Bye, Bye Beasties! (Prioderm Lotion)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Prioderm Lotion
Date:	27/10/08 (236 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works

Disadvantages: It smells really bad

I thought my days of dealing with the dreaded head lice were over when my daughter moved up to high school but a week ago after spending some time with some younger friends she started scratching again. My heart sunk as I checked her hair with the nit comb and found that the beasties had made a home in her hair again.

I know that wet combing is generally the best method of dealing with nits but to be honest I didn't want the hassle of spending hours with the comb with her moaning at me so I took a trip to the chemist. The pharmacist asked me what I had tried before (lyclear, a waste of time which he agreed) and he suggested I try prioderm lotion instead.

Prioderm works by using the active ingredient malathion to kill the lice and their eggs. It is available in small bottles suitable for treating one head at £3.89 and a more economical family sized bottle suitable for four heads is £9.99.

You apply the lotion to the hair and leave it on for 8 to 10 hours for the maximum effect.

The liquid is hard to apply as there is only a tiny hole in the top of the bottle and you need to shake the bottle to get it out. This meant that it is hard to get a high degree of accuracy when applying. The liquid really stinks, a mix of alcohol and a herbal shampoo and because of the alcohol is really cold on the skin. The smell lingered in the room for a long time afterwards and I had to open the windows to get rid of it totally.

The small bottle was just enough to cover my daughters below shoulder length curls. I was worried that the alcohol would be damaging to her hair but it was in perfect condition afterwards.

The lotion worked well, in the morning she had to shampoo as uaual without using conditoner and use the nit comb again. The couple of lice combed out were dead and a few eggs came out too. The smell of the lotion lingered in her hair until she had washed it for the second time.

Prioderm is not suitable for athsmatics to use as it can cause them to wheeze and it can also irritate the skin. The high alcohol content means it is also flammable so care needs to be taken when storing and applying it.

Head lice are horrible, unfortunately they are so common these days that most children will catch them at least once. I'm glad this liquid worked but I'll still be using the nit comb once a week just to check the beasties are gone for good this time.

Summary: Bye bye beasties