Lice

[Janeway]

Gross!

Sometime earlier in the fall, early October I think, daughter's best friend's dad texted us first thing in the morning she has lice. They must have already known for a few days and treated it as the little girl was at something later that same day. I checked daughter, having no clue what to look for, and she had no sign of it.  I checked everyone else in the house and no one had any sign of it. The next day, in the evening, while shopping, daughter said her head itched really bad. I looked and could see obvious lice. I took her home quickly and scoured the internet on how to treat it. I bought the lice shampoo and followed the instructions. In the end, it made no difference. Then, I was told by the friend's  parents to use this wine. We did not have it in our local stores so I bought apple cider vinegar and did a comb out with conditioner and baking soda. I combed out a few more times over the next while and two weeks later, no sign at all of the lice. Then, another week later (so more than three weeks after starting treatments), it seemed to come back. We treat again and decide to discontinue all playdates and cub scouts and such. This time, I check it pretty much every day. By the week before Thanksgiving, it had been a couple weeks with seeing nothing. Then, on the week after Thanksgiving, daughter is itching again. And I am. Check and I have lice and daughter does. Disaster! Husband does not believe me when I tell him the hair has to be combed through. I figure she saw her friends the days leading up to the week of Thanksgiving and did not stop cub scouts until then and all her best friends are in cub scouts and they all have long hair, so I am figuring this is where it is coming from. And I decide to check all the kids again. I find at this point that the 10 yr old and the 18 yr old have lice. In fact, the 10 yr old had it so bad that it was like looking at a nightmare. 18 yr old barely had it. We treated everyone. I continue to comb out and check for, not long enough. Son had Nutcracker two weekends in a row and my husband did not want to do any of the comb outs as he did not think it was neccesary. Each time, we washed everything. We have not rewashed the carpet since the first go around. 

Yesterday, daughter comes to me and tells me her neck itches. I look and it is red. I check her for lice and yep, she has it again!!! And remember how no one combed out my hair? Yep..I have it. At this point, I send my husband links about how we must do the comb throughs. He is now taking me seriously. Everything is being washed..again. I have told him we will comb out every single family member, at minimum, on the schedule on that UK site. http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/  We MUST rid of it this time! Each time, I find one more thing I should have done. Please tell me what, if anything, I am missing this time. I have done everyone's hair. Except my 15 yr old. He won't let us touch his hair, but when he gets home tonight, I plan to take away his phone and everything until he lets us. Our house is about 4000 square feet. Is it worth tearing everything apart again to wash all the carpet and rugs? We also have this poison we sprayed on the mattresses previously, should we keep doing that? This has been taking up my entire days. My husband took off extra days over multiple weekends now so we could rip the house apart and scrub everything down. Should we do this again? Or just focus on the pillows and sheets? This has got to go away! I am so embarrassed and this is so gross. Oh, and we already called the doctor and they said we cannot get the prescription. 

 

 

[Scarlett]

I am so sorry.  Honestly it is the nits.  You have to get every. Single. Nit.  
 

I believe that is much more important than spraying the house with poison or putting all the stuffed animals in bags.  
 

if you don’t know how to get all the nits out consider a professional.  

[Janeway]

6 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

I am so sorry.  Honestly it is the nits.  You have to get every. Single. Nit.  
 

I believe that is much more important than spraying the house with poison or putting all the stuffed animals in bags.  
 

if you don’t know how to get all the nits out consider a professional.  

I think because I did not treat the whole family the first time around and did not realize it until the third time around..and then with the third time around, my son needed to be at Nutcracker every day for two weeks I dropped the ball with the nit combing. So this time, we are nit combing daily or close to daily and my husband is taking it seriously and doing it too. So this should solve the nit problem. 

[Terabith]

It’s faster and easier to hire a lice lady to do initial comb out.  Prescription shampoo helps; over the counter is worthless.  Or just shave everyone’s head.  Not even joking about that.  

[shinyhappypeople]

Ugh. 😞  We went through this last year and it took MONTHS to get it under control.  So gross!  Anyway, what finally worked was the Terminator Nit Comb  and Licefree Spray.   In between treatments, use tea tree oil and lavender in your hair (just leave it in for as long as you can stand it and wash it out).

Good luck. Lice are awful 😞

[Arctic Bunny]

NYDA. Best stuff ever.

[prairiewindmomma]

When we lived in TX, we ran in a circle with a perennial lice problem. (WAY EW, right!!)  We never got it, and my daughters have long hair.  Lice love freshly shampooed hair. 

