Lice and long, thick hair...Help!

[Joker]

I really hope someone has some ideas for me.

 

Both dds have lice and they both have rather long hair. Youngest has thick hair as well. I'm having the hardest time getting the nits and things out. It doesn't appear that anything is alive any longer and the combs I have are pulling out some, but there is still stuff in there and I cannot get it out no matter how hard I try. It seems for every one I pull out, another ten show up.

 

We treated first with a prescription from the doctor. Since then we've been slathering on a mixture of coconut oil and tea tree oil and then wrapping their head up with a shower cap for several hours (they slept that way overnight). This morning I've combed youngest dd's hair and now she's in the shower. I will comb it again after and then plan on blow drying it out. I'll try going through again when it's dry to see if it's any easier.

 

Are there better combs online somewhere? Are there better ways to get it out? Please help!

 

 

[gingersmom]

Unfortunately you have to spend days picking things out of their hair. 

 

My daughter has long hair and we spent hours everyday for probably a week going through her hair till they were all gone. 

 

I put on thin rubber gloves, put the tv on and went to work. 

[kwickimom]

Unfortunately you have to spend days picking things out of their hair. 

 

My daughter has long hair and we spent hours everyday for probably a week going through her hair till they were all gone. 

 

I put on thin rubber gloves, put the tv on and went to work. 

This. I combed dd's hair every night for 2-3 hrs for 2 weeks.

 

If I had a professional lice removal service anywhere near me I would have paid them $1000 to do what they do. 

[arnold]

My kids had lice last winter, and my one daughter has long, thick, ringlet like curly hair.  We'd spend hours every night for almost two weeks, combing thru her hair.  I'd take a tiny amount of hair, comb thru it, look over it, check the under side, comb thru it again, and repeat it about a million times.  It's a pain in the butt but if you miss one of those nits and they hatch you have to start all over again.  The treatments don't kill the nits only the live bugs.  You have to "manually" pick out the nits,

[Scarlett]

It is the single biggest reason some homes keep lice all the time.  It takes a lot of effort getting out the nits. 

 

I have long hair and have had lice one time in my life.  If I had not had my mom to spend about 4 hours combing it out I don't know what I would have done.  I too would have paid a large sum of money to help with it.  It was a horrible experience.  Everytime I read about on these boards I start itching.  I just had my mom do a lice check on me a few days ago.  When she was a teacher she and a co-worker teacher did lice checks on each other at least once a week.

[Alyeska]

Tea Tree oil might do the trick.  This article says it kills nits as well as lice.

 

http://voices.yahoo.com/kill-head-lice-tea-tree-oil-5937604.html

 

 

[WagsWife]

We have had lice twice.  The first time, it was a month long ordeal---until I figured out that most meds DO NOT WORK.  You have to suffocate the live lice, pick out as many of the nits you can, and suffocate any new lice that hatch from nits that were missed. 

This is what I have learned:  Olive Oil,  vinegar, rat tail comb, hair clips, and a glass of water, is the best way to get rid of them. 
Day (or night) 1:  Saturate head with olive oil, cover with a lined shower cap and leave for hours.  I normally make them sleep in it.  Lice can hold their breath for long periods of time, so I recommend at least 8 hours over night.

Day 2: Wash out olive oil...will need to wash a couple of times to get the oil out, and then rinse hair with plain white vinegar (helps unstick the "glue" holding the nits onto the hair.)  Have child sit in a well lit area (we normally sit in front of a window or sliding door) and section off hair.  After hair is sectioned, take the pointy end of the rat tail comb, and use it to pick up very small layers of hair--small/thin enough that you can see through the layer.  As you pick it up with the comb inspect that layer from the top and the bottom.  Lay it aside, and pick up next layer.  If you see a nit (you will know it is a nit if it feels like it is glued on the hair...if it slides off with no effort, then it is not a nit) pull down the hair shaft to remove it, stick it in a glass of water.  Repeat until all hair has been gone through.  My girls all have very long thick hair, this takes about 2-3 hours per girl.  

