The horror of lice

[Anabell]

So I got the every long haired nightmare. I scratch my scalp behind my ear and there it is. I hold a tiny bug in my hand. I was freaked out. I took my tea tree oil and massage it into the scalp. Directly, undiluted (yes, I know.). Then I found the hair killer fine tooth lice comb and comb my hair near the scalp. Then I made a mix of olive oil and coconut oil and add it to the hair. I leave the mix in for 2 hours then comb again and did CO rinse. I didn't find any other eggs or adult lice while combing. My boyfriend also pick on me and check my scalp and found nothing. But I still afraid we might miss one.

I have a stupid question- how do you know you are lice free? Is there any difference between regular itchy scalp and lice related itchy scalp?
I had once seborrheic dermatitis and it was itchy pretty badly. Luckily the medical shampoo the doctor prescribed really helped and it passed over after a week and a half. So if I don't find anything and my scalp does get itchy sometimes by it's own (I have a tender scalp. Every little thing can irritate it) how I could tell it is over?

And before you ask. Yes, I am sure it was a lice. My dog had flea once so I can tell the difference. Is it possible for a dog have a lice??

Any additional advice will be welcome.
God. It is SO embarrassing...

[leilani]

I dunno, time will tell but be glad you aren't delousing people, only one. It's all I remember of 2007..

[Amapola]

Well, yes - dogs can get lice. Here is the good news: Most lice are species-specific. If that was a louse off your dog, it would take one bite of you, go "Yecchh!" and drop off, seeking a tastier target. In fact my guess is, that's what it was.

I used to work at several big horse barns, and every now and then, one of the horses would get lice. The way we would find out is, one of them would get on US, take a bite, we'd find it, and then we'd know to treat the horses for lice. But they never infested us, because horse lice are also species-specific and thought we tasted horrid.

Sorry you went through that. I would suggest to check the dog, just to be sure the dog is OK.

[Phexlyn]

I hope you only had that one, but I don't think you can really tell except by waiting if more lice show up or not. Also encourage your boyfriend to check his scalp and hair just in case.

[brickworld13]

It takes two weeks for the eggs to hatch. Check every couple of days for 2-3 weeks to make sure you've gotten rid of them all.

Anything that can't be washed in the hottest water possible needs to go in an airtight container or bag for at least 3 weeks so that the evil monsters suffocate. If it's too big for a bag, that horrible lice pesticide spray that you can get from the store should do the trick.

My mom almost became a professional at getting rid of lice with as often as we got it as kids. I'm sure there are things that I have forgotten, but I will ask her.

[Anabell]

Thank you all for the replies! I was lucky to not go threw this as a kid so I have no idea how it suppose to feel... I thought I got away with it (until I will have kids of my own). I will definitely through everything I can to the washer machine in high temperature. I also will check my boyfriend for them. I told him to stay away but he wasn't listen... Most of the time I was wearing a shower cup so hopefully he wasn't catch anything anyway.


Well, yes - dogs can get lice. Here is the good news: Most lice are species-specific. If that was a louse off your dog, it would take one bite of you, go "Yecchh!" and drop off, seeking a tastier target. In fact my guess is, that's what it was.

I used to work at several big horse barns, and every now and then, one of the horses would get lice. The way we would find out is, one of them would get on US, take a bite, we'd find it, and then we'd know to treat the horses for lice. But they never infested us, because horse lice are also species-specific and thought we tasted horrid.

Sorry you went through that. I would suggest to check the dog, just to be sure the dog is OK.

It is good to know they are specific. That way only one of us is in trouble. I have no idea dogs can have dog lice. We put on him this special collar that supposed to repeal ticks and fleas but they don't say says anything about lice on the package. I checked on him as well with no success (didn't found anything...).
I bet it was wonderful to work with the horses. Also I'm sure they have the most amazing long hair :)

[meteor]

Anabell, you'll get them out. :grouphug: But you must keep oiling and combing out over and over again. Keep using your tea tree oil, or if you find it drying, get neem oil instead. I think it's even more powerful, and it's a carrier oil and it's moisturizing, so I think it's even better than tea tree. (Olive oil and coconut oil don't kill eggs, so not perfect for this job.)
You might need a couple weeks of this routine of applying tea tree/neem oils and combing and combing.

Also, don't forget to a add a drop or two of tea tree or neem oil to an applicator bottle with diluted shampoo for yourself and everybody else in your household, because lice spread fast. You can keep doing this after the lice scare, because it's a good prophylaxis.

