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View Full Version : Long Hair nightmare....lice!!!!



cocolover
August 3rd, 2014, 10:54 AM
So, unknowingly, DS brought home lice from summer camp. Poor DD managed to get it as well. DD's hair is at hip and DS is at APL, so this was no little amount of hair to deal with. Neither child wants to cut their hair, they both want to keep growing, and I wasn't about to force them to cut their hair (plus their hair is so beautiful!!!) We tried taking care of it at home the day of discovery....5 hours of combing later and the nits were not coming out easy. A couple of friends recommended a place called Lice Knowing You, where they remove every nit and louse and guarantee no lice for 30 days. They require every member of the household to come in for a check so you don't reinfect each other. They send you home with some simple tips for your home as well. They use natural oils to treat and have some great information on their website.

I wanted to share their website with you because they do list some of the home tips and their blog talks about some of the things they use, neem, tea tree oil, etc... and I thought it might be helpful for those that don't have a place close by. Though it was expensive, $230 to be exact, we were done with lice after just two days, and my home is back to normal. Though I will confess, even though I checked out as having no lice, because I'm a henna head, I am still doing a henna with methi as a precaution Here is their website: http://liceknowingyou.com/

Firefox7275
August 3rd, 2014, 01:25 PM
There is a product that is basically wall to wall silicones which makes the lice unable to grip onto the hair. Should not be damaging to hair tho you'd need to do a thorough clarify afterwards.

Merlin
August 3rd, 2014, 02:20 PM
There is a chain of salons in the uk who do a similar thing...for a price. Personally I suspect that Mrs M, when she had lice, would have reckoned that a bottle of nitty gritty, a comb and an hour or so in her bathroom was cheaper than they charge though :-)
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/24/nits-head-lice-infest

Hibernis
August 3rd, 2014, 02:24 PM
I had this when I was younger. We tried all the pesticides and they didn't work. Ultimately what did was a week straight of 2 hours with mayonnaise on the head (suffocates the lice), rinse, 2 hours with vinegar (dissolves most of the nits) and then going at it with a nit comb.

meteor
August 3rd, 2014, 06:16 PM
Use NEEM OIL. It kills head lice and eggs and it's great for scalp and hair. Apply a lot (diluted is fine, too) and keep combing and combing. Do this a few times over a couple weeks. Also, add a few drops of neem oil in each dose of your shampoo every time you wash your hair for a while - it will keep lice away.
Chemical shampoos/treatments against lice tend to dry out hair, while regular oils and mayonnaise tend to only suffocate some lice without breaking their feeding and reproducing cycle.
But neem oil provides a very lasting solution while keeping hair moisturized. The only downside is the bad smell.

If you have tea tree oil on hand, it can be effective as well... Use it like you'd use neem oil, but don't forget to dilute it as it's an essential oil.

Good luck! :D

Eden Iris
August 3rd, 2014, 09:54 PM
This stuff. (http://www.licefreee.com/) I tried making my own lice shampoo with olive oil and essential oils; the problems were (1) my kids were very young and couldn't deal with sitting under the oils and then a long washing afterward and (2) the oils don't kill the eggs, so you have to repeat every week. We did it for months, and I couldn't stand it any more. Another mom recommended the product I linked; it didn't damage hair and it's a spray that kills the bugs and eggs in seconds. You don't even need to wash it out immediately. I use natural DIY products for almost everything, but in this case the commercial version worked better and was equally safe.

Panth
August 4th, 2014, 01:25 AM
Quassia bark infusions make a great (lazy) treatment for headlice. I'm emphatically not a "natural product" nut, but it is my go-to method as it works.

Basically, boil a handful of quassia bark in a medium saucepan of water for 10-15 mins. Leave to cool. Strain. Use as a final rinse and DO NOT wash out. Use after every wash until it's been in your hair for at least one hatching cycle of the lice (i.e. at least a week). It only kills lice, not louse eggs (hence you have to leave it in your hair to kill them as the hatch) but it's low-stress and completely non-damaging. Only downside is that it tastes very bitter, so you have to be a bit careful when applying (and must not let your treated hair get in your mouth at all).

cocolover
August 18th, 2014, 09:55 PM
Use NEEM OIL. It kills head lice and eggs and it's great for scalp and hair. Apply a lot (diluted is fine, too) and keep combing and combing. Do this a few times over a couple weeks. Also, add a few drops of neem oil in each dose of your shampoo every time you wash your hair for a while - it will keep lice away.
Chemical shampoos/treatments against lice tend to dry out hair, while regular oils and mayonnaise tend to only suffocate some lice without breaking their feeding and reproducing cycle.
But neem oil provides a very lasting solution while keeping hair moisturized. The only downside is the bad smell.

If you have tea tree oil on hand, it can be effective as well... Use it like you'd use neem oil, but don't forget to dilute it as it's an essential oil.

Good luck! :D


This stuff. (http://www.licefreee.com/) I tried making my own lice shampoo with olive oil and essential oils; the problems were (1) my kids were very young and couldn't deal with sitting under the oils and then a long washing afterward and (2) the oils don't kill the eggs, so you have to repeat every week. We did it for months, and I couldn't stand it any more. Another mom recommended the product I linked; it didn't damage hair and it's a spray that kills the bugs and eggs in seconds. You don't even need to wash it out immediately. I use natural DIY products for almost everything, but in this case the commercial version worked better and was equally safe.


Quassia bark infusions make a great (lazy) treatment for headlice. I'm emphatically not a "natural product" nut, but it is my go-to method as it works.

Basically, boil a handful of quassia bark in a medium saucepan of water for 10-15 mins. Leave to cool. Strain. Use as a final rinse and DO NOT wash out. Use after every wash until it's been in your hair for at least one hatching cycle of the lice (i.e. at least a week). It only kills lice, not louse eggs (hence you have to leave it in your hair to kill them as the hatch) but it's low-stress and completely non-damaging. Only downside is that it tastes very bitter, so you have to be a bit careful when applying (and must not let your treated hair get in your mouth at all).

Thanks for all these tips! I am happy to report that after our few hours at Lice to Know You we truly were done. The lice never came back, as promised. However, I am going to save all this above information for any future issues. It would be nice to not pay that much money again!

Stormynights
August 18th, 2014, 10:58 PM
My youngest daughter was the only one in my family to get them, but she kept getting them over and over. I finally figured out it was from hanging her coat on the coat rack at school. I sent a plastic bag to school for her to put her coat in and keep it in her locker. No more problems.

SkyChild
August 19th, 2014, 12:41 AM
Some great tips here. Bookmarking for when my son starts school. Thankfully no lice from nursery yet.

Stormyngihts, that sounds horrible. Did you tell the school about it so they could stop infection? There's usually signs up when the nursery has an outbreak warning people