Over The Counter Medicine To Kill Head Lice

Over The Counter Medicine To Kill Head Lice

For children under 2 years old, remove crawling bugs and nits using a nit comb. If this does not work, ask your child's health care provider for treatment recommendations. The safety of head lice medications has not been tested in children 2 years of age and under.

Many head lice medications are available at your local drug store. Each OTC product contains one of the following active ingredients.

Pyrethrins (pie-WREATH-rins) often combined with piperonyl butoxide (pie-PER-a-nil beu-TOX-side):

Brand name products include A-200*, Pronto*, R&C*, Rid*, Triple X*.

Pyrethrins are natural extracts from the chrysanthemum flower. Though safe and effective, pyrethrins only kill crawling lice, not unhatched nits. A second treatment is recommended in 7-10 days to kill any newly hatched lice. Treatment failures are common.

Permethrin (per-meth-rin):

Brand name product: Nix*.

Permethrins are similar to natural pyrethrins. Permethrins are safe and effective and may continue to kill newly hatched lice for several days after treatment. A second treatment may be necessary in 7-10 days to kill any newly hatched lice that may have hatched after residual medication from the first treatment was no longer active. Treatment failures are common.