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My head started to itch the moment I read "Head lice" in the subject line of an e-mail from my children's preschool.

I vividly remember the "special shampoo" my mother used on my hair once as a kid. The combing. The multiple washing of absolutely everything in our house.

Had I found lice in my children's hair, I could easily see myself dashing to the drugstore for special shampoos. There's even "Home Lice Control Spray" for mattresses and items that can't be easily washed. What parent doesn't want to annihilate the lice and end the heebie-jeebies?

But many of those products contain insecticides. And I'm not sure I want to rub insecticides onto my daughters' heads.

"People just don't perceive that what they're buying in the drugstore is a pesticide," says Deborah Altschuler, founder of the National Pediculosis Association Inc., a nonprofit that runs headlice.org. "We do tell people to avoid chemicals entirely."

The chemical treatments won't even necessarily work. Almost everyone I talked to agreed they definitely won't get rid of the nits -- or eggs -- glued to the hair shaft. If those aren't removed by comb or by hand, some can hatch into live lice.

Healthier solutions do exist, but they can be time-consuming, and some are downright expensive. One mother in my neighborhood swears by Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser.

Dermatologist Dale Pearlman, who teaches at Stanford University and has a private practice in California, developed the "Nuvo Method for Treating Head Lice" using Cetaphil after pediatrician friends asked if he could tackle the problem. The lice, he says, are becoming resistant to the over-the-counter chemical treatments -- the neurotoxins pyrethrum and permethrin -- that render lice unable to breathe.

From there, doctors could prescribe lindane or malathion, but those are more toxic. "The pediatricians found themselves in this chemical warfare," Pearlman said. "Instead of neurologically rendering (the louse) unable to breathe, how about we suffocate him by plugging up his breathing holes?"

The Cetaphil process requires squirting a bottle of Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser on your child's head, blow-drying until fully dry and leaving it on for at least eight hours before shampooing. That must then be repeated in seven days and, again, seven days later. (For directions online.)

The Cetaphil suffocates the lice. The process does not require parents to comb out the nits. It also doesn't require extensive washing of bedding and floors and such. And needless to say, it doesn't require any of those toxic lice sprays.

Putting the child's pillowcase and sheets on high in the dryer for 10 minutes and combs and brushes in the dishwasher is enough, said Pearlman. No need to bag plush animals or vacuum every square inch of the house. The reason? Head lice, unlike body lice, almost never leave a person's head, said Pearlman.

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser isn't cheap -- a 16-ounce bottle costs $13.79 at Walgreens, and you would need two or three for a full course of treatment.

Some advocate suffocating the lice with olive oil or mayonnaise. The problem there, Pearlman says, is that the oils must stay on the head for at least eight hours, and often children will do things to siphon the oil away, like touch their head to something absorbent like a pillow. Shower caps can get askew.

And, as the National Pediculosis Association points out, "No matter which remedy you're attempting -- wrapping the hair in plastic or a shower cap and putting the children to bed is a bad idea." A small child could suffocate.

One thing's clear: How to treat lice generates passionate debate. The association insists all lice treatments depend on routine, careful combing with a quality metal lice comb. Pearlman, of course, insists that's unnecessary if parents follow his treatment. Catherine Kittams, a nurse consultant with the Multnomah Education Service District, believes that after a child has lice, combing daily with a fine-tooth comb for up to three weeks is important. She isn't opposed to all chemical treatments, but she can't recommend a product and suggests parents talk with their pediatrician. Whatever pesticide treatment they use, though, she did recommend this: Don't apply it in the tub.

"It's a strong chemical, and we don't want your body to be exposed if it doesn't need to be."

That makes me nervous about using them at all. Lice, it should be noted, are not an indicator of poor hygiene and like to live on people of all socioeconomic levels. Another point: Even though I keep hearing that lice is rampant in the public schools, Kittams said they're actually seeing fewer cases.

For those Portlanders not as concerned about the bottom line, Sherry Karrigan runs a {lice removal }service called Nit Picky. She will come to your home and remove the nits using a comb and a nontoxic, non-pesticide product derived from yeast...

"The key is the manual removal, the combing and getting everything out," she said.

One of the best methods for keeping lice infestations at bay is to regularly check your child's head -- the National Pediculosis Association recommends doing so after shampooing your child's hair...

--Carrie Sturrock