Lice?!!

[tinywife]

Help!
My sister picked up lice at college (1,000 miles away), but she'll be home for Christmas. How do I avoid catching it?? She thinks it may all be gone, but is there any way to be sure?

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I heard that lice couldn't hold onto oiled/ slippery hair.

[Dragon]

Using a little tea tree oil in shampoo and conditioner is ment to help keep them away. My pairents use to always do this when I was a kid.

[mali]

WikiHow (http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Lice)-How to get rid of lice.

Be prepared to fight a long battle . Adult lice and immature lice are pretty easy to get rid of, but their eggs (called nits) are much harder to get rid of, and it is with these that the most problems crop up. People can think that they are rid of lice, but then get another case of lice from just a couple of eggs. Constant vigilance will be necessary to win this battle.

Buy a quality lice treatment (also known as a pediculicide). You should be able to buy one over the counter at a local drug store. You should also get a quality nit comb (a normal comb is not fine enough to remove nits and lice from hair); a flea comb for pets may also be used.
Apply the lice treatment to the hair. Be sure to follow the treatment instructions, especially regarding the duration the treatment should be left on the hair and how it should be removed. You may need to buy another bottle to treat someone with very long hair.
Remove the treatment from the hair as directed. Note that you should not shampoo or condition the hair with normal shampoo or conditioner for 1-2 days following treatment.

Make sure the person with the lice then changes into clean clothes following the treatment.

Wait 8-12 hours (or as directed). Use the nit comb to remove the dead lice (and any ones still living) from the hair. If you find lots of live lice at this point, you may need a more effective pediculicide; contact your doctor for a recommendation.

Comb the hair with the nit comb and carefully check the scalp of the infested person every 2-3 days. Continue this process for 2 or 3 weeks to ensure that all of the lice are gone. Most lice treatments require a second application after about 10 days to kill any lice that may have hatched since the initial treatment.

Clean all of the infected person's contaminated belongings: clothes, towels, and bedding will need to be washed in hot water, and their and room thoroughly. Use the hottest setting on the dryer and dry for the longest time you can without harming the fabric.

Affordable ways!

Lice can be killed quickly, easily, cheaply and safely with mayonnaise. Simply get a new jar of mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip) from your kitchen shelf or at the grocery store. (Don’t grab one from the refrigerator, as it will be way too cold.) Grab a handful (or several) and cover all of your hair, being sure to get behind the ears and down the neck a little. You can cover this with a plastic shower cap to keep the mayonaise from dripping or getting onto your furniture. Leave the mayonnaise on for two hours to smother the lice and developed eggs. Then, remove the shower cap and throw it away,wash your hands good with soap, and shampoo the hair thoroughly. It may take two or more shampoos to get the hair clean.

You can use Vaseline if you don't have any mayonnaise. The only way to remove Vaseline from hair is to saturate the hair in baby oil, rub in through the hair completely, then squeeze out as much as you can. Then wash the hair three times with Dawn dish soap and hot water (not hot enough to burn!), each time leaving the dish soap on for a few minutes to allow it to work.

Vaseline can be left on overnight if you wish, but this is not safe with the mayonnaise because it turns poisonous when it is not refrigerated.

If you don’t trust the mayonnaise or Vaseline to smother the lice, you can make a natural lice shampoo to kill the lice but not poison your child. To a base of five teaspoons of Pure Olive Carrier Oil (http://www.quinessence.com/carrier_oils.htm)http://www.awltovhc.com/image-447356-10369852 (or Pure Coconut Carrier Oil (http://www.quinessence.com/carrier_oils.htm)http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-447356-10425325), add five drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil (http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-447356-10425325?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.MotherNature.com%2Fs hop%2Fdetail.cfm%2Fsku%2F55364%2Frfr%2FCMJ&cjsku=55364)http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-447356-10425325, five drops of Rosemary Essential Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil)http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-447356-10425325, five drops of Lavender Essential Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil)http://www.tqlkg.com/image-447356-10425325, five drops of Peppermint Essential Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil)http://www.awltovhc.com/image-447356-10425325, and five drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil)http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-447356-10425325. Add a small amount of regular shampoo to the mixture, and put this all over the hair - all the way to the edges. Leave this on for an hour under a towel or tight-fitting shower cap to prevent drips. Rinse the hair, and shampoo the hair. (Olive oil and coconut oil kill lice by "dissolving" their exoskeletons, and other oils will not have the same effect.)

