please help- Head lice

[moonbeam]

After a call from the school I found out that my twin boys have hair lice. They should be pretty easy to treat as they have short hair to begin with, and I may give them a brush cut. But I checked my own hair, and I have live lice in it :( The bottle I bought from the pharmacist is pretty small, but she said it would do a lot of treatments, but my hair is so thick and so long now, I think it would take the whole bottle. I am panicking! The pharmacy is closed now. Does anyone have tips?

[Shell]

Get an electric lice comb--that's what we used on my son when he got them. It worked great, and no scary/smelly chemicals.

Best of luck. :grouphug:

[christine1989]

Lice can be eaisly suffocated by covering your hair in a thick oil like olive or castor, putting a shower cap on and letting it sit overnight. Some people also use vaseline but I'm not sure that would be good for your hair.

[HairFaerie]

You can try neem oil on the scalp. It is said to work well. I use it for other benefits but it can be used for lice as well.

Other than that, there are a few over-the-counter lice remedies.

I am sure if you do a Google search, a lot of helpful info for treating the hair and also bedding can be found.

[little_cherry]

Lice can be eaisly suffocated by covering your hair in a thick oil like olive or castor, putting a shower cap on and letting it sit overnight. Some people also use vaseline but I'm not sure that would be good for your hair.
I second the oiling....to remove the oil, use a cone free conditioner, massage it into your hair and scalp and let sit for 30 mins...then wash out in warm water and wash hair normally. You will have to do a repeat application to get rid of the eggs.

[Kherome]

Go to walmart, they are usually open all night and carry lots of lice remedies.

Also, if you choose to try the oil smothering method (somewhat effective) You still MUST use a nit comb on your hair. Since you're BSL you won't need as much lice treatment as you think. But do NOT skip the nit comb. You'll also need to re-treat in 2 weeks.

[Carrie Ingalls]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but know that you are not the only one to have encountered this problem and with diligence and care it will come to an end. Lice are one of my fears, ever since my cousins got them when I was young. Since I joined the LHC I have bookmarked a few threads pertaining to lice particularly non chemical (in other words, natural) treatment.

Most notably (in my mind at least) angelathediva's Natural Lice Removal thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=539)

Two others: Lice!! ACK! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=32723)
and I dont want lice, help? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=37731)

There are other helpful threads as well, I know I haven't bookmarked all of them (and it has been a while since I read through these). I hope these help and I wish you the best.

[rose.grace]

If you can't get to the store, I agree with the oil smothering method. Also, I've heard that lice don't like coconut so when you can, you might want to get some coconut shampoo and conditioner to prevent getting them again. I think somewhere someone also told me that they don't like Tea Tree oil so you might infuse that with your shampoo or oil or whatever. I'd massage everybody's scalp with it just to see if it works. I love the stuff.

And get someone to go through your hair with the nit comb. After each run through, dip the comb in hot water. I hear that will drown them.

Best of luck! :flowers:

[moonbeam]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but know that you are not the only one to have encountered this problem and with diligence and care it will come to an end. Lice are one of my fears, ever since my cousins got them when I was young. Since I joined the LHC I have bookmarked a few threads pertaining to lice particularly non chemical (in other words, natural) treatment.

Most notably (in my mind at least) angelathediva's Natural Lice Removal thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=539)

Two others: Lice!! ACK! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=32723)
and I dont want lice, help? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=37731)

There are other helpful threads as well, I know I haven't bookmarked all of them (and it has been a while since I read through these). I hope these help and I wish you the best.


Thank you so much !!

[Medievalmaniac]

ohhhhh, I feel for you! I hope you can get this resolved ASAP. There have been great suggestions in this thread, definitely check out those threads!!!

[Beatrix_Kiddo]

My little sister got lice and the only remedy it worked was red vinegar. Apply it on dry scalp and hair and then put a cap on it. Let it sit for a couple of hours and then comb your hair carefully. You'll se that all the infamous lices are dead. Then, wash your hair normally.
Red vinegar is the only one that can kill the eggs lices. Shampoos don´t
I hope you get good results!:)

[Anje]

Go get a lice comb, slather on something (olive oil, conditioner) and suffocate the buggers. After a few hours, detangle hair, then comb with the lice comb. Repeat every few days until you get nothing. This only kills the adults, while the nits need to be removed by combing, so be sure you comb thoroughly.

[moonbeam]

I really appreciate all your help! I am having a problem finding the nits. I can see the live lice, but know that the key is to get the nits. I know what they are supposed to look like and they must be there, I just can't see them :(

[CrowningGlory]

I had lice before Christmas and got rid of them using home remedies. I would smother my hair with olive oil and leave overnight. I would then apply conditioner and let it sit for an hour before washing my hair. Both olive oil and condish are meant to smother the lice but it does have to be left on for at least 5 hours.