[Anabell]

Anabell, you'll get them out. :grouphug: But you must keep oiling and combing out over and over again. Keep using your tea tree oil, or if you find it drying, get neem oil instead. I think it's even more powerful, and it's a carrier oil and it's moisturizing, so I think it's even better than tea tree. (Olive oil and coconut oil don't kill eggs, so not perfect for this job.)
You might need a couple weeks of this routine of applying tea tree/neem oils and combing and combing.

Also, don't forget to a add a drop or two of tea tree or neem oil to an applicator bottle with diluted shampoo for yourself and everybody else in your household, because lice spread fast. You can keep doing this after the lice scare, because it's a good prophylaxis.

Thanks, Meteor. I used olive oil and the coconut oil as a carrier oil to dilute the tea tree oil. After I did it I keep reading old threads about this issue and actually find out that it is O.K to use tea tree oil directly (unlike other essential oils) but it still was a little irritating so I'm not recommend it for people with sensitive skin. I will continue oiling and combing just in case. It is better be safe than sorry.
Oh, well. At least we can do something about it. In the nature animals can't do nothing about parasites..

[cocolover]

If you do a search for lice in the mane forum you will find a thread from August that I started because both of my kids got lice in August. We ended up going to a place that took care of it completely for us, Lice to Know You. You can visit their website for information. Also, a few others posted some great information, including links to some products that are supposed to work and get rid of everything in one treatment. Good luck to you! I am so glad we were able to take care of it quickly and really only had to deal with it for a day and a half. Don't be embarrassed, anyone can get it!

[PrincessBob]

(Olive oil and coconut oil don't kill eggs, so not perfect for this job.)
I beg to differ. My last run in with lice as 2011, I think. I got rid of them using only coconut oil and a nit comb, but I didn't wash it out. I just combed it out with a lice comb and applied more oil every night and kept my hair braided and pinned up during the day under a bandanna. It was kept this way for a week, then I washed it (a few times) to get the oil out, and no more lice or nits were found at all. I think keeping my hair saturated suffocated even the eggs.

[sumidha]

As far as I understand, if you're using oil to kill the lice it needs to be continuously on your head until you're nit free, like two or three weeks. Oiling for a few hours and then washing it out wont work, your hair needs to be drenched in oil 24/7. Also don't forget all your bedding and pillows, I'm not 100% sure a hot water wash will be enough, when we had them as kids we also did an extra long drier session on the hottest setting.

There's no way to tell if they're gone except doing a regular nit check, and once you've gone two weeks (I think that's how long they take to hatch? You can find this info online.) without a sighting you're probably in the clear.

[Angel Barchild]

My kid came home from her fathers with head lice once a month for almost two years. I have done this dance.

Most everything you need to know http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html the side bar has information, treatments and the like.
Also good myth busting http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/myths-about-head-lice/

The only way to get rid of lice, is to kill the live bugs, and then pick the nits (eggs that have been glued to the hair shaft near the scalp) off with a very fine toothed comb.
Nothing will take the place of picking the nits, you can't kill them with anything that will not damage your hair or scalp.
You have to break the life cycle. It takes about 2 weeks for eggs to hatch and for the bug to mature, so you need to re-treat and re-pick every 10 days or so.

Many people suggest lots of home remedies, while some of them may kill live bugs (putting oil on them does not kill live lice) none of them kill nits. The shell of the egg is made of the same stuff as your hair. If it will destroy a nit, it will destroy a hair shaft.
Oil will slow down live bugs, giving you a chance to remove them from your head manual, but trying to smother something that breaths through it's skin in not an easy thing to do.

As for your house.
Lice don't really live off of people, but just to make sure, you need to wash your bedding and cloths in nice hot water and give your house a through vacuuming. Bag up any bedding that can't be washed, and set it aside for about a month.
It is not required that you go nuclear on your house.

[Mowle]

Just thought I'd add that in the past, I've had a great deal of success getting rid of lice with citronella. You could add it to an oil or conditioner. It won't kill them (I don't think so anyway, unless you smother them for weeks as someone else mentioned) but they do seem to hate it, so it makes them a lot easier to comb out. My hair loved being soaked in the oil, and in my opinion it smells nicer and irritates my skin less than tea tree.
Good luck with whatever you use, and I'm sorry you're dealing with this :blossom: - don't feel embarrassed though, lice are common (and they do prefer clean hair!)