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Selzdaze
July 28th, 2016, 03:23 AM
With 3 young children, it's bound to happen periodically, last night I found head lice. On me. Ugh. I've had no itching, I only realised when I was running oil through my hair and one was stuck on my finger!

I saturated my hair with olive oil, ran some neem oil too, then combed until I felt satisfied there were no more, shampooed, conditioned and combed a bit more. Ok, a lot more. Dry combed this morning a few times, and can't find anything, but I'll oil/neem again in a few days and comb daily to be sure. In total I found a half dozen adult lice, no juveniles, and loads of eggs, which leads me to believe it's a very recent invasion. Checked the kids and found 1 between them, I guess their lice repellent shampoo (neem & tea tree) works! Wondering if i should switch to it myself! Thankfully, the oil seems to have left my hair silky soft and smooth, not damaged from combing as I feared!

So, do any of you take regular preventative measures? Or do you just deal if it does happen? What's your go-to method for clearing them?


Sorry if you are all paranoia scratching reading this!

Adorkable One
July 28th, 2016, 05:45 AM
Once, my younger sister got head lice after a trip to the salon. As soon as I found out, like you, I drenched my head in coconut oil. And I mean DRENCHED. I had to keep a towel around my neck from oil slowly creeping down. I don't know what effect that has on lice, I did it out of paranoia. I figured if I made my scalp inhabitable, it would thwart lice. Luckily, I never caught the lice. It could have been from the oil...but we didn't share any hair tools or accessories, or even stored them in the same areas, so avoiding contact was pretty easy and I think the biggest reason I never got the lice.

Other than that, I take no other special precautions other than not trying on hats in stores. Lol. Hopefully you're safe. The sooner they're removed, the faster the problem goes away! :)

parkmikii
July 28th, 2016, 06:03 AM
You can try one of those shampoos that kill lice and dry their eggs, or if you can stand it, neem oil is also claimed to kill lice.

Tosca
July 28th, 2016, 06:09 AM
If you have one of those fluoro workman's shirts, my mother would make me wear them when she combed my hair out to catch the lice. They stuck to the shirt from the static electricity I think.

eadwine
July 28th, 2016, 07:17 AM
Henna is said to kill them too.. never tried that route though, only ever had lice as a child.

samanthaa
July 28th, 2016, 07:26 AM
^ Yes to the henna thing; I've read that as well. I wonder what research about cassia would turn up... (in case you didn't want the color)

Wildcat Diva
July 28th, 2016, 07:35 AM
Neem oil in conditioner soaks are doing it for us. It's been a long process to make sure we are clear but I'm very happy with our results. Why don't you check out the official coping with lice thread I started.

I'll link it for you.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=137201&highlight=Coping+lice

Wildcat Diva
July 28th, 2016, 08:18 AM
Here is some info I copied from that thread.


Looking for actual studies on neem. Found this abstract of a study.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/ar...ficacy-studies

Found this too. Neem fared better than the chemical used in many OTC treatments.
http://link.springer.com/article/10....436-006-0146-7

I made a mistake in backing off neem. I was trying to use it in leave in form (mistake, kids hated that) but I will be now adding it to my kids' conditioner, applied to scalp in a strong dilution first and then making them leave it on for 30 minutes and I'll help them add a little water to kinda CO it in properly before they rinse out a few minutes later in the shower themselves. I did this outside and then when I sat down to rest, found a dead nymph stage bug stuck to my hand (off my eldest). I let it sit outside all day and it never woke up.

I am not upset or feel like we "failed" at this point. We are making progress in getting the old nits off of my eldest. He had a lot (despite my never finding any adult bugs on him!)

ETA: totally going to do three weeks of this too. Knockoff version of Cetaphil. (Equate)
http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...14/3/e275.full
Even though, this study is critiqued because it has not been replicated. The person that headed this study was gonna try to market Cetaphil under a different name and try to charge $250 a bottle for it. That doesn't mean the stuff doesn't work, though. I'm not sure what replication efforts are out there and what they say.

Wildcat Diva
July 28th, 2016, 08:33 AM
Here is exactly how I do the neem soaks. It's a high concentration on neem, which is fine by my book.
Here is what we do. Use a slant tip applicator bottle, if convenient.

My neem comes with a dropper cap. I use two droppers full of neem oil in the bottle, I add about two ounces of conditioner. I add about one ounce of water to make my conditioner runnier.
Shake Shake Shake to mix it up.

I start on dry hair before I am gonna shower in about a half hour. I use the slant tip applicator bottle to squirt the mixture all over the scalp. Massage in with fingertips. Clip hair up and wait a bit.
(Most of the hair length remains dry this way)
Get into the shower, kinda CO the neem through the lengths with a little more water. And squirt on anything left in the applicator bottle onto lengths. After COing (massaging) lengths, wait a minute or so. Wash out hair as normal.

littlestarface
July 28th, 2016, 11:28 AM
When my eldest kid got lice years and years ago I hurried up and drenched my hair in oil, tt oil and coconut milk I also did henna back to back. I never got them thank god and I had me my mom and sister clean him out good and used home remedies and rid. My preventative now? Stay away from little kids, always use some tt oil, have my hair up and out of anyones reach and thank god I wear hijab and my kids are grown ups now. I always check the boys' hair even now. My hair is too long and too thick to get lice so it's a very serious situation for me and I have to prevent any infestation.