I highly, highly recommend this stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tales-Rosemary-Conditioning-Prevention/dp/B000O7JK0A/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZmFpcnkgdGFsZXMgbGljZSBwcmV2ZW50aW9uIHNwcmF5-ac_d_rm&keywords=lice+spray&pd_rd_i=B000O7JK0A&pd_rd_r=3e27a3e2-7edb-4c47-addd-ad7fe490cef6&pd_rd_w=6mgpn&pd_rd_wg=799N1&pf_rd_p=6d29ef56-fc35-411a-8a8e-7114f01518f7&pf_rd_r=0CCVSB19GQJCSKYC8PCS&psc=1&qid=1577592737

We would put mousse into our dds' hair, then put it into a tight bun or braid and use the spray if we knew we were going into a potential contamination situation. We would also check the hair immediately after we got home, using a metal comb, and had a metal nit comb on hand. They never had nits, but other people in the same circle did. We kept our boys in buzz cuts, but if that wasn't an option, we'd use gel in their hair.  Essentially, don't leave the house with "clean" hair. 

TJ makes a nice tea tree oil shampoo, or you can put a few drops of lavender or rosemary oil into your shampoo and conditioner bottles and shake well.  

[Arctic Bunny]

Seriously, NYDA. A couple of hours with everyone in shower caps. Comb. Done. Repeat in the recommended time. Used in conjunction with the UK site recommended combing, to be sure, but not sure it was necessary.

[catz]

Ok, lice are pretty resistant to any product these days.  You need to to do a combing schedule with conditioner and a fine tooth metal nit comb.  Something like this though there are a few good brands/styles.  Plastic ones do not work. 

https://www.amazon.com/Free-Terminator-Lice-Comb-3-Pack/dp/B07H7S9GNV/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=nit+comb&qid=1577619387&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMVpCVDI2SjE4RUtTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDQ1NTkzMU8xVVAzRDNGMkdQWCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTIxODYwMTU5SjU5UDYxM0NXRyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Even if you see nothing on someone's head you should nit comb them with conditioner 2-3 times.  The UK combing schedule is excellent.  IF hair isn't too thick/textured, sticking to the even just the highlighted days should work well.  

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/

If a friend tells you they have lice and you are seeing nothing, nit comb a couple times anyway.  You just need to miss a single female ready to lay eggs to be 6-12 weeks from a major infestation.  Just because you see nothing doesn't mean there is nothing.  ETA - to be clear on cleaning, we used towels were kids were hanging out or laying the first few days and we changed pillow cases first few days.  When my daughter was younger, we bagged up her stuffies while we were treating.  That's all we did for cleaning.  They really cannot live off the head for very long and once you have the adults beaten down, the nits don't transfer.

We had lice twice here and was very successful with combing schedule.  We had several years between infestations.  We did minimal cleaning the first couple days until we we done seeing adult live lice.  If you have combed through and not gotten any live adults, you are not contagious even if you are needing to follow up with combing.  

I got to the point that after longer sleep overs, etc I would do a nit comb quickly just to be safe.  And have my daughter put her hair back for events le that.  We haven't had it in many years.  Though my head itches now.  LOL.  

Seriously, focus on the combing.  You need to comb at least through a life cycle to make sure you are getting any nits or eggs hatching out before they can breed.  Well timed follow up is key.  I felt like the conditioner greased up the hair shaft well and after several combs, nits would slide off easier.  Especially since you have not successfully got rid of them, I think you really need to keep up with the follow up with anyone who has had live lice on their head.  

Edited December 29, 2019 by FuzzyCatz

[CTVKath]

We had our first ever infestation about this time last year and we went to a lice specialist to get help since I had zero experience with lice. My 3 takeaways were these: (1) combing is key because you've got to get rid of every single nit and you need to follow a combing schedule; (2) at the beginning, you've got to comb and check everybody in the family and treat everyone with lice at the same time; and (3) that the lice leave a "good host!!" scent on your head that lasts about a month so we had a lice repellent spray to spray on our hair every time we left the house in the 30 days from the point of being "lice free".

So sorry you are dealing with lice. i hated it.

[Janeway]

10 hours ago, arctic_bunny said:

NYDA. Best stuff ever.

I have searched..I cannot get it in the US!! it is not sold here and Amazon does not have it.

