September 7, 2011Nova Simpson, Pharm.D.

gallery Natroba -New Treatment for Head Lice

There is a new treatment out there for head lice -exciting! 🙂  If you want some more indepth info about head lice and other options for treatment, please read Catie’s article Nix for Head Lice -it will give you all the gritty details.

Natroba (spinosad) is a new prescription topical treatment for head lice.   Natroba seems to work better then the OTC Nix (and other OTC permethrin).  Natroba works similarly to Nix, however Nix only kills living lice.  This means you need to wait for the nits (eggs) to hatch then re-apply and kill them too (gross, I know!)  Well, Natroba is thought to kill the nits too -so there is a better chance that there will be no need to reapply!

What’s the hitch?  Well, Nix is OTC and cost ~$15; Natroba is by prescription and cost ~$200!  So, best bet is to use the OTC Nix (or generic) options unless there is resistance in your area (your physician should know) or Nix treatment has failed after 2-3 treatments.

Current available topical treatments for head lice: 

  • OTC permethrin (Nix or generic)
  • OTC pyrethrins (Licide or genereic)
  • Prescription malathion (Ovide)
  • Prescription benzyl alcohol (Ulesfia)
  • Prescription spinosad (Natroba).

 

If nothing seems to help -ask your physician about prescription oral ivermectin (Stromectol).

What about home remedies?  Cetaphil, Vaseline, mayo, olive oil, tea tree oil, Listerine, shaving hair, vinegar, etc…none have been proven to work and some can be harmful!

What do you swear by to treat head lice?  We would love to hear your input -please leave a comment 🙂

2 comments

  2. I want to point out you mentioned the home remedies have been proven to be harmful well so have all of those pesticides that you suggest… Yes you read that correctly they are poisioness chemicals you are suggesting people use… Also I want to point out the new treatment you mention,natroba, has not been proven to kill nits nor to work in just one treatment if you read their own information on the 2 studies (yep they only did 2) that they conducted the people who still had lice were retreated and still it only 86% were cured….

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