Anybody got a good remedy for head lice? My daughter Leila, 9, came back from camp Saturday, and we discovered the little critters this morning. Vicki used a commercial product on her already, but this happened once before and we had to cut her hair to get rid of them. Now it's back to her waist again, and we'd like to avoid that option.

BTW, Melissa, I didn't see a proper category for this question. Hygiene?

-- Randal in Brazil (randal@onebox.com), January 15, 2002

Answers

Randal, check the Countryside Forum. There are a few threads about this catagorized under "health". Hope something helps. Been through this once, thankfully it was only once.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), January 15, 2002.

I will put it in the right category or make one.

Countryside did have a lot of responses lately, some of them were to saturate the head with various things like mayonnaise, baby oil, olive oil, things that suffocate them. But from what I have read the most important thing is to comb them out and wash everything in HOT water. Also tea tree oil was mentioned. I would probably not use anything like kerosene which was also mentioned.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 15, 2002.

Randal:

The MOST important thing it to get the nits--they are not necessarily killed by the application of the product. Use a bright light and look for tiny (I mean microscopic, almost)bumps close to the scalp on the hair that do not move if you brush them off. It will take a fingernail to pull them off.

It helps First to get the hair wet, saturate with conditioner for a little while, and then rinse with a mixture of 50 vinegar/50% warm water. The vinegar loosens the nits--this is why until modern times, girls rinsed their hair with vinegar--great conditioner too.

Then comb sections of the hair without putting "checked" hair over "unchecked" hair looking for nits. Watch where you are putting the nits you find (i.e. don't drop in carpet) keep clean towels and keep rinsing your combs out.

The best nit comb is a metal one--I don't know where you'd get it there but you can online at the pediculosis webpage it is called the "licemeister". You can get it cheaper at walmart.

I've heard that tea tree oil shampoo is a deterrent and we do try to use it now and then (makes my kids itchy) but can't tell you for sure.

By the way--the conditioner thing is a good preventative---getting them when they are just started will save you alot of effort.

Makes me itch just reading this. Good luck. Give your little girl a hug--she needs it. Lice is no fun.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.

This website has lots of good info--I would always try the non-toxic (smothering) methods before the chemical stuff. Usually if people don't have luck with mayo, olive oil, etc., it's because they haven't used it correctly or long enough.

http://www.headlice.org

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 15, 2002.

Unfortantly, we have had that problem here. I back up everything Ann has said. I didn't find the lice stuff to work very well, coming out is what does the trick.

Coconut oil is also a repellent. You can buy cheap coconut oil shampoo-I think Suave makes it. Tea tree oil can be itchy-burny on bare skin. I found a teatree/cocnut oil shampoo, and a conditioner that was rather expensive. I use the cheap stuff regularly and the more expensive stuff occasionally, and so far, since Ive done this, we've had no lice. I've also gotten into the habit of grabbing my kids randomly throughout the day and checking thier heads-for lice in the winter and ticks in the summer.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), January 15, 2002.

Sorry , i'm not really sure, but i'll ask one ,and find out what it likes. =) HE HE.

-- jillian (daffodil_skunk83@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.

I've not tried this but have been told it works stand her in the bathtub massage pure oil of lavendar into her hair wait ten minutes and rinse out you will see the lice on the bottom of the tub. The chemicals in over the counter stuff are dangerous. I work for Head Start and we have a new policy of nit picking, set time aside daily to go through the hair and pick nits wash and blow dry the hair. Also take an iron and go over all the soft furniture in your house just the head rests. Put stuffed animals into plastic bags and store for awhile. Put pillows into dryer and fluff use hot heat setting. One of my teachers had a problem with them returning for several months it becomes a real pain she finally got a permenet in her hair no more problems. I've also heard dying hair will get rid of them

-- ronda (thejohnsons@localaccess.com), January 15, 2002.

Essential oils (lavender, tea tree, etc.) used straight can be just as toxic as those chemicals. Please dilute them in some kind of oil or cheap shampoo before using.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 15, 2002.

In the last Countryside mag, there was a suggestion to rinse the hair in vinegar, wrap a vinegar-dampened towel around the head overnight, and wrap with a second (dry) towel. Apparently it destroys the "glue" that holds the nit on the hair shaft, making them easy to comb out (wash out?) in the morning.

-- Rheba (rheba@notmail.not), January 15, 2002.

Three years ago we had a foster child age 5 with hair down to her waist..unfortunately, her hair was exactly the SAME color as the nasty nits. They DO change color you know..new ones recently laid are white, then as they mature they turn a light blonde-brown color and then they hatch and crawl around. I discovered that with only three lice in your hair, you will have them lay over 1000 eggs per day EACH..prolific aren't they? Anyway, we tried everything. I saturated her hair with olive oil and tied it up in a sopping wet rag for HOURS..the lice liked the oil..didn't phase them at all..tried mayonnaise..all that did was make her hair shinier with lice in it..tried three applications of chemical de-louser, each three weeks apart...helped minimally. I also found out that many lice have become resistant to the chemical shampoos. I spent every day for four hours total, combing nits out of her hair under a drop light while she napped on my lap.....I became the "louse expert" of Pennsylvania...finally, in total frustration, I cut her hair..after two more weeks of the daily nit picking, the lice were conquered. It was the WORST thing I have ever experienced with lice....this child came to us like this and obviously had had lice for quite some time. The best part was the first night she came to us, she was upset and scared, so I let her sleep in MY BED until it was out bedtime..a week later, and here I was in my 50s with head lice..LOL..makes me itch to think about it......the key is to pick and pick and then pick somemore. realizing that you are looking for not only white nits but also light brownish ones as well...God bless!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 15, 2002.

I wrote a long piece on this on the frugal moms forum. They had a lot of good tips to. You might try and check this out. Be very careful about what you put on your daughters head. Rid and Nix are the worst things you can use. They have very, Very bad side affects they don't want to tell you. Good luck

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), January 16, 2002.

Thanks for the suggestions and warnings. They were very helpful. We're doing more combing than anything. What we got out of this was, "Pick'em out!"

-- Randal in Brazil (randal@onebox.com), January 19, 2002.

We found that tree tea oil diluted in a non perfumed conditioner left and then combed out did the job. Also we got the louse out using conditioner and a fine tooth comb and then worked on the eggs. Looking at other entries, on this site, I would like to say that heat etc etc on pillows and things is not necessary once they fall off the hair on to say a floor they are/will be very soon dead. A Junior school teacher called Mrs Wills England

-- Mrs Wills (eheritageifas@aol.com), August 15, 2002.