I was about to say the same thing, 'Spaw. No kerosene! Dicho's link is a good one. Here's a direct link to the Mayo clinic site on head lice. My only reservation on their recommendation is that I no longer prescribe lindane, as I think the risk of adverse reactions far outweighs the benefits. It is true, however, that Nix-resistant lice are on the rise. One drug company has been trying to push malathion for lice, but I refuse to prescribe anything for my patients that my dad used to spray on our cherry tree!

Here in Hawaii, lice are called "uku" (same word for flea..."uku lele"="jumping flea", with two theories of how the little guitar got that name...ha! turning it into a musical post again!), and not a day goes by that I don't get two or three requests for "uku medicine". Contrary to what Liz said, head lice DO NOT cause any health problems. They're itchy and annoying, but not harmful. But they can cause a full-blown panic in otherwise sane adults, that's for sure!

For what it's worth, if Nix doesn't work, I recommend the mayonnaise and shower cap routine overnight. Somebody told me that it has to be real mayonnaise, not the lowfat variety, but I haven't seen that confirmed. And I don't think that treatment originated in Rochester, Minnesota... But, to keep up with the illusion that this is a musical thread, I'll leave you with another version of the Marty Robbins song, "El Paso":

Down in the West Irish county of Mayo
I fell in love with a Mayonnaise girl

(Whoever was about to say this belongs on the Nit Parade...don't you dare.)

Aloha,
Mark