Don't use a conditioner at this stage, but you will find that the hair is very easy to comb after using this oily mixture.

Notes: 1) The respiration of a baby or child under 5 can be slowed down or even stopped if peppermint oil or eucalyptus oil is close enough for the baby to even breathe either. 2) High blood pressure may be elevated by peppermint essential oil. 3) Peppermint or rosemary may be harmful during pregnancy. Just use the recipe without the oil that may be harmful in your case.
Loosen the Eggs

After shampooing, rinse the hair and scalp with vinegar. This loosens the glue that holds the nits onto the hair shafts. Rinse with hot water - but not so hot it that burns you.

Many of the nits (eggs) rinsed down the drain after the vinegar rinse. Now you have to deal with any nits that are left behind. The mayonnaise may not kill the newest nits since the unborn lice inside may have not yet developed enough to need air yet.
Get the Eggs Out

Comb all of the tangles out of the hair with a regular comb, then comb the hair with a nit comb. You can buy this in the drug store, next to the lice shampoos.
Check the Hair

When you think you are done, you want to use good lighting to check throughly the hair once it is dry. (The nits are much easier to see on dry hair.) Nits are very small and are kind of shiny at a certain angle. They are on the hair shaft itself, with the newest ones being just off the scalp and older ones being as much as an inch away from the scalp. You will have to check the hair by tiny sections, especially around the edges of the hair, at the neck, and behind the ears - although one could be anywhere. If you find any nits, you can pull them off with your fingernails, comb them off with the nit comb, or cut each hair off that contains a nit. Be sure to put each nit or hair into a bowl of vinegar or hot soapy water with ammonia added.
Another Rinse?

If you see more than a few nits, you can use a vinegar wrap to further loosen their glue. Thoroughly wet a towel with a mixture of half vinegar and half water, wrap the child’s head with the towel, and leave it on for one hour. Let the hair dry, then check for nits again.

-lacetoleather.com (http://lacetoleather.com/ridlice.html)

To prevent lice,you can also wash with Nizoral for lice.

[Anje]

Wear your hair up, and don't share any fabric things that may touch her head. That means headbands, towels, pillows, hats, couches, and easy chairs. Obviously, don't share combs with her either.

I've seen various lice treatments... You can either go the pesticide route (which isn't always as effective as it used to be, as lice are becoming resistant) or the smother-and-comb route (takes longer, will certainly be effective if you're thorough). The second one involves slathering hair with something (mayo, olive oil, conditioner) and going through all of it with a nit comb. Repeat every day for a week or 10 days or something.

One thing I never understood was why people complain about nit combs and tangles. It stands to reason that you can coat your hair with gobs of conditioner, detangle it with the (plastic) comb of your choice, toss that comb into hot water to kill anything on it, then use the nit comb on tangle-free hair.

[redkdawg]

Silly question, but is your sister treating her hair to get rid of the lice? Surely she is but start there, and follow the advice here.

[Copasetic]

I heard that lice couldn't hold onto oiled/ slippery hair.

I've hear this too. Apparently lice don't like dirty hair, meaning hair with products in it. So oiling your hair and putting it in a bun should help.

[Kerynna]

I would think that, by Christmas, it shouldn't be an issue if she treats the lice now. My daughter had lice once and I was able to get rid of them in one treatment, and I never got them. More recently, some kids at my children's school had lice, but my kids didn't ever get them. We did the tea tree oil spray on the hair trick for a few days but even that probably wasn't necessary.

[Lady Mary]

I'd oil it, wear the hair up and cover it with a scarf. Best of luck!

[BeautifulBella]

once they're gone they are gone. if there afre any left she will know!!!! its impossible to live with those things in your hair and not know... and keep your hair oiled, just in case!!!!

[Merlin]

We use NittyGritty and a nit comb.

