URGENT! What are my chances?!

[dmarie63]

After seeing my friend Sarah today, she called to inform me an hour later that her niece (who is in the same house as her) has caught LICE. And she wasn't thinking when she hugged me! The little girl seemed to only have the eggs, not any actual hatched Lice, so the egg-layers must have died or jumped. Sarah said she didn't feel any symptoms, but suggested I use the medicated shampoo anyway, just to be safe.

Now, with my anxiety disorder, I am feeling itches and skin-crawling sensations all over my scalp, but only when I actively think about it. I'm terrified!!

My hair was on day two today when we hugged, and now I just washed it in preparation to use the treatment. Based on this information, what do you think my chances are, seriously? If I know what the odds are, I can differentiate that from the crazy paranoia.

Any help would be grateful.

[whitestiletto]

Did you hug Sarah or the niece?

[katsrevenge]

I don't know about your chances but I'd be dumping skip-flea shampoo or hair dye all over my head about now.

I hate the creepy little things! Better safe then sorry!

[dmarie63]

I hugged Sarah. after she had been around and close to her niece. and we shared a long hug since we hadn't seen each other.

I typically am not into hugging, and go figure that the first non-family, non-fiance person I hug might have given me lice. >.<

[prettykitty]

Argggggggggggggggggggggg can you put lice poison on just in case? Kill them, kill them now! *shudders and freaks out*

[dmarie63]

I had my fiance check my hair before treatment and he didn't see anything. Then I treated my hair and started using the special comb. I did all around my hairline, but then as I worked into the bulk of my hair it was ripping and knotting and it was painful. So I had my fiance check my hair again, and after he saw my crying and freaking out, he checked it more thoroughly this time and didn't see anything.

I hope this means I'm ok?

I prayed to God, hoping I wasn't infested. After all, a woman's hair is her glory, and I have shown a new devotion to reading His Book, so I hope He will favor me by protecting me and the ones I love that I may come near to.

[pixiestar]

The only way to get rid of them is to use lots of condioner and use a nit comb to comb them out, while conditioner is on your hair. Do this every day for 2 weeks and then they will be gone:D This is the only thing that worked on my daughter when she was little, and she had waist length hair:D
The lice shampoos are rubbish, lice have become resistant to them. You could try it if it makes you feel better, but honestly I would try the conditoner/nit comb method:D

[dmarie63]

It said not to use conditioner?

[sycamoreboutiqu]

Your chances of getting them from that contact are pretty slim. It is usually direct contact with
someone "infested" and your friend apparently didn't have any indications of being infested so the chances of getting them from a brief hug are minimal.

Relax you are ok - use the conditioner.

[pixiestar]

It said not to use conditioner?

You don't use the condioner with the treatment shampoo, its instead of it:)

[Flossy]

There are heaps of other ways to treat lice, tea tree oil is great for it, and simple conditioner.

TBH, no one in my family has had lice for 20 years (the last one was me in primary school), but with kids in school I do lots of preventative measures (head checks, tea tree spray every morning).

Google it, and you'll find more 'hair friendly' ways of dealing with the little critters, if you do have them.

Good luck.

[oktobergoud]

I have been in the same situation and thought I had lice FOR WEEKS. I even combed my hair with those special nitcombs twice, and in the end I never had lice to begin with. It was just the paranoia that was driving me crazy, I thought my head was itching EVERYWHERE, drove me nuts!
And my friend actually was infested! (I didn't really hug her but we came close to talk at a loud concert and stuff).

So, no worries, you'll be fine! I'm sure you don't have lice :)

I have to say that my head immediately starts to itch again hahaha!

[MonaLisa]

I've had lice for like a month at least. I thought the itchiness was caused by all possible other things until they were all over my head..
I used dimethicone and mineral oil treatment, spray which suffocated them within 15 minutes and then used shampoo with tea tree thing and combed out the eggs with lice comb..
I did it 3 times, once a week, they seem to be gone.

Thing you might want to know is that nobody in my family caught them, and also DBF seems to not have any, even though we are very very close every day and he has longish hair :)

So calm down, most likely you don't even have them, and even if you do...there are gentle ways that really work...for removing them :)
My hair has looked/felt great after those treatments.
Don't use medical shampoo or insecticides, they aren't best solution at all anymore, and especially if you aren't sure you have lice

[Alvrodul]

One thing that the others haven't mentioned, is that lice really prefer to set up shop in well-washed hair, I think that the sebum in oily hair makes it more difficult for the critters to place their eggs.

[Elysium]

You could henna your hair, it apparently kills head lice and is probably gentler than medicated shampoos etc
http://www.mehandi.com/shop/headlice/index.html

[umbrellabones]

Mayonnaise!! Saturate your entire head with a THICK amount of mayonnaise then cover your head with a shower cap, plastic wrap, plastic bag or whatever you prefer. Then leave it in for as long as you can stand it. It'd be best to shoot for about six to eight hours. Then shampoo it all out. done! Plus there are a lot of people that use mayo for hair treatment, so your hair might be happy too(:

[Anje]

Relax. It'll be OK.

