I dont want lice, help?

[vdhendrix]

ok so i have posted on here before about my sister getting lice and also giving it to my aunt who had thigh length hair that she eventually buzzed off to get rid of the lice, well everyone thought the lice were gone, and i have recently moved back in with my family and yesterday my mom found out that she had lice, so we checked everyones heads any my stepdad and little brother also had lice, i had my head checked and did not have any lice(yet), and since then i have had my entire head drenced in coconut oil to try to keep the lice off

so if i keep my head and hair covered in coconut oil until we are sure all the lice are gone should this keep me from geting any lice? i also have orange, lemon and rosemary essential oils does anyone know if these can ward off lice as well?

please help me lol, i have dark tailbone length hair and i know it would be a nightmare to get rid of the lice if i caught them, i have already got lice twice in the past and ended up cutting off all my hair both times

[Cholera]

I'm sure coconut oil would help keep the nits from sticking in your hair. I currently have mayonnaise all over my head 'cause my little brother has lice. But, if you do end up catching it, instead of cutting your hair you could try the mayo first. If it's left on long enough (when I was little I had to sleep with it on my hair) it'll suffocate them and the oil will get all the nits out. It's pretty nifty!

Here's hoping that you don't get any lice, though! Good luck.

[Katurday]

As a kid, when I kept getting them, my mother dunked my head in olive oil and got one of those combs with a magnifier and just started popping the little suckers one by one.
I had long hair too, no buzzing necessary.
For now, avoid sharing hats, hairbrushes...anything.
Avoid your family until they got this sorted too.

[vdhendrix]

lol, i hope you dont get any either

[Áine]

Never had lice. But I've heard some pretty interesting ways of getting rid of it:

1. Keep drenching your hair (the roots is crucial) in oil for 24 hours. This may kill and disable the active lice.

2. After you wash and dry your hair, any eggs that may have been deposited can be destroyed instantly with a flat iron (a necessary evil in this case). I think you only need to do the hair closest to the scalp, like the first six inches or so. The ends can be left alone.

3. Repeat the process every third day for two weeks. There is no way lice could survive through all that.


This is also something I pulled from a Wiki article (http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Head-Lice-Naturally):

1. Launder clothing in the hottest temperature of water that the fabric will allow without shrinkage. Ignore normal washing instruction and accept some pigment fading in order to hard boil any lice eggs.
* Dry the clothing on the hottest setting as well.
* Seal clothing and bedding in plastic bags after laundering - other than enough to get by with or about a month. Be a minimalist - if you want to exterminate the lice in the shortest amount of time as possible - one blanket, one pillow and one towel per person. (no sheets or other bedding)
2. Vacuum all upholstery, mattresses and carpets. (cannot guarantee that homes with wall to wall carpet will be able to exterminate lice without removing carpeting - if it is infested)
* Buy plastic for weatherproofing and cover all upholstery and mattresses - for about a month. Wipe down daily.
3. Clean all hard surfaces - and hard floors using a bleach solution of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach. Wipe down commonly used surfaces daily.
4. Treat all household members scalps simultaneously!

[talecon]

I had lice plenty of times when I was a kid. with curly hair too. those little lice begone kits they sell at the pharmacy store are great for damaging ur hair so try to avoid those until absolutely necessary

[wendyg]

Re the washing clothes thing: alternatively, if you have clothes that will be wrecked by hot temperatures you can seal them in large plastic bags and stow them in the freeze for a few weeks, then launder as normal. The freezing temps will kill the lice eggs.

wg

[ButterflyKissx]

When I was in middle school, I kid you not but I had head lice EVERY month because the school did nothing about it. We eventually moved.

What worked really well was dousing my waist/tailbone length hair in white vinger, and sleeping all might in a shower cap. The vinger dissolved the knits & any extra lice who we actually able to by pass it were popped. The con is that I smelt like vinger and coconut conditioner for two weeks but I HATE lice.

[Nat242]

My partner works with kids, and he brought lice home one day. In order to kill them on him, I applied a mix of thick conditioner, EVOO and tea tree oil to his hair and scalp, left it on overnight (this suffocates them) and combed it thoroughly with a lice and nit comb in the morning. He'd wash the mixture out with lots of shampoo and then rinse with diluted vinegar.

I followed the same routine (except without the combing) and I didn't get them. Just make sure you're not sharing linens/towels/hair tools and you should be okay.

[Brat]

As a kid, when I kept getting them, my mother dunked my head in olive oil and got one of those combs with a magnifier and just started popping the little suckers one by one.
I had long hair too, no buzzing necessary.
For now, avoid sharing hats, hairbrushes...anything.
Avoid your family until they got this sorted too.

Yikes, when I was a kid, my dad was very intent on going through my thick hair strand by strand to get all the lice out. I sat on that stool for 2 days straight! Horrible, horrible memory... I never got lice again!

