Headlice panic!

[Saranne772]

I just discovered about an hour ago that I have caught headlice off one of the children I care for at work! :( I had noticed itching but put it down to ezcema! :(

Currently condition combing. Any advice? I can't afford to buy anythhing for about a week.

[Anje]

You'd do well to get a nit comb, ideally metal, if you don't have one. Everything else can probably be done with what you have. Smother the buggers in conditioner or olive oil or mayonnaise. Detangle your hair with your lubricant/smotherer of choice still in there, then comb with a nit comb, making sure you really get the hair close to the scalp, where the live nits get deposited. You'll want to repeat the smother and comb treatment in about a week, after the next round may have hatched but before they can lay eggs/nits of their own.

I've heard lots of stories that vinegar makes removing the nits easier. Since I haven't gone through the ordeal since I was 8, I really couldn't tell you. Headlice.org is a good resource and has lots of information.

[AutomaticIris]

Oh that's terrible! I have read that vinegar can help. Maybe do a search online for vinegar or other homemade remedies. I must confess that just reading and thinking about lice has me feeling itchy..

[spidermom]

Yes-yes-yes! Vinegar helps a lot. You can even use it right out of the bottle. It makes combing the nits out about 500% easier.

[Maverick494]

You'd do well to get a nit comb, ideally metal, if you don't have one. Everything else can probably be done with what you have. Smother the buggers in conditioner or olive oil or mayonnaise. Detangle your hair with your lubricant/smotherer of choice still in there, then comb with a nit comb, making sure you really get the hair close to the scalp, where the live nits get deposited. You'll want to repeat the smother and comb treatment in about a week, after the next round may have hatched but before they can lay eggs/nits of their own.

I've heard lots of stories that vinegar makes removing the nits easier.

+ 1

This is probably the best route you can take. I have had to deal with a lot of lice during my childhood and even teens and this was the only thing that properly worked. And like the others said, def use the vinegar for nits, it is true what they say about it. Keep doing this routine every week until you're sure you're rid of them.

[ladonna]

I've heard of heavy oiling and then covering your head in plastic wrap for awhile helps.

[Quetiepi]

Dont forget to treat your bedding.

[Kitsu]

http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=49550

If this helps? I work in games retail so I'm pretty lice paranoid myself, have a lotta kids and "less savory" types come in and you can never be too careful

[jacqueline101]

Get mayonnaise put it thickly in your hair get a shower cap put on your head for about 3 hours remove the cap comb with regular comb to remove excess mayonnaise then rinse with white distilled vinegar. Comb with nit comb. Repeat in a week and use rosemary it repels them.

[gretchen_hair]

Just because someone appears to be *less savory* doesn't mean that they are at a higher risk of carrying lice than someone who looks, for a better lack of a word, *more savory*


http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=49550

If this helps? I work in games retail so I'm pretty lice paranoid myself, have a lotta kids and "less savory" types come in and you can never be too careful

[Kitsu]

Just because someone appears to be *less savory* doesn't mean that they are at a higher risk of carrying lice than someone who looks, for a better lack of a word, *more savory*


Ah that does make me sound pretty judgmental doesn't it :( But there are a few people who come into the store with little to no hygiene standards. I mean that make you feel physically ill.

[Saranne772]

Thanks for the advice, I washed my hair twice last night with coconut oil shampoo then smothered head in conditioner twice also to try to remove the lice with my metal nit comb. My head is still itching like crazy not sure if its the lice or a reaction to the teatree oil I put in my conditioner! Then I smothered my hair in coconut oil overnight.

I really hate headlice! :(

How do I know if I got all the lice out my hair? I am still itching like mad but I really can't tell the difference been the psychological itch, teatree itch and louse itch! :(

[Kitsu]

the best thing is to keep checking everyday, just comb through your hair with your comb every night before you sleep. Check behind your ears and the nape, that usually where they like to hide. Just be vigilant. They grow up in a week so you need to get them before they has more babies.

You might want to make yourself a repellent spray too, something tea tree or coconut to spray on your hair after styling. I see you are in the UK too, they sell coconut leave in conditioner in Bodycare for cheap and they sell a tea tree repellent spray aimed at kids. Maybe try something like that?

If you picked them up at work and you work in a school or daycare type place, it might be a good idea to get a letter sent to parents about the infestation as you don't want to get rid of them only to catch them again a week later.

[auburntressed]

As someone else already mentioned, don't forget to treat your bedding!

Also, if I were you, I'd wash all of your clothes in the hottest water that they can be washed in without ruining/shrinking them. If you have any brushes or combs, make sure you treat them as well. I believe boiling them in a pot of water for ten minutes will kill all the lice and eggs on them (that's how we did it when my family caught lice, anyways). That might ruin some types of combs or brushes, so check beforehand to see what kind of effect it would have.

Clean your house the best you can, and evaluate what to do about anything that is fuzzy, furry, or made of cloth. These things will be able to hide lice or eggs better than things with a smooth surface. Smooth-surfaced things ought to be able to be wiped down thoroughly without any further problems.

And don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't get rid of lice without cutting your hair! You can. It will take ten times as long combing out your nits, but you can still get rid of them if you are careful and scrupulous about it. A few more hours of treating and combing your hair is nothing compared to the years it could take to grow back.

[Saranne772]

Well although my head is still itching I have no live lice on my head currently. Will be checking daily for 2 weeks or so until I am sure that they are all gone!

When will the itching stop??!!

[GRU]

I'm going to be doing a clinical rotation as a school nurse this semester, and "lice checks" scare the bejeezus outta me. shudder:

Good luck with yours!

