A nontoxic treatment for lice

The treatments for head lice aren’t pleasant: potentially toxic chemicals, repeated combing for nits, and laundering sheets, clothing and towels.

But a Menlo Park dermatologist is urging doctors and parents to try a new cure that he promises is easy and successful. Lice can be cured in 94% of cases by simply soaking the hair and scalp with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and then using a hair dryer to dry the cleanser in place, he says. The coating suffocates the insects in about eight hours and is then washed out.

Dr. Dale Pearlman discovered the method and last year published his suffocation hypothesis in the journal Pediatrics. At the time, Pearlman didn’t reveal what product could be used to coat the hair and scalp. But after failing to find a company to conduct clinical studies on the method, he decided to release the information to the public so people could see for themselves.

Information on how to use the cleanser is on Pearlman’s website, www.nuvoforheadlice.com. A letter on the treatment is also published in this month’s issue of Pediatrics.

-- Shari Roan