Anje
July 28th, 2016, 11:40 AM
Henna is said to kill them too.. never tried that route though, only ever had lice as a child.

I always assumed this was basically a "smother them" solution, which seems to be the popular option for people who don't want to use the pesticide shampoos or when the lice are resistant to the pesticides. That said, I'd be more inclined to get a nit comb and do the smothering with something like conditioner or oil or mayo -- something that would lubricate the combing process. With henna, you'd have to rinse it all out and you still need to comb after. (Plus, you know, orange hair. Which apparently some people don't want, though it appeals to me.)

calmyogi
July 28th, 2016, 01:06 PM
It smothers them. They breath through little vents on their bodies. They can hold their breath for like eight hours or something so that's why it's crucial that you keep your head smothered for hours. A thick conditioner or mayo work well.

lithostoic
July 28th, 2016, 08:16 PM
They can hold their breath for like eight hours or something so that's why it's crucial that you keep your head smothered for hours. A thick conditioner or mayo work well.

I think I'm gonna deep condition overnight then. My head has been suspiciously itchy lately. I'd rather do that just in case then take a while to figure out if it's lice or not.

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 06:16 AM
You can try it, but if this is really it, I'm not sure conditioner only is gonna be enough. If lice was that easy to get rid of, people would not struggle so much to get rid of them, it would be an easy solution. I would recommend at least adding neem oil to your deep conditioning efforts. Amazon has it for sale or a health food store should help you out.

olive oil soaks can also be put into rotation.

Also, use combing with conditioner in to aid you with any removal efforts if you do find you have them.

I would think the cetaphil/blow drying method I linked earlier would be a good, not damaging one to try too.

With that being said, there is no use in freaking out unless you have evidence that you have them other than just itchy. Someone needs to really look, outside in great lighting, for a while. Look for bugs and nits. If you have bugs, there will be nits. It look me three weeks of looking at my kids' scalps to identify what the nits were, but now I am much better at seeing them.

Anje
July 29th, 2016, 06:46 AM
I think I'm gonna deep condition overnight then. My head has been suspiciously itchy lately. I'd rather do that just in case then take a while to figure out if it's lice or not.

Figure out out first. Leaving your hair wet that long can be hard on it (my scalp would hate it too, if I tried that), and one treatment isn't going to solve the problem if it is lice. At best, it kills the adults and not the eggs. So you need to do it several times on a schedule to get the next round after they hatch but before they lay more eggs.

Plus, you know, if something else is messing with your scalp, this might just make it worse.

calmyogi
July 29th, 2016, 07:34 AM
I think I'm gonna deep condition overnight then. My head has been suspiciously itchy lately. I'd rather do that just in case then take a while to figure out if it's lice or not.


If you have them at all you will need to comb out the nits after you do the oil soak then vacuum, clean, and bag up things. Just killing the adult bugs won't solve any infestation. When I was 10 I had them for an entire summer and it wasn't until I went back to school and they did the head checks that they were found........... My mom really was a good mom, but this got passed her I guess.... She never got them though, just me, and it was a terrible infestation. My hair had to be chopped off into a pixie and it wasn't until then, and we ironed the mattresses, that we got rid of them.

In my teen years I got them a couple of times from spending the night at friends houses, but I blow dried and flat ironed my hair back then so all that was ever found was dead nits. The infestation was never able to take off since I woke up every-single-morning and washed and redid my hair.

Selzdaze
July 29th, 2016, 07:42 AM
Some good advice here :-) I swear to always keep a pot of neem oil in the house just in case, I find it very effective. I may start adding a blob to my shampoo or conditioner for a regular weekly wash as a preventative measure...

Pleased to report that day 2 condition/combing and head check by my mother has not yielded a single trace. Will continue to comb every wash and periodically over next fortnight to be on safe side, but I feel fairly confident.

lithostoic
July 29th, 2016, 08:23 AM
I did find one adult louse. Only one, no nits??? There's gotta be more in there. Idk what to do. The nearest health food store is over 8 miles from here so I can't get neem.

krissykins
July 29th, 2016, 08:41 AM
Lithostoic, can you order some oil online? Nightblooming has an oil hair treatment for lice (https://www.etsy.com/listing/466792623/herbal-essential-oil-head-lice-treatment) that might help. :flower:

littlestarface
July 29th, 2016, 08:45 AM
I did find one adult louse. Only one, no nits??? There's gotta be more in there. Idk what to do. The nearest health food store is over 8 miles from here so I can't get neem.

