HELP I need advise on Head Lice!?

Question

My daughter has had them since June. We seem to get rid of them then a couple of days later they are back. We have used the lotion so many times that the doctor won't prescribe it. We wash and iron her bedding every few days and wash her coats and the cushion covers on the settee every 4-5 days. For the last 3 weeks we have also been using tea tree shampoo and conditioner. The doctor is informing the school nurse but we are just sick of them.

Does anyone know how long it takes for the eggs to hatch and how long each louse lives for?

Answer 1

We have treated head lice at our house successfully with over the counter head lice shampoo. If your doctor won't prescribe a lotion, maybe there is something else he can suggest instead. Anything used to treat head lice contains pesticides and you don't want to use any of them for extended periods of time. Treat everyone in the family with the shampoo on the same day. Does your daughter have stuffed animals or throw pillows on her bed? If so, wash those that can be machine washed and put those that can't in a large garbage bag, seal tight and leave for 2 weeks. Also, be sure to vacuum your car, her car seat, and any other cloth seat where any of your heads touch. If she likes to lay on the floor, keep that vacuum as well. When washing clothing items, use as hot of water as you can. Wash towels after each use in hot water as well. Get rid of all your hair brushes and combs and buy new ones. Vacuum your mattresses, wash or replace your bed pillows. Don't forget to wash her blankets and her bedspread. Washing everything in hot water and than machine drying should kill all the lice on those items. When we had a lice problem, we took one whole day, washed everyone's hair in the lice shampoo then went through the house and vacuumed and washed everything that we even suspicioned could have lice on it. The next week, we did the very same thing. It was very time consuming, but it took care of the lice. Perhpas your daughter is not being reinfested at home, but at a friend's home or at school. Tell her not to share anything - combs, brushes, hats, towels. Does she have her own locker for her coat at school or do the coats hang next to each other on hooks? If she has to hang it on a hook, see if she can hang it on the end or perhaps she'll be allowed to keep it some where else during the day

The lice eggs, called nits, take about 1 week to hatch. Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person's head. They can also live off of a host for 1-2 days.

Answer 2

Get the metal Rid combs, then wash hair but don't use conditioner. Coat hair in olive oil for 8 hours or overnight (use a shower cap), then coat hair with corn starch to soak up the oil, then shampoo with dish soap over the sink not in the tub. Follow with a regular shampoo and conditioner. Don't rinse out the conditioner. While the hair is still wet, comb through with a wide toothed comb, then follow with the metal nit comb. Rinse and wipe off the comb after every pass. Do this in front of the TV, it can take a couple of hours. Once you feel confident that you've gotten everything out, let the child rinse their hair, and if it still feels a bit oily, wash it again. Continue with the condition/comb routine every night for at least 21 days then at least weekly forever.

To the olive oil, you can add some rosemary extract and the tea tree oil. Continue with the regular bedding change but don't forget about stuffed animals and car seats. Do not use spray. This is unnecessary exposure to pesticides. Thorough washing and vacuuming should be enough, and for the things that can't be washed, bag for 3 weeks. Lice can only live 24-48 hours off the head and the nits can live up to a week or two. It takes up to 10 days for an egg to hatch. While on the head the louse has about a two month life cycle

http://ohioline.osu.edu/b893/b893_3.html

My sis-in-law used this on her daughter. It turns the nits into a bright color so you can be sure you got them all: http://neonnits.com/

Here's the comb that I was talking about. It wasn't rid (sorry it's bee a while) and it is $10 but it really works the best: http://www.neonnits.com/store/index.php?cPath=21

Answer 3

Poor you - I remember being in exactly the same position a few years ago with my son. He just seemed to have them permanently. The problem is that there is a proportion of children whose parents don't care enough to deal with the problem, and schools aren't allowed to send children home with them anymore.

In our case the lotions just did not work as the lice became resistent to the chemicals. The only way I found was to put conditioner in his hair every other day and use the nit comb. That way, if he did have one louse on his head I would be able to get rid of it before it had a chance to lay an egg.

I'm not sure how long they live, etc - but I do know that the NHS direct website has some good info on it about this issue.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Buy one of those over the counter shampoos and use the nit comb on her hair everyday. Also, has everyone else in the house been checked? If not, they may be reinfecting your daughter. Wash her bedding as often as possible. Also, stuffed animals are a hiding place for lice. Either tie them all up in a garbage bag for about three months or throw them in the washing the machine. (Really, it just takes forever to dry.) Anything that comes in contact with her hair must be cleaned after use. Hats, ear muffs, combs, hair accessories. Also, the school should do a check of all students to make sure she's not being reinfected there.

Here is a website with tons of great info.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/conditions/a/head_lice.htm

Hope that helps. Take care.

Answer 5

They hatch 1-2 weeks after the eggs are laid. The adult lice can live up to 3 days off the scalp. My daughter had them when she was little. I did the over the counter treatment, picked out the eggs from her hair one by one (took a long time) and washed everything she came into contact with. Anything that couldn't be washed I put into garbage bags and sealed tight for a week or so. That was long enough to kill any adults that may have been lurking about. Even after they were gone I repeated the over the counter treatment just to be sure... I even treated myself just in case...

Answer 6

I had the same problem when my daughter was younger. I eventually didnt use any lotions but combed through using nit comb during conditioning of her hair. I then left conditioner in over 48 hours as lice are unable to feed while the hair is so greasy - just plaited it for school so it didnt look to bad. I did this weekly (and still do) and have had no problem since - Good luck x

Answer 7

Hi,
We had a similar problem here. We tried all the chemicals, freezing pillows etc etc, but after 3 months of head lice (yes, I felt quite gross) it was finally sorted ot by a herbal tincture called Delacet (do search on google to find your nearest stockist).

It smelt wierd,was very runny, but worked on first application. I have got very long, very tight curls, so head lice was a real problem, so I mixed the stuff with conditioner before combing it through, but if your hair is short or straight you might not need to do this.

After the little buggers had gone, I now add a little tea tree oil to a water mister and squirt on in the morning, so they don't come back...so good so far...

Good luck!

Answer 8

Comb her hair out. Wash her hair, put leave in conditioner in, and plenty of it, twist her hair round in a ponytail and leave to dry naturally. (It will look greasy, but that doesn't matter).The lice can't stick to the hair and will slide out of it. You will have to keep combing the eggs out. To prevent the Lice, the same applies, use a leave in conditioner. You can also buy a Lice comb that send a tiny electric pulse to the lice and kills them.

Lice live behind the ears and the back of the head just above the neck because its warm there. Thats why typically it is girls who get head lice. Lice also like thick hair, for the same reason, because its warm. Once you have got rid of the lice take her to the hairdresser and get her hair cut in a bob, quite short at the back. Making her less of an appeal to the lice.

Answer 9

What you need to do is concentrate on the head hair of all of the family.

Overload the hair with conditioner and comb through with a nit comb from front to back and then from side to side. Shampoo as normal using a teatree shampoo. Repeat twice a week for two weeks and weekly after that.

Answer 10

I sympathise, we struggled with them for years, but don't despair - I found a solution! It's called the Nitty-Gritty comb. The teeth are close enough together to get out the eggs as well. Use it with conditioner every couple of days and she will be clear in a fortnight. You must wipe off the lice and eggs with a tissue after every swipe through the hair. It worked for us! You can buy it on-line.