I'd keep my hair up and oiled, for sure. Don't touch anything that may have touched their head!

[Irishred]

I've had lice once. I got it helping a family one summer. At the time, I had around TB length hair and was pretty hair care ignorant. We did get the RID kit (came with a plastic comb?) and spray for furniture. I didn't know about mayo or oil at the time as I only knew one kid in school that got lice like once a year - something about visiting cousins... I don't know. DH also got a metal lice comb, have not seen one until recently like it. Only saw like 3 mature lice, but lots of nits. Combed my hair obsessively with that metal nit comb for a week (I mean like 15 min every hour). I braided when I wasn't combing. I washed my pillowcase, towel and things that I wore, daily. DH checked and helped comb once each day. I continued to use the metal lice comb several times a day and slowly weaned my self after I didn't see a nit in over a week.

It is possible for your hair to survive. I was SO bad with my hair back then (rarely conditioned, nasty combs and harsh brushing while wet) and then using the lice treatment, but my hair survived for another 2 years before I cut it back to BSL.

You are fortunate to have the assistance of all the great people here who just happen to know about this topic. I wish you luck and hope it all works out easy for you.

(I'm itching just talking about this.)

[Anje]

Well, my first instinct is to tell you to keep your hair slathered in oil, and more importantly, wear it UP! Make sure your hair doesn't come into contact with ANYTHING that someone else's head might have touched. That includes couch and chair backs, etc. The buggers are supposed to transfer well from head to fabric to head. Slicker surfaces like a leather couch or plastic are less risky...

I don't really see why you should have to cut your hair to deal with lice, even if you do get them. Your hair's fairly straight, and with a good drenching in oil, a nit comb should go through pretty easily after detangling. I remember it being a pain when I had them in 2nd grade, but my hair stayed intact just fine.

[Anje]

Re the washing clothes thing: alternatively, if you have clothes that will be wrecked by hot temperatures you can seal them in large plastic bags and stow them in the freeze for a few weeks, then launder as normal. The freezing temps will kill the lice eggs.

wg
As I understand, you don't even have to do this. If you can seal up item X in a bag and put it away from human contact for about 10 days (IIRC), the nits will hatch, have nothing to eat, and die. They don't last long without a bloodmeal.

[zule]

Here's some suggestions from eMedicine. When I worked for the federal family planning program, a lot of us would get crabs from patients. (They jump.) No one had to shave.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/lice/page4_em.htm

[MommaRalph]

Just happened upon this the other day: http://bluehousesoaps.com/catalog.php?category=40

I've never had lice and would be terrified as well!

Valerie

[Olivia23]

Try tea tree oil & mix it in a spray bottle with some water & some kind of oil. I use jojoba oil. I use the spray to help keep my hair wavy and the tea tree oil helps with dandruff and it also helps with lice and to prevent them

I worked as a nanny a few years ago and the whole family got lice. We was told by the health department (the whole school got it) to wash all bedding in hot water & put dryer on highest setting for the stuff that couldn't be washed such as pillows and stuffed animals. They said to dry on high for about 30 minutes and that should kill them.

[camirra555]

I've also heard that tea tree oil is a good fix, you should definitely invest in some. I've never had lice but my younger sister did so we all had to wash our hair with that smelly shampoo and my parents looked for nits.

[Barbie Diamond]

1) You are not a big fat loser. I think you are pretty cool and I love your hair.
2) Don't you dare cut that beautiful hair off!
3) I appreciate you being in this "hair family" and I have enjoyed your posts.

[Firefly]

Just wanted to echo what Olivia said about Tea Tree Oil being a great preventive measure. When lice is going around I spritz the kids hair with it daily and so far it has worked. DD got it once a long time ago, BEFORE we started doing the TTO spray. Good luck!

[akka naeda]

You have to comb and comb and comb 2x per day at least. When my hair was between waist and classic I got lice for the first time and we got rid of them just with TTO, coconut oil, and combing. Since DD has been around I have had lice multiple times because her primary school had regular infestations and my hair is much longer now. I have to get my mother to help me do my hair because I can't get a comb through it by myself, I don't want them again though because her eyesight is not what it used to be and I'm sure she'll miss some.

Also, you must take care of the ends, because repeatedly running a fine-tooth comb through your hair, even if it is oiled, will cause mechanical damage.

[AmericanWoman]

Henna is supposed to kill lice, acvcording to Catherine on H4H. tea tree oil,& neem are also supposed to work. Heat from a dryer kills then, and semi-heavy oiling as mentioned.

[vdhendrix]

1) You are not a big fat loser. I think you are pretty cool and I love your hair.
2) Don't you dare cut that beautiful hair off!
3) I appreciate you being in this "hair family" and I have enjoyed your posts.


thank you Barbie Diamond :D