whats the best cure for head lice?

Question

My daughter keeps getting head lice, i have tried everything but nothing seems to work long term....ive used all the potions ther is goingf, also conditioning treatments for weeks on end, but nothing seems to be working.....help its starting to get her down

Answer 1

nix plus you must clean EVERYTHING.. wash all linens in the entire home in HOT HOT HOT water.. all stuffed toys same way.. or freeze them.. also the carpets need to be steam cleaned or sprayed with insectiside... the eggs are what need to be destroyed

Answer 2

Best cure ever is tea tree oil mixed with straight vodka. I swear to you it works.

make enough to soak the full scalp and comb through the hair. leave on for 15-20 mins and then rinse thoroughly. Nits by this time will be dead.
Then apply a generous amount of any kind of hair conditioner, comb through then use a nit comb at this point to remove any eggs.
Once you are happy that the job is done, rinse well and use a mild shampoo to wash (baby shampoo)

As a deterrent, mix water with a solution of the tea tree oil and vodka,( weak solution) and lightly spray above the head each morning.
I did not believe this would work but it does and a menthol smell is better than the usual shop bought remedies. Leaving conditioner in maybe one a week is a good deterent too, it makes the hair shaft to soft and slippery for nits to attach to. Babs

Answer 3

If you keep getting it, go to your dr. and insist on something stronger than the over the counter stuff. They have something, but they don't like to prescribe it b/c it's just like real bug spray (pyre-something).

Anyway - once you get rid of it, keep your child's hair in braids and use a leave-in-oil conditioner (like VO5 hair oil) the oils will prevent the lice from coming back. In the mean time, BLEACH what you can and WASH IN HOT WATER EVERYTHING, including all her beddings and stuffed animals. Even the ones that are clean. You could bag her stuffed animals that can't be washed in large plastic bags. Find out the life span and egg cycle of the lice and keep the toys and your child's hair in the braids with the VO5 for that time span. Of course take her hair down and wash it, but put it back in braids and keep the V05 or hair oil in it. The lice don't like the oils and can't "cling" to the hair.

Do it long enough to gain control of the problem.

Good luck ! I don't think there's anything worse! :(

Answer 4

Just had this problem too!
I used Hedrin to get rid of the lice after trying every other one on the market. You must do it again a week later to kill off any that were eggs the first time.
Now I use tea tree oil shampoo and that makes the hair slinky and the lice can't latch on.
3 weeks later we are nit free again.
God i've started itchng again - yukkkkk

Answer 5

This is a tough one as the lotions etc change all the time as the lice build up a resistance. I would keep her hair clean and short, comb it with a nit comb regularly and ask your pharmacist what the latest and best treatment is. Its pretty normal in primary school children unfortunately and my kids were getting them all the time. Head lice don't like clean hair tho. At one point i used to use hair lacquer on my kids hair purely to keep the lice away. Good luck.

Answer 6

I AM SO SORRY TO HEAR YOUR DAUGHTER IS SUFFERING FROM THESE LITTLE BLEEDERS....I TRIED , LIKE YOU , MANY REMEDIES... HERE IS THE ONE THAT WORKED FOR US.

TEA TREE OIL.....I SHAMPOOED THE HAIR AND CONDITONED IT....COMBING THROUGH THE HAIR WITH THE CONDITONER IN PLACE...THEN RINSED OUT THE STUFF..
AFTER THIS I THEN PUT SOME ( VERY EXPENSIVE) PURE TEA TREE OIL ONTO THE HAIR...BE CAREFUL OF THE EYES WITH THIS...AND DEPENDING ON THE AGE OF UR DAUGHTER YOU MIGHT WANT TO DILUTE IT A LITTLE.
THEN WORK THIS INTO THE ROOTS AND ALL OVER THE SCALP...
WASH IT OFF AFTER A FEW MINS...
LICE HATE IT.....
DO THIS A FEW TIMES A WEEK....

ALSO PLEASE SEE THE SCHOOL REGARDING A LETTER TO ALL PARENTS...TO LET THEM KNOW THAT LICE ARE PREVELANT...IF UR DAUGHTER IS BEING TREATED AND KEEPS GETTING RE-INFECTED IT MEANS THAT SOMEONE IS NOT TREATING THEIR CHILD...AND THAT IS UNFORGIVEABLE....

ALSO A LITTLE NOTE .....TEA TREE IS AN ANTISEPTIC TOO SO CAN BE USED IN MANY WAYS....SO ALWAYS KEEP SOME HANDY FOR STINGS CUTS ETC...ALSO USE FOR CLEANING ...I DO....MY KTICHEN SPARKLES....LOL.....AND SMELLS NICE TOO ONCE YOU GET USED TO THE SMELL...

Answer 7

Hello. When my son was one he had nits!! I was horrified and didn't know how to treat this. So ui called my GP, she advised me not to use the solutions, as nits can become resistant towards them, and may not dissapear.
She suggested the best way to remove nits is to buy a nit come, and every night put conditioner on your childs hair (this makes it easier to comb through) and thouroughly run the nit come through. The comb breaks the nits backs, and kills them. You must do it everyday for at least a week, to allow for the eggs to hatch though.
Then once the nits are finally gone, just use the nit comb maybe once or twice a week to keep them at bay.
My mum is a headteacher, and sometimes caught nits off the children,but she now uses this technique and never gets nits any more. Good luck!

Answer 8

The only thing that REALLY works is cutting her hair VERY short. Lice thrive in long hair, because of the heat generated there, especially behind the ears, and the upper neck area. My eldest son kept getting lice until I kept his hair VERY short (3 mm), - it works, but I gather it will be a struggle for both you and your daughter to cut off her hair like that. One bit of advice, thought: Remember to make sure your daughter KNOWS that getting lice has nothing whatsoever to do with UNCLEANLINESS. Actually lice prefer to live in very clean environments; but kids can be cruel, and might claim that she's "yuckie" because she has lice.

Answer 9

Try using a 24 wash hair colour (semi perminant). Although if using on a young child I would check with a hair salon first to make sure it would be ok.
Hair dyes will kill off lice and seems to prevent them returning for quite some time. So my friend has found anyway!

Answer 10

An effective remedy is quassia chips - this is the bark of the tropical tree Picrasma excelsa - it contains a natural insecticide. Boil it up in water for ten minutes (one ounce per pint) and strain. Apply to the hair after shampooing and leave for 5 minutes, then rinse and apply conditioner and comb through. This doesn't kill the eggs so you will have to repeat in 7 days.
As other people have said tea tree oil is effective in preventing reinfestation.

Answer 11

top marks solution is oily but works really fast, and you only do it once, then check again after a week and repeat if necessary. however, if you seem to never get rid of them it may be reinfection is the problem, ie someone at her school may have them and keep reinfecting everyone, its a delicate issue to broach , but may stop your and many others dilemas.my boyfriends daughter repeatedly got them and it was driving him crazy, with all the repeated treatments and constant checking, then we discovered that a friend at school had them and they were not even aware that they did.even a doctor prescibed a steroid cream for her itchy head not even bothering to check for them! and they were enormous, she must have had them for over a year.hope you do find the source of reinfection as the treatments you have tried are bound to work, and i am sure that your daughter will feel better soon,tell her that they only like clean healthy hair,and i am sure she has lovely hair.