The welcome return of the ‘nit nurse’

Parents used to rely on the school nurse – or ‘nit nurse’ – to check their children for the human head louse (‘pediculus humanus capitis’) and its eggs (‘nits’). Nowadays, many health professionals take a poor view of the practice of performing regular head lice checks, arguing that they are a waste of valuable healthcare resources.

As health agencies abandon nit checks in schools, parents fear an epidemic of head lice. The 1996 Education Act even contains a series of sanctions: a school medical officer can remove a child from school until remedial action is taken, and the pupil’s parents are deemed guilty of an offence if repeated head lice infection occurs. No wonder parents dread the letter advising them of a head louse infestation at their children’s school or nursery.

Thankfully, a range of head lice treatments is available. However, many of the current synthetic products contain toxic insecticides which have been reported to cause serious illness – and even death. Plus today’s strains of head lice have developed a resistance to these chemicals over time, severely reducing the efficacy of such treatments in eradicating a head louse infestation.

With the growth of herbal practices over recent decades, natural head lice remedies are becoming a popular alternative. These products draw on nature’s own repellents to fight back when head lice attack and, to date, there have been no reports of lice resistance.

Touted as a ‘nit nurse in a bottle’, the aptly named Nit-Nurse treatment is a non-toxic head lice remedy that claims to be ‘effective, naturally’. Its advanced natural formula uses plant extracts and oils, including Olea europaea – one of nature’s healers proven to eliminate parasites – and Eucalyptus globulus – a powerful natural disinfectant – to disrupt the head lice lifecycle.

Nit-Nurse ‘works in 10 minutes’, killing head lice and dissolving egg glue; once nits are detached, they can be combed out quickly and easily using the nit comb provided. Plus, Nit-Nurse’s mild formulation means it is completely safe to use in place of regular shampoo to prevent a future head louse infestation.