…
How to Have Your Kids Avoid Lice at Camp
Lice do not take summer vacations. Instead, these parasites are active all year round. They even find extra opportunities to spread from child to child when kids from different communities come toget…
How to Get Rid of Lice with Listerine
Parents dread the call from school that they must pick up their child now because the youngster has lice. At that point, the question of how to get rid of lice suddenly becomes urgent. There are over-…
How to Get Rid of Persistent Lice
The difficulty of getting rid of lice has been a problem for parents and grandparents for a few decades. Part of the trouble is that lice evolve resistance to the pesticides that are used to attack th…
How to Treat Head Lice Without Lindane
We are enthusiastic about many home remedies that have been around for decades. But just because a compound has a long history doesn't make it safe. This is especially clear when it comes to pesticid…
Lindane Lice Shampoo May Cause Cancer
The insecticide lindane has been marketed as a lice shampoo for decades. Dermatologists assumed that it was not absorbed into the body and was safe for children. Lindane Lice Shampoo as Carcinogen: A …
Shampoo-Resistant Lice Succumb to Listerine
Q. I have two daughters, ages 6 and 11. My oldest daughter brought home head lice and it was a nightmare. Over-the-counter lice shampoos did nothing. This went on for six months until my mother-in-law…
Grandmother Is Desperate for Effective Lice Trea…
Q. My grandchildren started scratching their heads several weeks ago. Upon careful examination, we discovered they had lice. Their parents have been diligent in using lice shampoo, combing out nits an…
Dealing with the Dreaded Call: Your Child Has Li…
Now that kids are back in school, some parents are getting the dreaded phone call. When kids start scratching their heads and lice are detected, parents are called to come get their children, take the…
Electronic Comb Electrocutes Lice
Q. About ten years ago our daughter did her practice teaching in an elementary school and got head lice. We tried all the treatments, but the lice kept coming back. She finally found an electronic com…
Avoiding Lice at Summer Camp
Q. My kids love summer camp but last year they came home with lice. We tried three different lice shampoos and special rinses with limited success. It took us months of treating and retreating to get …
Insecticides vs. Home Remedies for Lice
The very word makes your skin crawl. Even though dermatologists reassure us that lice do not pose a serious health risk, dealing with an infestation can be traumatic. Hygiene has nothing to do with li…
Natural Alternatives for Treating Lice
Q. Friends have called in a panic about treating lice. Their six-year-old daughter brought them home from school. When I was a girl my parents used kerosene, but I hated it. These folks are reluctant …
New Treatment for Lice
Over the last few decades parents have had increasing difficulty getting rid of lice infestations in their children's hair. The parasites have developed resistance to many of the chemicals that have l…
Treating Lice Without Pesticides
Q. Two years ago my entire family had a severe case of head lice, including my 4-year-old daughter, 6- and 10-year-old sons and my wife. (I was spared.) We settled on the Cetaphil method. It worked 10…
Shocking Pink (Neon) Nits Easier to Locate &…
Q. I am going crazy looking for nits. My eight-year-old daughter caught lice at summer day camp and we are having an awful time getting rid of them. The camp has a no-nit policy, which means I have to…
Listerine Conquers Lice
Q. I feel like crying for joy when yesterday I was just ready to cry. After battling lice for weeks I was almost ready to take a razor to the long brown locks that have taken me three years to grow. T…
Getting Rid of Lice
Q. My four-year-old daughter came home about two months ago with lice. My 8-year-old son caught them from her. I just shaved his head and that took care of the problem for him. But her hair is very lo…
Home Remedies for Lice
Q. I am a 12-year-old girl with VERY thick hair. I've gotten lice every year since second or third grade. This year I've had them four times! I have lice now and I'm tired of it. I am scared someone w…
Listerine Kills Lice
Over the last couple of decades lice have become resistant to some of the most common treatments. This spells frustrations for parents. There is a new prescription product called Ulesfia Lotion (benzy…
Listerine Worked to Kill Lice
Q. My daughter ended up with lice several weeks ago. She most likely picked them up from one of the girls at a sleepover. We treated her with lice shampoo twice, and did every-other-day comb-outs. I a…
Getting Rid of Gooey Lice Remedy
Desperate parents are willing to try almost anything to rid their children of lice. Lice shampoo and nit combs are staples of the school year, but unfortunately in the past decade or so, lice have dev…
Lice Remedy Causes Trouble Again
Q. What a nightmare! I used the Vaseline treatment to get rid of lice. It seems to have worked, but I have tried all of the suggestions to get the petroleum jelly out of my kids' hair and it is not co…
Lice Advice Provokes Rebuke
Just think about the word lice for a minute or two and the chances are good your head will start to itch. Mention the word in polite company and some people will start to move away from you. When look…
Teacher Suggests Strategies Against Lice
Q. I teach elementary school and lice are an ongoing frustrating problem. Many low-income families struggle with the high cost of treatments, which often are not effective. I have two suggestions that…
Mother Desperate for New Lice Treatment
Q. My kids and I have a major problem with lice. We have spent lots of time and money fighting them, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. Nix and Rid (at $10 an ounce) are supposed to kill lice, …
Listerine Conquers Lice
Q. When my kids came home with lice, I spent a lot of money buying lice shampoos. We tried the mayonnaise treatment too. I scrubbed the house, cleaned the carpets, boiled the combs and hairbrushes and…
Wash Those Lice Right Out of Your Hair!
Q. We are lice-free at last with Listerine, alcohol, vinegar and Denorex! We sprayed four heads every night with Listerine before bed, then combed and combed every inch with a nit comb. The lice were …
Listerine to Fight Lice
Q. Here in Hawaii, we call head lice "Ukus." We've had quite a problem with them this year and I have found the medication costly and ineffective. I'm glad you wrote about Listerine, because I never w…
Unique Ways to Get Rid of Head Lice
Pediatrician Alan Greene dicusses some unique ways to treat head lice without using harsh pesticides.…