Head lice are the insects themselves, while nits are the empty egg cases of head lice that have hatched. Nits remain stuck to the hair shaft until the hair grows out or they are physically removed. Nits can be found for weeks or months even after the head lice themselves have all been cleared. Their presence does not necessarily mean you have head lice; you can only be sure you have head lice if you can find living, moving lice. Never treat for nits unless you can find living lice.

Thanks to kind licence of Ernesto Bonifazi and of the European Journal of Pediatric Dermatology.

Lice may be able to live 2 to 3 days outside of the hair in humid conditions. But it is believed that they can no longer reproduce.

Detection combing is the best way to find head lice. This is an important first step before beginning the treatment.

How to detect lice?

Inform your child’s school. Contact everyone your child has been in close sustained, head-to-head contact with recently. This should include grandparents, babysitters, friends and family. Advise everyone to check for head lice and seek a treatment from their pharmacist if live lice are found.

No. Lice live close to the scalp so cutting your child’s hair won’t make any difference.

True resistance to insecticides is relatively uncommon. Other reasons are much more likely to be responsible for apparent treatment failure: misdiagnosis, failure to follow instructions and failure to do proper detection combing on all the family, including adults. A common problem is people finding nits in the hair for weeks after the original infection has been cleared and treating these.

You can help to avoid infestation by attaching your child's long hair. Tell your children not to exchange clothes, brushes or bathing caps when head lice are detected in your environment. Your own early detection work can make head lice manageable. Parents who regularly comb and check their children’s hair, are ideally placed to spot head lice. This helps to keep the rest of the family free from infection. If a louse is found, carefully follow the advice on checking the family and on treatment that will ensure the problem is solved.

There are often no symptoms of a head louse infection. However, an itchy scalp can be the result of sensitivity to head louse saliva.

An outbreak is often an outbreak of alarm, rather than a head louse infection epidemic. It’s true to say that at any one time, most schools will only have a few children with active living head lice. This can be between 2-5% . This doesn’t qualify as being of epidemic proportions. Why do people perceive head lice as a much bigger problem than they really are? It is the effect of rumors and alarm. When head lice are mentioned, you almost automatically start to feel the itching.

You can seek advice from the local school nurse, pharmacist, or doctor.

Anyone can get head lice, although it is more common with children. Head lice are spread through head contact or through the sharing of things (scarf, cycling helmet, etc.). Young children tend to have closer contact. That is why the (primary) school is a typical place where lice are more easily spread. At any one time, most schools will have a few children with active living head lice.

You can do this by judging how many centimeters from the scalp you find the nits. Nits are laid near the scalp. Hair grows at about one centimeter a month. Therefore a nit 2 cm from the scalp was laid about 2 months ago. You cannot find live lice and the nearest nit to the scalp is 1 cm down the hair shaft? Then the infection has been cleared for one month, but you might still find the empty egg cases as they are difficult to remove.

Paranix is exclusively sold in pharmacies.

Paranix kills the lice, but not all the eggs. It is therefore important to do a 2nd treatment after all eggs have hatched, but before the baby lice become adult and can start reproducing again. Clinical studies have shown that a repeat treatment after 10 days is the most efficient way to get rid of lice.

No, it is important to do it either the 9th or the 10th day after the first treatment. If you do it earlier, not all the eggs might have hatched yet. And if you do it later, the new lice might have become mature and have started to reproduce already.

This is no problem. Paranix is a product without chemical substances and is not harmful.

A clinical test has proven that Paranix kills lice after one minute. However, we recommend to leave it on for 15 minutes to build in a safety margin.

How to use Paranix?

A clinical test has proven that Paranix kills lice after one minute. However, we recommend to leave it on for 15 minutes to build in a safety margin.

How to use Paranix?

One Paranix bottle is good for up to 8 applications. As you need 2 applications per person, this means you can treat up to 4 persons, depending on the thickness and length of the hair. As an indication, Paranix can treat 6 to 8 applications for short hair (until the ears), 4 to 6 applications for mid-long hear (not longer than shoulder length), 2 to 4 applications for long hair (longer than shoulder length). Make sure to apply the product on the whole length of the hair.

As Paranix is a natural product, you can use it as often as you want. However, 2 applications 9 to 10 days apart will do to get rid of lice.

Paranix can be used on children as of 2 years old. It should not be used by persons allergic to one of the ingredients. As a general precaution, we advice pregnant women or women breastfeeding to consult a pharmacist or a doctor.

No. Paranix is a product without chemical ingredients and is clinically proven to have no side effects.

Remember that eggs still will have hatched after your first treatment, so you might have baby lice in your hair. There is no need to worry, as these baby lice only become mature after 10 to 12 days. Before that time, they feed on blood to live, but are not yet able to reproduce. Do your 2nd treatment 10 days after the first treatment, and all lice and eggs are gone. However, you might be reinfected. Baby lice are smaller than adult lice. So if you find lice of more than 2 mm, you might be reinfected. If this louse is female, she might have laid eggs again. Restart the treatment and repeat 10 days after the 1st treatment and 10 days after this new, 2nd one.

Contrary to insecticide products, Paranix has a mechanical mode of action. Paranix gets into the respiratory orifices of lice that then die from asphyxia and dehydration. Due to this new way of working, lice cannot become resistant to Paranix; it works every time.