Mystery enzyme for head lice

February 16, 2024 6:44 PM

Head lice finally found us! The home visit lice specialist wants to use a safe natural enzyme derived from yeast. Anytime a mystery product is the secret ingredient, it raises questions for me. It's natural? So are arsenic, lead, and mercury. Anyone tracked down what this is?
posted by slidell to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Does this enzyme have a name or brand?
posted by 2N2222 at 7:32 PM on February 16

The only solution to lice is combing consistently and carefully every four days till the lice and eggs are gone. There is one product that suffocates the lice and aids the combing called Hedrin, and it is very efficient. But you can't avoid the combing and basically, washing, conditioning and combing is what you need to do. If your children are in an environment where lice are a problem, you should probably make it a habit to just comb every four days all year round.

You might want to cut everyone's hair to a more comb-friendly length until you no longer have a louse-friendly environment at school or other places. And you need a good metal comb.

I have no idea why doctors and specialists advise all sorts of alternative solutions, when they should know better. Maybe it is because combing small children all the time is hell on earth and everyone wants a quick-fix. But there is no quick-fix. Make combing day into a nice family event. Watch a video together, eat popcorn while you comb. Braid the hair every day to make combing easier. But you must comb.

Take this seriously. After several louse attacks, your child may develop a sensitivity that leads to rashes and worse itching, which again might lead to infections and inflammation. You really, really don't want that.
posted by mumimor at 7:51 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]

This is the type of lice comb you want. Do not bother with any other type, especially if anyone has curly or otherwise fragile hair. At best, they work poorly - at worst they work poorly AND break the hair. (We had three in the household, including myself, with waist-length hair - and two of are are VERY curly.)

Things like the chemicals, mayo, redying hair if you already dye your hair - they can help, but you still have to comb and wash all the bedding/clothes that might be infested.

And patience. Mass quantities of patience.
posted by stormyteal at 8:36 PM on February 16 [6 favorites]

I found this page on various head lice treatment products on liceworld.com, which appears to be written by a group of entomologists specializing in lice around the world. If you scroll down you'll see the little blurb on "Enzyme Based Products." They appear to be neither effective nor harmful.
posted by JuliaIglesias at 9:38 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I’m sorry you’re dealing with this! This article is pretty comprehensive: looks like the enzyme -based solution use protease to dissolve protein bonds holding the nits to the hair. Which, like any other loosening agent, is going to rely on the mechanical action of combing to dislodge the infection.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:40 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

We used cheap conditioner (a no-name brand, largest bottle we could find) as per the NHS advice and it worked. Basically you slather them with so much conditioner and leave it on so it suffocates them. You have to comb with a proper nit-comb (like stormyteal linked) as well though.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:48 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Oh, one more thing: lice do not survive for long outside the human head. So you don't have do wash everything every day. Put hats in the freezer for a few hours and then shake them well before using. air and shake all sheets and pillows every morning. These are not bedbugs.
posted by mumimor at 12:57 AM on February 17

When we had head lice, I still had small children so I was worried that whatever I used, some of it would be swallowed.

So instead I used warm sorbolene cream - 15 secs in the microwave - and it was as effective as any of the other creams at dislodging the headlice, and it was toddler safe.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 3:55 AM on February 17

Heat and dehydration kill lice and eggs, there are clinics that use FDA approved machines.
posted by Sophont at 8:45 AM on February 17