[Janeway]

9 hours ago, arctic_bunny said:

Seriously, NYDA. A couple of hours with everyone in shower caps. Comb. Done. Repeat in the recommended time. Used in conjunction with the UK site recommended combing, to be sure, but not sure it was necessary.

Do you know of how to get it in the US?

[Janeway]

10 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

When we lived in TX, we ran in a circle with a perennial lice problem. (WAY EW, right!!)  We never got it, and my daughters have long hair.  Lice love freshly shampooed hair. 

I highly, highly recommend this stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tales-Rosemary-Conditioning-Prevention/dp/B000O7JK0A/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZmFpcnkgdGFsZXMgbGljZSBwcmV2ZW50aW9uIHNwcmF5-ac_d_rm&keywords=lice+spray&pd_rd_i=B000O7JK0A&pd_rd_r=3e27a3e2-7edb-4c47-addd-ad7fe490cef6&pd_rd_w=6mgpn&pd_rd_wg=799N1&pf_rd_p=6d29ef56-fc35-411a-8a8e-7114f01518f7&pf_rd_r=0CCVSB19GQJCSKYC8PCS&psc=1&qid=1577592737

We would put mousse into our dds' hair, then put it into a tight bun or braid and use the spray if we knew we were going into a potential contamination situation. We would also check the hair immediately after we got home, using a metal comb, and had a metal nit comb on hand. They never had nits, but other people in the same circle did. We kept our boys in buzz cuts, but if that wasn't an option, we'd use gel in their hair.  Essentially, don't leave the house with "clean" hair. 

TJ makes a nice tea tree oil shampoo, or you can put a few drops of lavender or rosemary oil into your shampoo and conditioner bottles and shake well.  

I will head to Trader Joes as soon as it opens! Thanks!!

[Joker]

When we had it, we went to one of those specialized places that use some sort of heat dryer and comb out (no weird shampoos or chemicals!). This was after trying the prescription from the doctor that didn't work. I didn't even wash anything other than sheets but it never came back. I was able to use our HSA card to pay and they guarantee it for 30 days and will check and retreat for free during that period. If we ever have it again that's what I'm doing. 

The one we used was called Heads Up Lice Removal but I think professional lice removal places are everywhere now.

Good luck!

Edited December 29, 2019 by Joker

[Arctic Bunny]

7 minutes ago, Janeway said:

Do you know of how to get it in the US?

Dimeticone seems to be available as LiceMD:

https://www.amazon.com/LiceMD-Head-Lice-Treatment-Kit/dp/B000ALBKTY

 

[madteaparty]

I just returned from Paris where lice in school seems to be a normal thing (seriously, the note went up outside the school door the second week of school “they have returned”). Now I was determined my DD wasn’t going to get them bc I had enough to deal with so what I did, and I have no idea if it worked but she never got them: that Rosemary spray linked above ( yes I brought it from the states, I was determined), and I would put a bit of coconut oil on her whole body including hair after bath. She also has short short hair (it’s what she wants). I did have that special comb too just in case but never had to use. 
I tried putting some tea tree oil on her collars but she drew the line there, it did smell strong.  Good luck!

[Storygirl]

When one of my kids had lice, I immediately took her to a professional lice treating salon. She had a treatment there, and we followed their advice for what to do at home, and we had no more trouble with it.

I suggest getting professional help at this point. Take your whole family to a specialty place. They will inspect all of you and treat anyone who needs it. It was expensive but worth it. We had a few days of annoyance, because we did a bunch of laundry (the salon said it was unnecessary, but we did it anyway), and then the ordeal was over. Since you have been dealing with it for months, it's time to pay someone to treat it for you, so you can kill them all and be done with it.

Lice do not live off of the head for long at all, so once all of them on your heads are dead, your household should not have any more problems with it.

[alisoncooks]

10 hours ago, shinyhappypeople said:

... Anyway, what finally worked was the Terminator Nit Comb  and Licefree Spray.    

This is very similar to the approach we used (with good results). I also started with a treatment of the heavy duty stuff from the pharmacy, and then was just diligent with brushing. 

However, if I'd treated and treated and was still having issues, I'd seek a professional. And I'd strip my house down and deep clean (high heat dry) everything. 

[Wheres Toto]

We had good results with conditioner, combing and the Fairy Tales spray.  I'd glob conditioner all over their hair, put it under a shower cap for about 30 minutes and then comb out.  I did this every day for about two weeks, then every other day for another week.  Fairy Tale spray and hair tied back for a while after too.