[jeanniet]

I'm going to be doing a clinical rotation as a school nurse this semester, and "lice checks" scare the bejeezus outta me. shudder:

Good luck with yours!
I used to have to do lice checks when I worked at a school. Not fun, but it went OK. At least most of the kids had clean hair! I think I only found lice once.

[creationsintime]

Remember you can put some things in a hot dryer for about an hour to kill lice if you are really desperate. We had a case here at home a few weeks ago when we had a little friend visiting. Her hair was the exact color of the lice eggs--dark brown-- but she had nearly no nits. Lots of adults. I can only guess that she got a large direct dose of adults from someone at school. I don't know how many I killed. I made a mixture of shampoo and essential oils and sent some home with her. Poor child! Her mother works so much she never even noticed them! Thought she just had itchy scalp. She is a natural curly girl, about the size wrapped around a pencil. Had to trim some of her dead ends to comb.
I have waist length hair, and she had been sleeping with me for two nights! I only found one adult on me, and have been using the homemade concoctions and coconut conditioner since then.
Recipe:
Rosemary oil, wintergreen oil, peppermint oil, pennyroyal oil (careful, can cause miscarriage), coconut oil, tea tree oil, sage oil, shampoo. Smells terrible!

[Rilig]

I don't know about lice specifically, but peppermint and rosemary repel bugs, including fleas.

[Xandergrammy]

I seem to remember reading someone on here about the best nit/lice comb to buy? A couple of female patients at work found a few of the little buggers in their hair, so I want to be prepared! Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Jean Stuart]

http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Professional-Stainless-Treatment-Removes/dp/B000HIBPV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328020247&sr=8-1

This nit come is amazing, also a drop of neem in your conditioner or spray bottle for long term use.

[MissHair]

Im so sorry to hear this. I only had lice once when I was a child and that lasted for more than 3 years, it was horrible. I even had to cut my long hair to shorter than shoulder lenght and the last resort was using lice shampoo for dogs - and it was the only product which actually helped!

I don't got much to add because alot of what's been said here is excellent but I can only suggest when you do ''checking'' that you bend your head on top of your bathtub to shake the lice off and see if any of the big ones fall down. Bathtubs are great because they are big and white so you can see them clearly. Also because you won't make a mess.

[Bagginslover]

2 spoonfuls each of neat tea-tree and neat eucalyptus oil in 100ml of olive oil will kill the lice, and the eggs! Both oils are toxic enough to pentetrate the eyys as well as killing the live lice. They are of course, also toxic to us if ingested, so no drinking it ;)

I have always repeated the treatment after 5 days, just to be sure too ;)

[wandlimb]

http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Professional-Stainless-Treatment-Removes/dp/B000HIBPV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328020247&sr=8-1

This nit come is amazing, also a drop of neem in your conditioner or spray bottle for long term use.

I second neem. I notice the OP is in the UK like me - I found it in some independent chemists or online. The best bit about neem is it unsticks nits and puts live lice off breeding (learnt all this from bitter experience with an ex).

[Anje]

Tea tree oil shouldn't make you itch unless you've got a sensitivity to it. But too much shampooing might, and that won't remove the buggers anyway. Smother, vinegar, comb, repeat.

I've read that the real killer for them isn't the washing machine but the dryer. Let your bedding tumble on the hot setting for a little while once it's dry and cook the bugs!

[Of the Fae]

Use henna if you want. It kills lice. DONT use the chemical shampoo! It messes your hair upo bad! Teatree oil in your collar will keep new lice away.

[Jean Stuart]

I second neem. I notice the OP is in the UK like me - I found it in some independent chemists or online. The best bit about neem is it unsticks nits and puts live lice off breeding (learnt all this from bitter experience with an ex).


Hahaha yeah that smell can put anybody off breeding.

[Moondancer77]

I've used oil for about 7 years now. Heavily oil your hair like you would if you were doing a treatment. Leave it in for about 2 or 3 days. Or at least wash then immediately put more in. Doesn't matter what kind of oil the point is that the oil kinda suffocates them. They can't attach their eggs to your hair because its so slippery.

[Mesmerise]

Haven't read everyone's responses BUT what I do for my kids is make up a mixture of cheap conditioner + tea tree oil + lavender oil. I slather it thickly in the hair, cover it with a shower cap and leave for a few hours, and then go through with a nit comb. In general, though, I've found that one treatment is usually enough as it seems to kill both lice AND eggs (although it's always wise to repeat after a week in case any of those babies survived).

It's cheaper and more natural than most louse treatments and it works!! It is definitely easier than trying to remove every nit by hand (my daughter has extremely fine, thick hair, and removing all nits with a lice comb is impossible...even months after she's been treated we'll still find "dead eggs" stuck to her hairs :rolleyes:).

[Isadora]

10 days ago my kids came home with lice too. there are lice warnings in school and kindergarten since 1 month. i was shocked i thought we wouldn't get lice ourselves :bigeyes:.

i hurried to the pharmacy, it was 9 p.m.! i had no time to get any informations, i just wanted to get rid off the lice quickly.
the pharmacist gave me a chemical stuff called Goldgeist. the ingredient is pyrethrum, it should kill the lice and the nits, but it didn't helped well the lice seem to resist. i comb out the hair of my kids every third day and found live baby lice on my daughters scalp. now i try dimet 20 it based on silicon oils to choke the lice and an ingrediant which destroys the chitinous exoskeleton. today i ll comb her hair again and will see.

i'd read in the internet of an new australian study that lice wasn't found in the bed and the caps of kids which had a lot of head lice. the lice don't like to leave the head. they only can move quickly on hairs and starve when they leave the head so you needn't clean, wash and desinfect eyerything. hope that's right :ponder:

however i washed the bedclothes, caps and coats ;)