Can head lice just disappear?

Question

My daughter has had an continuing infestation of head lice for a while now, & I tried numerous teqnichues but the blighters would not budge! As she is nearly 14 she was always hesitant with me constantly nit combing her hair, and she assured me she would do it herself. I later found out she wasnt at all and to my dismay she bought glued in hair extensions, i thought that now with a hell off a lot more hair the problem would just get worse but....when she took the extensions out we could not seem to find any head lice in her hair or her extensions, i do not no why, could it be the fact everyday she blasts her hair with 230 degree hair straighteners everyday or that she used baby oil to get rid of the glue, could that also got rid of the lice? i have checked her hair and i cant even see any eggs! wheras before she couldn't even wear her hair up because the eggs were so noticable.

I am confused beyond belief can anyone possibly shed some light on this issue?

thanks.

Lou x

Answer 1

Oh ,you have all my sympathy
If I could have one wish, it wouldn't be to be a millionaire, it would be for the entire species of headllice to be removed from the planet earth.
The worse thing I have found, is when you are sure they're all gone, and you can't see a thing, and then-they come back!!!

Perhaps the person who did her hair extensions gave her a very thorough comb through. And I have heard oil/conditioner can suffocate them.
I used an organic pesticide " Neem Oil " and put it on both of our hair for about 3 weeks, along with daily, or after 2 weeks every other day nit combing. This worked , and we had a nit free Summer, and winter ( I used it as a pomade, to put on her hair every day-but it did smell a bit, and put off the others from playing with her)
Then at the end of last term-we got them again.
They start off extremely small, they shed their skin 6 times before they become adult. The signs you have them (even when you can't see them ) are an itchy neck , and itchy head and each time they shed their skin to grow ,they leave a tiny exoskeleton on the hairthey were on, youu notice it as awhite fleck about 1 inch from the scalp, and it could be easily mistaken for dandruff!
Good Luck, I will be very interested to see how it turns out for you....I'm currently using a combi of conditioner & combing with an electronic Zapper, for when I can't do a wet comb. My Daughter's hair is fine; but I'm not-just being very careful not to make head contact with her or anyone....

M : (

Answer 2

No, they don't just disappear but they have probably all been killed by the hot straighteners. Also the baby oil will act like a good conditioner and make the hair difficult for the eggs to stick to and very easy to comb out, thus breaking the cycle. I'll have to remember that one!
My daughter had them a couple of years ago and I tried several different types of lice shampoo but none worked. In the end I literally had to pick them all out. I'd spend half an hour every day combing through her hair til I could find no more. It was the only way.

Answer 3

Nice and Clear headlice lotion eradicates lice and their eggs, is quick and easy to apply. Nice'nclear aids removal of eggs in four easy steps: 1) Wash hair with normal shampoo, towel dry. 2) Apply Nice 'n Clear. 3) Remove lice and eggs with a lice removal comb. 4) Dry hair naturally. Do not rinse Nice 'n Clear out. Best results are achieved when steps 1-4 are repeated twice weekly for 2 weeks.

Answer 4

o my goodness iam going to get my daughter (11) hair extensions and take them out with baby oil...

shes had an infestation of head lice since she was two and can only wear her up in certain styles....(theres that many that when she sleeps they lift her out of bed and carry her around the room)lol

seriously i have had all kinds of shampoos from chemist and nothing gets rid of the eggs, i use plenty of conditioner and comb through it atleast three times a week ....
to get rid of the biddys is easy its the eggs that are glued to the hair!!!!!

to be honest it the other parents and children who dont keep on top of getting rid of them and then they just keep spreading...

hope your daughter stays nit free from now on

Answer 5

my daughter had terrible head lice for 4yrs. didnt matter what we did we could only get rid of any live ones, and the egg prob was the same....root to tip white blobs :( she asked me before christmas if she could dye her hair and i thought why not....must have been the ammonia i guess but beautiful clear hair now :) shame cant be used on primary school children!! :s my point being...maybe it was something the extensions had been treated with or something in the glue?

Answer 6

i would say it was the baby oil. when i was a kid i was terrified (odd i kno) of the chemical nit treatments so my mum used to use tons of thick conditioner and a lice comb which always worked. the eggs and lice arent able to stick to the hair so they get pulled out by the comb...sounds to me like this could be the answer.
for future reference...if you mix equal pars of lavender oil and tea tree oil in a spray bottle and spritz hair..you wont have any more problems. its a natural lice preventative.

Answer 7

I have not heard of them just disappearing only I know if you use a good conditioner and comb through they are easier to get rid of so maybe it's the baby oil or the straighteners. Lucky her only keep checking.

Answer 8

It was the use of the oil which killed them.
All through my children's schooling and now my grand daughter's; none of them has ever had head lice.
And there were always head lice alerts at their schools.

We have African hair and putting oil in our hair is normal.
This is the reason most Africans don't catch head lice.

Answer 9

theres alot of mifs about the little blitters they dont just dissapear just got wiser glue , baby oil maybe but the straightners dont go to the roots where the eggs live hair extentions glue really wiffs maybe but did she get the extentions done in a hairdressing salon they should have noticed the headlice when putting them into her hair
if all else fails get someone other then yourself to do a head inspection,MAYBE they just moved heads

Answer 10

I am sure that I read somewhere that putting olive oil on the scalp could actually suffocate the lice so maybe this is the case , I will try this myself next time one of mine has a problem.