Lice and Lice what a Problem!
Posted on January 15th, 2013
Dr. Nishan Wijesinha (General Consultant), Mirihana, Nugegoda.
Increasing volume and numbers of lice on heads is a vast spreading problem faced by over eighty five percentage of the women population of the nation today.
In every girls school almost all students are faced with this increasing menace.
Many therapies are sought and applied to rid this menace but with no demanding results.
Therefore is there a result oriented absolute therapy one may ask?
The answer to that is yes.
The only absolute therapy is from the application of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Permethrin creamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
I will show below the method of its application.
First of all one should fill up a spray bottle with clean water and then spray slightly mild dampness to the volume of your hair.
Secondly Permethrin cream should be rubbed deeply with your fingertips into the scalp and all the outskirts of your hair.
Aftermath it has to be left at least half and hour and then at the end of the half hour, you must comb down your hair with a lice comb thoroughly to remove lice eggs and benumbed or dead lice off your head; and thereafter wash off the cream using a shower gel.
Thus, weekly application will keep you away from this lice menace for ever.
January 16th, 2013 at 9:00 am
Dear Doctor Doctor,
This is very poor poor advice for the patients -exactly similar to what we get when we channel doctors paying over Rs. 1000. The Doctor looks at you, ask your name and Job and write the most expensive medication if your job sounds posh. No warnings are given about the side effects nor the precautions you should be taking when using the medication. Unfortunately, the Doctors think it is how it should be and the patients also think that they should not question a doctor… and the doctors are so blinded by money, they only know what’s been described by the Medical Sales Rep who comes with a white shirt, black tie, black trousers, and a big black briefcase.
Doctor Doctor, if you do not know. go to the Internet and check how toxic this Permethrin is and learn that being a ‘responsible doctor’ provide information about precautions you should be taking when you apply Permethrin too when you are prescribing it to your patients. If you think it is the job of the Pharmacist then think it as a shared responsibility.
Permathrin is neuro-toxic -one of the most dangerous forms of poison. It should not be applied to your head if their are wounds. It is a likely carcinogen and therefore should not be used regularly or prolonged periods. If you are pregnant or breastfeed, you should never use Permathrin, as it could enter the fetus or breast milk. The water that you wash your head with Permthrin should not be released to the aquatic sources as it could be very toxic to fish etc. In the North America and Europe, extensive control and precautions are prescribed along with Permethrin.
Doctor, Doctor.. this is the unfortunate situation in Sri Lanka. Doctors go to the market on-behalf of multinational pharmaceutical companies for their hand-outs ignoring their responsibilities towards their parents.
Doctor, Doctor, you may not know.. there are many indigenous herbal remedies that are tried and tested over centuries that are proven to eradicate Lice and their eggs. I am not prescribing them here, but want to bring to your attention as you may have never heard of their names: Godapara (ගොඩපර) Fruit Juice, Boiled Fenugreek (උළුහාල් ඇට), Crushed young beetle-nut (ගොළෑ පුවක්) juice, and Crushed Puswel (පුස්වැල්) Serum. Bulath and Dunkola Juice mix (tobacco is less toxic than Permthrin) etc. There are many, but I wanted to highlight few because they all can easily be found in Sri Lanka.
The problem is, Sri Lankans not taking Lice seriously. They being very lethargic when it comes to treating the disease as a family or community. There are no school or work-place driven efforts. No education about how to keep your head, bedsheets, pillow cases clean, and no education about the diseases that can be brought by head lice. They also may want a ‘Doctor’ to prescribe something that can be used conveniently whether it is a neuro-toxin or a carcinogen – they do not know and the Doctors nor the Pharmaceutical giants care either.