As consumers, we’re bombarded with marketing messages, fancy packaging and all sorts of marketing claims about nit treatment efficacy -  but how real are those claims? And are manufacturers playing the nit game with a straight bat?

Well, let’s dig in and find out  - 

As we all know, getting rid of nits is hard. It doesn’t seem to matter what you do, or how you do it, they always seem to come back.  To understand why that’s happening, we need to take a closer look at the products on the market and how they work.

But before we do that, we need to understand the lifecycle of head lice, as that helps us understand why some products work better than others

1. Live lice get transferred child to child in a myriad of different ways 

2. The mother louse lays eggs (nits) which become nymphs and then adults

3. The live insects feed on blood and die naturally

4. The eggs (nits) hatch 

5. The cycle goes on. And on. And on - until you break it

So, to get rid of a nit infection you’ve got to get rid of the live lice AND the nit eggs completely - otherwise they will keep coming back as new eggs hatch and restart the infection.

Getting rid of the live lice is relatively easy. You need a medicated lotion or shampoo to kill them, however there are a ton of different options on the market.

Many products are based on Dimethicone in a lotion, shampoo or gel, which is a safe odorless silicone-based pediculicide. Dimethicone works to suffocate the lice - as that’s the most effective way to kill them. It also explains why you need to leave the lotion in the hair for 15-20 minutes as lice don’t suffocate instantly.

Once you’ve suffocated all of the live lice, you’ve got to kill/remove the nit eggs, which is where it gets tricky as the mother louse is cunning. The eggs take on the pigment of the hair making them almost impossible to see and the glue used by female lice to bind to hair is super sticky.

Some treatments you’ll see on the shelves CLAIM to get rid of nit eggs as well as live lice, which is interesting and needs carefully unpacking to work out what’s true and what’s not. 

Often products will make claims about killing lice and eggs however when you deep dive into the clinical studies used to make that claim, you will find; lower than expected success rates (e.g. a top product only measured efficacy of 62.3%), low study participant number (under 100 children) and using body lice to test ovicidal (egg-killing) properties.

To be 100% clear - Dimethicone alone does NOT kill eggs. A Dimethicone-based formulation combined with Cyclomethicone can disrupt the egg’s water management supply (which slows them down but won’t necessarily kill every egg). If the product you are looking at makes claims about killing all the eggs, make sure look for the active ingredient and the evidence that supports that claim.

Unfortunately, the effectiveness of insecticides in nit treatments is far from perfect. Nit eggs are super sticky suckers and have built up a resistance to insecticides over time.

Using essential oils for head lice treatment may not be advisable where effectiveness can vary significantly based on factors like concentration, exposure time, and the source of the oils. In research studies, the methods of evaluation and the properties of the essential oils utilised vary widely, resulting in wildly inconsistent outcomes. 

While of natural origin it should also be noted that some essential oils have demonstrated high toxicity in mammals and the potential to cause skin irritation. Moreover, the choice of solvents, including alcohol, can either boost, mask or reduce the efficacy of the formulation. 

Electric nit combs have been popular however aside from being costly, cons include the increased chances of contaminating family members (lice are often stunned but not killed) and the inability of the combs to catch small nymphs and eggs.

There’s only one sure-fire way to get rid of nit eggs and that’s to pick them out manually one by one. And there’s only one sure fire way to get all of them and that’s to use ISpy glo-powder to make them glow before you go nitpicking. 

Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet to egg removal - it’s a process of fastidiously combing, picking and plucking.

And while we’re on the subject, it’s worth touching on products that talk about nit prevention while we’re on the topic as there’s a few products that talk purport to stop kids catching nits. There’s not a single market test with the active ingredient in those products that proves their claims. This is snake oil - pure and simple and we suggest you don’t waste your money.

So, now you know the lifecycle of a nit and the active ingredients you need to get rid of the live lice and the eggs you can make better and more informed choices. Don’t believe the marketing hype - focus on products with the active ingredients that actually work and you’ll be much more successful eradicating nits. 

So, looping back to the start - what is the best nit treatment?

Well, in our opinion it’s one that

1. Makes it super easy to identify presence of and pick out the nit eggs in the nitpicking cycle

2. Suffocates the live lice in an application cycle

3. Does a first pass at killing eggs in the application cycle.

4. And doesn’t cost the earth

And it’s called ISpy - at least in our view of the world!

Just one note of caution - the effectiveness of any treatment is a function of how diligently it’s used. The best treatment won’t work if you don’t follow the instructions and do it properly. So, if you’ve got nits in the house then buy the best treatment and follow the instructions and do it properly. So, if you’ve got nits in the house then buy the best treatment and follow the instructions to the letter.