You need someone to check your head thoroughly.

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 08:55 AM
If you found one, you should start some interventions. The coping with lice thread did already give a lot of advice on multiple low cost ideas on this already. Perhaps you can re-look over there?

Generic Cetaphil is at any store. Do you have a blow dryer.

lithostoic
July 29th, 2016, 09:00 AM
Can't order online and I'm having my mom check next weekend if I'm off work. My boyfriend's mom already checked and found nothing but it's possible she missed something. I'll relook over the coping thread but last I looked there was nothing that would work for me. And I do not have a blow dryer.

calmyogi
July 29th, 2016, 09:27 AM
Can't order online and I'm having my mom check next weekend if I'm off work. My boyfriend's mom already checked and found nothing but it's possible she missed something. I'll relook over the coping thread but last I looked there was nothing that would work for me. And I do not have a blow dryer.
I would do the overnight deep treatment like you said and then while doing it clean the crap out of your house. Vacuum and do all your bedding. Bag up anything that isn't washable. I have seen quite a few people that do overnight treatments so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Any little tiny bit of damage that could possibly be done to your hair is worth not having head lice in my opinion.

lithostoic
July 29th, 2016, 09:33 AM
calmyogi Thanks, it can't be any worse than the wet (WET) buns I used to wear all weekend to have still damp bun waves Monday morning. To which I would scrunch mousse into and wear for a couple days before ripping a brush through and washing. Haha. That was my thing in early 9th grade.

I think I've got the clean-the-s**t-out-of-the-house thing down pat. Having lived in southwest Florida all my life, the roach and bedbug infestations are forreal. This means WAR. Onward March!

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 10:17 AM
Cleaning the crap out of the house is said to be a waste of effort from many sources I have seen. Concentrate efforts on the head. I refused to do more than changing pillowcases and being cognizant of brushes and combs.


http://thenicelicelady.blogspot.com/2016/04/no-cleaning-no-cry.html?m=1

littlestarface
July 29th, 2016, 10:20 AM
calmyogi Thanks, it can't be any worse than the wet (WET) buns I used to wear all weekend to have still damp bun waves Monday morning. To which I would scrunch mousse into and wear for a couple days before ripping a brush through and washing. Haha. That was my thing in early 9th grade.

I think I've got the clean-the-s**t-out-of-the-house thing down pat. Having lived in southwest Florida all my life, the roach and bedbug infestations are forreal. This means WAR. Onward March!

Good girl vacuum couches, anywhere heads touch, wash pillowcases and sheets, blankets in the hottest water. I cant stands bugs!

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 11:01 AM
These bugs cannot live long off the head. If they fall off, they are likely weak or dying.
I have no fear of couches or bedsheets. It is really not worth all that effort. Better to spend that energy dealing with the heads in the house, live bodies.

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 11:56 AM
http://nitmix.com/headlice-myths-day5.htm

Henni
July 29th, 2016, 03:59 PM
I did vacuum everything in spring and even ironed mattresses with steam iron after meeting those. I might have slightly over reacted.

Wildcat Diva
July 29th, 2016, 04:54 PM
"we serve customers all over the world, and nobody else does this." (Speaking about people from the U.S. obsessed with the housecleaning myth.)

From the video (worth a look!) from the link I just posted. Our CDC makes a comment about vacuuming and such that it DOES NOT back up with any data, and in light of CONFLICTING ACTUAL data (at least two studies I know of) that refute the need for all this excessive cleaning.

Henni
July 30th, 2016, 03:15 AM
Over here it is recommended to change and wash/freeze/boil/put in a plastic bag for 2weeks pillowcases, hats and brushes/combs after using lice treatments. Excessive cleaning not so (or panicking :whistle: ) but I was so freaked I did everything possible, it made me feel that I was in control. I am terrified of paracites and it was first and only encounter with them so far.

After summer break I will probably get some repellent shampoo or add neem oil to our regular ones and braid my daughters hair everyday for daycare.

Jadestorm
July 30th, 2016, 08:47 AM
So, do any of you take regular preventative measures? I personally don't as I never really get in contact with kids and don't have a lot of contacts with other people generally at the moment.
Back when I still rode public transport daily I was a bit paranoid about resting my head on the head rests in the train as I imagined someone with lice could have just sat there. Or perhaps even the person sitting next to me could have them and they could jump onto me. :tmi: LOL. I did think about that sometimes. But no, I didn't really do any treatments to prevent them.

Wildcat Diva
July 30th, 2016, 10:01 AM
They don't jump.

For me, it's probably the best idea ever that I do those neem treatments twice a month. I work with kids and sometimes they try to hug me and sometimes succeed.

Quasiquixotic
July 30th, 2016, 10:22 AM
Oh wow. I was called yesterday and told my daughter has lice by her summer camp. We covered her hair in mayonnaise and grocery bags over night. I combed it out with a bit comb this morning. Lots of dead lice. We'll do it again in a few days. Fun times. F'in sucks.