Lice Removal and Treatment: Expert Advice from Steven Van den Broucke

2024-01-19 07:20:17

Lice can be very stubborn to remove from your hair. That has Steven Van den Brouckedoctor specialized in lice at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, experienced this first-hand.

“Two years ago, our family also suffered from lice. So I speak from experience when I say that the creatures can be very frustrating and that they can make some people desperate,” he says in ‘The world today’.

In the meantime, a whole market has sprung up to chase away the critters. The most well-known and also the cheapest way to combat lice is the so-called wet-combing method. With this technique, you first wash the hair, then apply conditioner and finally go through the hair with a lice comb to remove the small bugs.

In addition to combing, you can opt for a lice shampoo. Parents who are desperate in their fight against head lice can now also turn to “lice clinics”. There they remove the bugs with a kind of lice vacuum cleaner. Prices vary, but you can easily pay 100 euros for a treatment. If you have long hair, there will be an additional charge of 20 euros.

Do the new treatments work?

Not cheap, but doctor Van den Broucke understands that people go to a specialized clinic for treatment. And the methods the clinics offer also work.

“The scalp is heated to 58.8 degrees with a special device. Lice cannot tolerate heat well and this treatment responds perfectly to that.” It is a technique that you should not try at home, because a hairdryer with the same temperature could cause burns on your head.

The treatments in the lice clinics may be effective, but it is not the intention that everyone should go there straight away, says Steven Van den Broucke. “It should not be the first treatment option. I would never say that people who have lice should immediately go to such a clinic. There are also other, cheaper ways that can work.”

Which treatment works best?

“The best approach is to first wash your hair with a lice shampoo and then comb it strand by strand with a lice comb to remove the lice.” If you combine these two techniques and repeat this again after about 10 days, there is a good chance that you will be rid of the lice.