Mayonnaise is for Maniacs: A Head Lice Remedy That Doesn’t Work
Head lice infestations are sometimes inevitable in an elementary school environment. You don’t need to take drastic measures to prevent lice such as shaving your child’s head, keeping them in a constant bubble or pouring gasoline on their head, and yes, we’ve heard of people doing all of those. Kids sometimes get lice and that is OK. Don’t panic if it happens to your child because head lice are extremely common among kids. An infestation has nothing to do with cleanliness or hygiene so don’t feel guilty about not keeping your house clean enough or not bathing your child enough. Head lice don’t carry disease or cause sicknesses so don’t worry, your little one will be just fine! They are simply just a nuisance and cause itching. At Lice Clinics of America-Lexington, we know how to get rid of head lice safely and effectively. There’s no need to resort to anything harmful.
The Mayonnaise Method
In this day and age, many parents turn to the internet for answers. It’s so simple to Google just about anything these days. If you google home remedies for head lice, one of the things you might read about is mayonnaise. Yep, you heard that correctly. Many parents turn to the common sandwich condiment to try to get rid of their sons and daughters head lice. They smother their child’s head with mayonnaise, plastic wrap it and send them to bed with the hopes that the lice will be gone by morning. Let’s talk about what might happen between the time you send your child to bed and when they awake in the morning.
• Does your child toss and turn a lot while they sleep? The plastic wrap might come off your child’s head in the middle of the night and wrap around their face. The goal is to suffocate the lice, not your child. Beware! It has been reported before.
• The wrap can come onto the bed and now you have a mixture of mayonnaise and head lice all over your child’s bed. What a disgusting mess. Have fun cleaning those bed linens!
Although this method has not been medically proven, the mayonnaise might kill the lice by morning if the plastic wrap is left tightly on for at least 10 hours but why risk the possible harm? Another concern is that it probably won’t kill the nits (lice eggs). Lice eggs cannot be suffocated because they don’t breathe. Truth be told, the nits are actually the hardest part of head lice removal and if two eggs are left behind, you’re most likely looking at another lice infestation as soon as they hatch.
How Do We Get Rid Of Lice?
You have now been warned about mayonnaise as a home remedy for head lice. So, what is the best way? How do we do it? At Lice Clinics of America- Lexington, we use a revolutionary device called the AirAllé, which dehydrates lice with controlled heated air. We are proud to say that we don’t use harmful chemicals or pesticides of any kind. We check the head to diagnose the infestation level and then determine which treatment is best for you. We have a full-service AirAllé as well as other options. Our AirAllé treatment is guaranteed and it is comfortable for children.
Are you having a lice emergency? Turn to the experts at Lice Clinics of America-Lexington and we’ll have you leaving our clinic lice-free and happy!