Then I would finish with an ACV rinse (stronger than I would usually use - probably 1:1 ACV to water). The vinegar is meant to dissolve the glue that holds the nits to the hair. After I'd done all that I would de-tangle my hair before taking a fine tooth comb (whatever comfortably goes through your hair - and beware the metal ones as they literally ripped my hair out) and comb through all my hair, sectioning it off and ensuring I did it all. I used an old child's toothbrush to clean the comb every time I put it through my hair. If you do it over white paper you'll see any lice or nits. If I spotted either I would then dip the comb in a solution of 50/50 ACV and water. When I'd finished (it took about 1/2 hour) I would then wash all combs and hair toys that I'd used in 50/50 water and vinegar.

I did this every day for the first week, then every second day until I no longer saw any live lice and only a few nits, and then finally weekly until I was sure they were all gone. I did get DH to check my hair and he spent hours removing the nits with his fingers but I also found that I got quite a lot just by carefully combing.

A bonus from all this was that I ended up with soft hair from all the oil and condish and ACV.

I've read that coconut oil will deter them but I don't know how true this is. You might like to add it to your routine if you don't already use it.

I did add lavender and rosemary EOs to the olive oil but stayed clear of others because either DH couldn't stand the smell (Tea Tree) or some you need to be careful if you're around babies as even breathing it can cause problems (or so I read - I'm not up on EOs so the information may not be correct but I didn't want to take any chances).

I'd had lice for months but because I'd also broken out in a rash on my neck and was being treated for that it was assumed that it was the same allergic reaction causing the intense itching on the scalp. DH had checked my scalp several times and seen nothing and I even had a doctor prescribe hydrocortisone lotion for my scalp after he checked and saw nothing. It wasn't until I cleaned my brush one night that I realised the awful truth! Yet after only 3 or 4 days of treatment I no longer saw any adult lice - dead or alive. It will seem like you're never going to get rid of them, but hang in there and they'll soon be a distant memory.

[moonbeam]

I had lice before Christmas and got rid of them using home remedies. I would smother my hair with olive oil and leave overnight. I would then apply conditioner and let it sit for an hour before washing my hair. Both olive oil and condish are meant to smother the lice but it does have to be left on for at least 5 hours.

Then I would finish with an ACV rinse (stronger than I would usually use - probably 1:1 ACV to water). The vinegar is meant to dissolve the glue that holds the nits to the hair. After I'd done all that I would de-tangle my hair before taking a fine tooth comb (whatever comfortably goes through your hair - and beware the metal ones as they literally ripped my hair out) and comb through all my hair, sectioning it off and ensuring I did it all. I used an old child's toothbrush to clean the comb every time I put it through my hair. If you do it over white paper you'll see any lice or nits. If I spotted either I would then dip the comb in a solution of 50/50 ACV and water. When I'd finished (it took about 1/2 hour) I would then wash all combs and hair toys that I'd used in 50/50 water and vinegar.

I did this every day for the first week, then every second day until I no longer saw any live lice and only a few nits, and then finally weekly until I was sure they were all gone. I did get DH to check my hair and he spent hours removing the nits with his fingers but I also found that I got quite a lot just by carefully combing.

A bonus from all this was that I ended up with soft hair from all the oil and condish and ACV.

I've read that coconut oil will deter them but I don't know how true this is. You might like to add it to your routine if you don't already use it.

I did add lavender and rosemary EOs to the olive oil but stayed clear of others because either DH couldn't stand the smell (Tea Tree) or some you need to be careful if you're around babies as even breathing it can cause problems (or so I read - I'm not up on EOs so the information may not be correct but I didn't want to take any chances).

I'd had lice for months but because I'd also broken out in a rash on my neck and was being treated for that it was assumed that it was the same allergic reaction causing the intense itching on the scalp. DH had checked my scalp several times and seen nothing and I even had a doctor prescribe hydrocortisone lotion for my scalp after he checked and saw nothing. It wasn't until I cleaned my brush one night that I realised the awful truth! Yet after only 3 or 4 days of treatment I no longer saw any adult lice - dead or alive. It will seem like you're never going to get rid of them, but hang in there and they'll soon be a distant memory.


Thanks for sharing this with me, it gives me hope.

[Anje]

If you have nits (you probably do, unless this is brand new), I suspect they'd be relatively near your scalp and hard to see. Headlice.org (http://www.headlice.org/) seems to be a good resource for information.