Help head lice!!!

[heatherlynnky]

We have used tea tree oil and olive oil. We got them one time. Everything and I do mean everything got either fumagated or washed in hot water. What could not fit in a washer was bagged up and fumagated and left in the garage for 3 days with repeated "gassings". The little carpet that was down got powdered and left for 12 hours and then vacuumed . The couches were either wiped down or also gassed and wrapped in plastic . ( I don't like bugs and did not appreciate the gift someone gave us)

Everyone had their hair "washed" in olive oil that had a strong dose of tea tree oil in it. Then on went the shower camps. No one was allowed to wash it out for 12 hours. THEN out came the lice combs and everyone was combed till nothing more was found. THEN they wash with a shampoo that was heavily dosed with tea tree oil. After that I just always add tea tree oil in. The kids will sometimes get spritzed with it if we are visiting a public school or anywhere that is a bit more risky. Like ballet performances for my daughter and all the girls sharing brushes UGGG and costumes. Yep she stunk of tea tree oil and I did not care one bit. BTW I should mention there is no way i could survive with them longer than a day. It totally freaked me out and I could think of nothing else. I was OCD cleaning for weeks after this.

The key to lice is to be very very thorough. You cannot leave anything untreated. You clean until you want to die and maybe by then your hair will have been in the oil for 12 hours. The oil suffocates the little buggers AND makes it a bit easier to get them all out. Those combs are heck on hair but the oil made it easier. I ended up doing one treatment. There was never anymore after, no weeks of treatments. Now everyone is just very careful. I even put tea tree oil in a spritzer and spritz coats and hats.

 

[hqueen13]

<3 Mike Rowe, now I have to go find that youtube, Emerald!!

So far today, after the 2nd dose of baking soda with Theives/eucalyptus/Tea Tree in it, my head is itching even less. So that seems to be working, and as a bonus, my sinuses are clear after the shower, too!

 

[Denim Deb]

Have you used anybody elses riding helmet, or did someone use yours? You didn't get them from the dog. Lice is host specific, so while dogs can get lice, you can't get them from them.

 

[hqueen13]

Nope, Deb, I haven't. I have no idea where they could have come from. It just doesn't make sense any way I think about it. I haven't really been around anybody else, particularly not on a consistent basis. At this point I've given up on figuring out where they came from.

The good news is that I'm really not itching anymore.
I altered my normal routine of using baking soda and vinegar for my hair just a little bit. To the Scoop (its an old oxyclean scoop, so probably 2 TBSP ish in size) of baking soda I added 4-6 drops of Theives Essential Oil blend, Maleleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree), and Eucalyptus Globulus Essential Oils each to the baking soda, and shook it up good before I added water. I use an old spice bottle to add water, and then pour it over my hair. I scrubbed really hard (which felt good since my head was itchy!) and then left it in my hair while I soaped up. Once I rinsed it out, I put the cider vinegar in my hair. I usually use about 1 oz, but I used about 3-4 oz and then mixed with a little more water to pour over my head. I tried not to rinse it out too much before getting out of the shower. I don't use a hair dryer, so I just let my hair air dry. I applied a generous amount of coconut oil (I always rub in coconut oil, but I added a bit more) and then combed it with a fine toothed comb to try to get the boogers out of my hair. I stuck with the washing routine daily, and its been a little over a week since I last posted, and my head is no longer itching. I plan on continuing to add the essential oils to my baking soda for at least another week or so just to be on the safe side, and I'll probably cut back some on the vinegar, but continue to not rinse it out of my hair.
Yay for naturally handling things! I don't think I had a bad case of them anyway, so this wasn't too hard to deal with.

 

[Denim Deb]

I seem to recall that you can use mayo for lice. If I remember correctly, you put it on, massage it into your hair, then leave it in for 15 minutes or so B4 washing as normal.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My X boss, the pediatrician believed in the mayo treatment. You know it must be just me, but I never did very good with the nit comb. The nits would go thru the teeth. Once I'd find a nit, I'd hold it between my index finger and thumb nail and pull it out....hopefully gently. Then I'd just pop em between my 2 thumb nails. I'd do the same for the bugs, if I could catch em.
Honesly, hunting them all out and physically killing them myself has always been the best move where lice is concerned. You can spend all your money if you wanna on expensive treatments, but you will still have the problem, unless you get in there and remove all those critters.
I am sorry to say, I think I'm like a lice expert. Thats one good thing about homeschooling. I haven't seen a louse in years, and if I do, it won't take me long to determine where it came from.
I feel sorry for anyone who would be going thru what I went thru the year my oldest was in 4th grade. I knew the school had finally gotten serious the day they called me to pick up my daughter, due to lice. The whole front office was full of girls and one of them says,"Miss Rhoda, We all got it!!" while she shrugged. Looking back that was a good day for me. The day the school got serious. I was tired of picking nits ever few days.
But lets look at the bright side.....its not too far until summer vacation.

 

[Denim Deb]

Rhonda, I agree w/you 100%! My daughter got lice-even though we home schooled! She got them at a friend's house. And, the only way I got rid of them was by combing her hair every night while looking for the nits. I'd do like you and remove them. I also didn't do all the cleaning that everyone says to do. And, no one else got them. That was years ago, and I haven't seen a louse or a nit since.

 

[hqueen13]

Well, the guys were the ones combing my hair, and I don't know that they did a good job, but the rest of the treatments seemed to really work. That's why I don't think I had them THAT bad to begin with. Apparently the vinegar rinse was working in my hair fairly well on its own. We only found a few of the actual bugs and barely any nits (the guys couldn't decide what was a nit and what wasn't...) so I just decided to keep using the Essential Oils, and that seemed to take care of it, thankfully.
I still have no clue where I got them. Obviously I encountered them from somewhere... at this point I'm just glad they are gone!