But hey, lice aren't fatal....

[Angelica]

These are the facts that I learned via the school leaflets I was sent when there was an outbreak of lice amongst the children at my son's school. There is also a lot of myths which I was surprised to learn about.

You are only classed as having lice if you see a living louse. You can have a load of nits but unless you see a live louse, you don't have lice. Eggs/nits (usually the empty ones) can be removed by nit comb and just loads of conditioner.

They can not live long off the head. Their legs make it impossible for them to survive, they are designed for clinging onto the hair.

Some people swear by hairspray, others just using a good old fashioned nit comb, it breaks the legs of the lice and they can't hold on then.

Youwill only catch lice if you flick your hair or your heads touch. Lice cannot jump or fly.

They cannot survive on hats. But of course it is not a nice hygienic thought to be sharing such items with someone you know who has lice.

She should treat her hair before visiting and follow the instructions carefully if she is using a special treatment.

Lice are not picky. They don't care if your hair is long or short, thick or thin, dirty or clean. You'd be more likely to see the lice if you are washing and caring for your hair because you are being more attentive, they would fester in hair that is uncared for.

They are blood suckers and it is the scalp they are after.

I used to have leaflets from school that outlined these facts. My son caught lice about three times, and on one occasion his hair was full of it because I hadn't been washing it very often I hadn't noticed. But as soon as I started washing it properly I got rid of them fairly quickly.

Even though he sometimes slept with me, I only caught lice once from him and it was very easy to deal with.

I found using conditioner the best way to deal with them.

But the treatment wash made me realise just how beautiful my son's hair is.

So I'd say not too worry to much about it.

Just make sure your sister attends to her hair before she visits.

But if the worst comes to the worst everyone in the household will have to check their hair to see if they are infected and if they are, treat. Otherwise hair is not to be treated unless you see a live louse.

[indigonight]

I had awful lice resistant to the chemically gross shampoos in my hair which was ultra thick at the time. The only way I got rid of them was literally saturating my hair overnight with neem oil then putting on plastic wrap and a scarf. I slept very fitfully and kept the neem oil ( whole bottle) on for 8 hours but it suffocated the b*ggers plus neem oil is the only oil that also kills lice eggs.

I really recommend it!

[Anje]

They can not live long off the head.
....
You will only catch lice if you flick your hair or your heads touch. Lice cannot jump or fly.

They cannot survive on hats. But of course it is not a nice hygienic thought to be sharing such items with someone you know who has lice.
If I recall correctly, the adults don't live long off the head. Maybe a day or so. But it takes something like 7-10 days for a nit to hatch. Therefore, it would probably be wise not to, say, wear a hat that someone with lice has worn within the last week. In case any nits/eggs ended up there, maybe on a hair that was shed into the thing and missed.

I remember when I had them as a child, all my stuffed animals were quarantined for two weeks in plastic bags, so any nits that had found their way to them would hatch and starve.

[Niwa]

One thing I never understood was why people complain about nit combs and tangles. It stands to reason that you can coat your hair with gobs of conditioner, detangle it with the (plastic) comb of your choice, toss that comb into hot water to kill anything on it, then use the nit comb on tangle-free hair.:laugh: Spoken like someone who doesn't have tightly curled hair. Some of us have hair that starts to latch on itself as soon as a comb is removed from the hair. I cannot use even regular fine-toothed combs on my hair, so a nit comb would just be a nightmare. Thank heavens I have never had lice. I cannot begin to imagine how it would be possible to go through waist length type 4 hair with a nit comb and not end up needing a hair cut of 12 or more inches.

[Raekwon]

i dont think they can live without oxygen so you could box your hair out, spray something and close off the seal so that no oxygen could enter... after 5 minutes every specimen on your head should be dead.

back in the day when i had bed bugs on my bed i went on a kamikaze mission, had like 8 bottles of axe and killed them all by replacing the oxygen with deodorant spray.

[tinywife]

Thanks, everyone! Redkdawg, my sister IS trying to treat her lice...she thinks she may have gotten them all because she hasn't seen any lately, but her scalp still itches a lot.
Kerynna, it's good to hear they should be gone by Christmas!

