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Head Lice Beware!

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The TV Doc, Dr Hilary Jones, in "Your Questions Answered", News of the World, Sunday Magazine, 13 May 2007, advised a family unable to get rid of head lice that our Bug Buster Kit is ideal. He wrote:

"No treatment is guaranteed to kill all head lice and their eggs. But the Bug Buster Kit... is ideal for their detection and eradication, and it allows you to carry on using your regular shampoo and conditioner. Follow the instructions and you should get rid of the problem for good.."

Find out about Multi-country Review that shows Bug Buster Kits reduce head lice and social stigma (PDF)

Find out about the Bug Buster Kit - safe, comfortable, and re-usable for detection and eradication of head lice and nit removal

Why is Bug Busting wet combing special? To help parents and healthcare providers achieve a lasting solution to the persistent problem of head lice and nits, our charity developed the original Bug Busting wet combing method. Reliable detection, even when there are only a few lice present, and even in really curly hair, became possible. The unique, bevel-edged teeth of the Bug Buster and Nit Buster combs work brilliantly with gentle shampoo and hair conditioner. For treatment, there is no dependence on louse-killing formulated products. Instead, the Bug Buster Kit instructions explain precisely how you can simply break the life-cycle by periodically removing lice over the hatching period. Simultaneously you learn how to recognize any new incoming lice. No lotion can tell you if you have caught more egg-laying lice between doses. None can guarantee complete egg-kill. Since it became available, the UK Department of Health has advised use of a Bug Buster Kit alone as a treatment alternative to lotions, and that these should be combined with wet combing checks after use.

How well do the different treatments work? An authoritative review of the effectiveness of current treatments for head lice was published in the Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin (Does dimeticone clear head lice? Drug Ther Bull 1 July 2007 45(7): p52-55). The full text is available via Infotrieve here. Read our summary and comments here. Read about Hedrin here. The Bug Buster Kit is a registered medical device. As with treatments which are licensed medicines, the Bug Buster Kit is available on NHS prescription, free for children, and can be purchased or ordered in a pharmacy (pip-code 233-1783) or direct from us with a demonstration DVD. You can find the Kit and DVD on our Products page.

A Bug Buster Kit alone proved four times more effective than neuro-toxic insecticide treatment for head lice in a randomised controlled trial, when parents followed the respective product instructions. The primary findings were reported in BMJ, Online First on 5 August 2005. Most families re-used their original Bug Buster Kit for detection and cure during a whole year (report to the International Congress on Lice, Argentina, October 2006). This independent study, led by Dr Nigel Hill of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was funded by a Big Lottery Fund research grant
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"For a balanced approach to all methods of eradication – chemical and combing – the best site I found was www.chc.org/bugbusting" Vass A. Website of the week, head lice. BMJ 2001;323:1136