Day 3 &4. Section hair, go through hair using the step above. 

Day 5: Repeat Day 1
Day 6: Repeat Day 2
Day 7: Continue with the combing if you are still finding nits...if not stop.

Day 10: Repeat Day 1 (just to make sure there are no little new lice babies running around.)

 

A lot of people worry about their house...don't!  It is more important to take care of the hair.  Lice can not crawl on anything other than a hair shaft, and they can only live without a human host 2-4 days.  So vaccum your couches and floors once a day, throw any bedding/clothing they use in the dryer when they get up...but too much beyond that is not needed.  I actually just restrict them to sleeping in one bedroom and I do not let them have access (or limited) to the others. 

 

A lot of people like/recommend fancy lice combs.  I bought a really nice expensive one the last go around...and hated it.  Ended up not even using it for a full section of hair, before I went back to my cheap rat comb. 

 

Whatever you do...DO NOT use the Cetaphil method on long thick hair.  I tried it last time--spent $60 on all the lotion, and thought I was going to die trying to comb through it enough to dry.  I ended up dousing their hair with olive oil the next day anyway.

[Joker]

Anyone heard of AirAlle? I started looking up services and there is a place nearby that does it and combs out all remnants when finished. I'm thinking it might be worth the money.

 

Here's one link I found.

 

http://www.remedylice.com/airalle.html

[gardenmom5]

I used the stuff from the drug store.  1dd had long thick hair, so I slathered with conditioner so I could comb through with the itty bitty comb that has teeth very close together so it will GET the nits off the hair shafts.  after each comb through, I rinsed the comb to get any nits off, and then started the next section.   I only did it twice at most.

[JonesinIndiana]

Best thing that worked for us, besides combing, was flat iron their hair everyday!  The heat kills them.  Put blankets, sheets, pillowcases, etc in washer and dryer everyday to kill nits with heat.  We also vacuumed the floor and furniture everyday.  It was a lot of work for 3 WEEKS!!!! :eek:  But we were lice/nit free after that.

[Kari C in SC]

I have heard listerine works very well with no combing involved.

[PeterPan]

Y'all are saints to put in so much effort!   :Angel_anim:   My mother had my hair cut off to get them out finally.  

[Joker]

Y'all are saints to put in so much effort!   :Angel_anim:   My mother had my hair cut off to get them out finally.  

 

That's what my mom did to me. I probably would do the same if my girls weren't both in middle school and care so much about their hair.

 

We're slowly getting through it, but what I really want to do is cut off the hair and burn down the house. :w00t:

[curlgirl]

First you have as much sympathy as I can send through the internet.  I am so sorry.  :grouphug:

 

Secondly this lady has eight daughters and says this works: http://inashoe.com/2013/09/how-to-get-rid-of-head-lice/

 

Hope you can get rid of those suckers!

[2_girls_mommy]

You have my sympathy.  We have dealt w/it recently.  I had a thread on here a little over a month ago looking for advice if you can find it.  Don't know if it was tagged or not.  But it was very helpful to me.  Even w/all of the work we put in, we still got it again about a month later when I thought we were in the clear and had to start over again.  So we did again, and we will keep doing it.. It is a LOT of work.  All of the daily washing of everything and the combing combing combing...  Not a memory I will treasure LOL

[gingersmom]

 

 

 

 

Whatever you do...DO NOT use the Cetaphil method on long thick hair.  I tried it last time--spent $60 on all the lotion, and thought I was going to die trying to comb through it enough to dry.  I ended up dousing their hair with olive oil the next day anyway.

 

I think I went through a gallon of olive oil and my son still had lice. Plus I also had professionals go through his hair and he still had them. 

 

I dumped a bottle of Cetaphil soap on his hair, blow dried and we never saw another disgusting lice again.

[Starr]

Cetaphil treatments, then put on a movie, turn up the lights and comb, comb, comb.  :grouphug: