Blown Away

Blown AwayUsing a regular blow dryer, or better yet a modified one called the LouseBuster, does a better job of killing lice and destroying their eggs than chemicals or combing. The blow dryers seem to dry out the lice, killing them. It's not the type of treatment that lice are likely to evolve resistance to, either. I'm happy about the results, because I'm against hysterical anti-lice policies.The best blow drying technique, according to MedPage Today was to use the LouseBuster:

The most effective hot-air method was the LouseBuster machine, invented by some of the researchers, in combination with a coarse comb attachment on the hose. It delivered twice the air volume of a handheld hair dryer and eradicated significantly more lice and eggs than comb control.

The authors have filed patents on the LouseBuster, so I'm not sure we can completely trust this research. I also found the discontinuation statistics interesting:

• 2% among the 54 patients tested with the bonnet-style dryer,
• 4% in the 26 participants treated with the handheld blow dryer using hair divided into 10 sections,
• 4% among the 27 children treated with the handheld blow dryer and hair in 20 sections,
• 13% of the 15 children treated with the wall-mounted dryer, and
• 0% in both of the 18-patient LouseBuster groups.

I'm guessing users of the LouseBuster weren't allowed to give up!