Q. Is there a safe and easy improvement on the method of removing head lice? My wife is a kindergarten teacher and this annual ritual is wearing us both out. Her students bring lice from home, and they spread to the teachers and other students. Please help!
A. There is one novel approach that is both easy and safe. Dampen the hair, coat it with the facial cleanser Cetaphil and then use the blow-dryer. The Cetaphil hardens and forms a barrier that suffocates lice. Leave it on overnight, then shampoo it out in the morning (Pediatrics, Sept. 2004).