So you had Day 2 hair. Does that mean you wore it up or down??? How you had your hair is what's relevant.

First, educate yourself a bit on the lice lifecycle and biology. They don't jump at all; they're not fleas. Headlice.org (http://www.headlice.org) is a good resource. You need to space treatments appropriately, so you're not dealing with more than necessary and so you get all the buggers.

Second, know that many lice are resistant to insecticides, not to mention it's really rough to nit-comb hair afterward. And it's hard on your hair and scalp.... One of the preferred methods I've seen is smothering them. You can use olive oil, mayonnaise, conditioner, whatever. Leave it on for several hours, then detangle hair, then nit comb. Obviously, you don't want to try to rake an ultra-fine comb through un-detangled hair -- that'll just cause damage and frustration.

Chances are, any adults you got have been killed at this point. So relax. Keep your nit comb just in case, but assume that if there were any to begin with, they're gone now. Do a few checks in the coming weeks, to be absolutely sure, but I think you're probably safe.

[Alaia]

Lice aren't that bad. Don't worry.

Just do the conditioner thing and use the comb. You'll be fine.

[Auburn_locks]

You could try a dimeticone treatment as previously mentioned. It suffocates lice and there aren't any nasty insectisides in it. Bear in mind that it doesn't deal with nits (the eggs) so you will have to repeat the treatment about 7 days later so that you catch the hatched lice BEFORE they are mature enough to reproduce and lay more eggs. The tea-tree oil suggestion is also good :)

Don't worry - as far as I know, lice do not damage hair they are just annoying and itchy. Just be gentle if using a nit-comb!

[Messyhair]

The only way to get rid of them is to use lots of condioner and use a nit comb to comb them out, while conditioner is on your hair. Do this every day for 2 weeks and then they will be gone:D This is the only thing that worked on my daughter when she was little, and she had waist length hair:D
The lice shampoos are rubbish, lice have become resistant to them. You could try it if it makes you feel better, but honestly I would try the conditoner/nit comb method:D

I second this. We sell lots of lice treatment shampoo in the pharmacy, but I have to warn the customers every time that lice are fairly resistant to the common treatments now, and smothering them in conditioner and combing out the eggs is the best strategy.

[Redheadedweirdo]

I Found another thing that works, it has neem in it and it is called Thereneem Organix from organixsouth.com. I got a 12 oz (360ml) bottle from Wild Oats here in Salt Lake. I put it in my hair after only misting my hair and then put in in my daughter's real thick hair, mine is way thinner. I waited about 4 hours and took a shower. My head is still a bit irritated a day later. My daughter took her shower and she was grossed out by the bugs and stuff falling out of her hair in the shower. I checked her hair and the eggs i did see slid easily with my fingers. I didn't even need to use my nails. I have found what works with us. The bottle was about 12.99 usd, ugh. not working and a week before school too. but so far it works and my hair feels good. i am a CO so I was a but surprised my daughter found a bug and a few eggs.

[allycat]

The only way to get rid of them is to use lots of condioner and use a nit comb to comb them out...

Not true! This is the newest method and it's not the toxic pesticide type. (If you have kids, bookmark it for future reference ;-) )

My family (3 with long hair) got lice last year and I totally freaked out having never had it before. The itching was insane. Our doctor prescribed this new non-toxic treatment. http://children.webmd.com/news/20100225/new-treatment-effective-in-killing-lice

People: 10 minutes on your head. NO need to comb for nits. Repeat 7 days later. That's it. Period. End of story. (I used a 3rd time to be safe, because really, what could be easier than a lotion on your head for 10 minutes.)

This summer when my son came home from camp with lice and I noticed that tell-tale itching on myself, I didn't even bat an eye. Picked up the Ulesfia, 2 simple treatments. Done.

Seriously. Simplest treatment ever. Don't fear the lice!

[MemoryXIII]

Even with long hair, if you take good care to watch for it, you won't catch it/it won't spread. Plus, I learned if you straighten your hair, you are less likely to let lice spread and might actually kill them off. I know that was probably some newbie advice, but it's what I heard. Haha.

[Willow]

Two of my children had lice and the rest of us never got them. I didn't even treat all the furniture either as I had read that it was pointless. I'd say your chances of catching them from that encounter are pretty slim.

[oktobergoud]

I've been in the same situation and thought my head was itching for weeeeeks, but that was all 'in my head'. I never had lice! And I even hugged someone who was infected! It's annoying though because it will keep on itching, but that's only the thought! Sigh.. it is annoying, but I'm sure you won't have it :)