[PeonyGarden]

Actually, it is true that lice cannot live in oily hair. It has to do with respiration. Having an exceedingly oily scalp will also prevent lice eggs from hatching - it coats the surface of the egg, oxygen cannot move (diffuse) through the oil, and the lice will suffocate. FYI, this also works on chicken eggs/any other type of egg. Of course, this means that you will have to keep your head very oily for quite a while.
Unfortunately, while the lice can't breathe, if you oil your scalp too much, oxygen won't reach your skin either - and the top layers of skin rely on diffusion of oxygen rather than oxygen from blood supply. So you run the risk of having an unhappy scalp.
Also unfortunately - a generation of lice lasts for about a month, in which these lice may lay many eggs.. Who would want to keep their scalp oily for even a quarter of that time?
I think the best solution here is prevention - and maybe a bit more oily hair for the few days she's visiting.

[Milui Elenath]

This link is very very informative and has a 21 day routine for removing lice with combing. http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/theprogram.html

It's a bit excessive on the combing side and I personally just checked my hair at 4, 7 days, 14 days and again at 21 after the initial treatment to ensure I had got them all the first time. (Which I had. :) )

I can confirm tea tree oil works and smothering them with oil or conditioner however lice do NOT care if your hair is clean, dirty, oily or otherwise. I assure you I have seen children with lice in all sorts of hair from the cleanest neatest to the the most unkempt/greasy. It would have to be a heavy oiling to deter/smother.

If your sister is checking periodically you hopefully won't be in any danger.

[CrowningGlory]

The advice we've been given at work from the Department of Health is to smother the hair with cheap conditioner, leave it on for an hour, comb and then rinse. Repeat several times a week until all lice and nits are gone.

Whenever we have an 'outbreak' at work I reach for the conditioner. If nothing else, I end up with super soft hair! It's hair friendly and supposedly works.

[christine1989]

My cousin has lice (twice) last November. I flat out refused to let my parents allow her to come over. I am on the verge of OCD when it comes to being clean and parasites are out of the question. I would never be able to live in my house again. In the end she spent the holiday elsewhere. Since you probobly have to have your sister over though I would reccomend lightly oiling your hair prior to her arrival and keeping it up. This will reduce your likelihood of catching them. If you do they can be killed by heavy oiling with a thick oil like olive or castor and covering your head tightly in seran wrap and a shower cap for a day or two. This will suffocate the lice and their eggs. It worked quite well for my friend who got them in Costa Rica.

[willowcandra]

I got lice earlier this year. I couldn't comb it properly myself. I used one of those nit treatmens that is just coney serum. It suffocates them like oils etc would.I did it overnight every four days for two weeks and they were gone.

Also I once hennaed with lice and they went.

Sounds like I always have lice lol. I have young children and their school went through a time of always having it.

[Anje]

:laugh: Spoken like someone who doesn't have tightly curled hair. Some of us have hair that starts to latch on itself as soon as a comb is removed from the hair. I cannot use even regular fine-toothed combs on my hair, so a nit comb would just be a nightmare. Thank heavens I have never had lice. I cannot begin to imagine how it would be possible to go through waist length type 4 hair with a nit comb and not end up needing a hair cut of 12 or more inches.
Good point. I was referring more to the straighties and wavies who talk about how they had to cut waist-length hair to the shoulders because nit combing was so awful and destroyed their hair. Methinks they're doin' it wrong. 4 hair would definitely be a tougher situation!

[redkdawg]

[quote=tinywife;1326332]Thanks, everyone! Redkdawg, my sister IS trying to treat her lice...she thinks she may have gotten them all because she hasn't seen any lately, but her scalp still itches a lot.
/quote]


Sorry if I sounded rude. Didn't mean it that way.

Don't blame her for the scalp itching. Just reading about this subject makes me itch & double-check my hair. :P

Love reading all of the suggestions here. This board has such sweet knowledgeable folks.

[Merlin]

Sounds like I always have lice lol. I have young children and their school went through a time of always having it.

LOL same here! I reckon the boys and I probably have them almost permenently - Mrs M gets them seldom though I don't know why.