PEOPLE’S PHARMACY

Q:I teach elementary school, and lice are an ongoing, frustrating problem. I have two suggestions that are natural and quite effective.

1. Coat the affected head entirely with mayonnaise and cover with a shower cap. Leave on head for at least one hour. Rinse and shampoo as usual.

2. When the affected head is dry, put the child in the bathtub and pour salt on the scalp, taking care to keep it out of the eyes. Rub in with fingers for several minutes. This is supposed to loosen the nits. Rinse and wash hair as usual.

When my own daughter got head lice at age 6, we used these two inexpensive, natural suggestions a few times during a two-week period and were lice-free.

Answer: Desperate parents have used mayonnaise to coat the hair and suffocate lice. Others have used olive oil. One review of home remedies found that only petroleum jelly was effective at killing lice (Journal of Pediatric Nursing, December 2004). Readers say that getting Vaseline out of hair is a major problem, though!

Q:I am 64 and nearing retirement, but I'm having a difficult time sleeping. Sleeping pills like Ambien or Lunesta cost more than $160 a month, which I cannot afford. What can you recommend for me?

Answer: Ambien is available as an inexpensive generic, zolpidem. It has some adverse effects, though, and many readers report some generic formulations don't work as well.

Melatonin or a hot bath 30 minutes before retiring may help promote sleep.

Q:I have had warts off and on for years and the only remedy that has been effective is eggplant.

Cut a piece of eggplant flesh big enough to cover the wart and secure it to the skin with a bandage every night. The wart dries up and peels off like a scab. Put a fresh piece on every night until the wart is healed.

Answer: We have heard of many approaches to curing warts. This is the first we have heard of using eggplant.

Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. You can e-mail them via their Web site: http://www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.