Any expert here at Head Lice treatment?

mumof2

Sick of dosing child now for 4 weeks.

Willing to try different product at this stage - possibly Hedrin?

Toots

What have you been using? Any time we got them as kids my mother used this stuff and it really did the trick, one application and the lice were gone.

You treat the hair with the lotion and then use the shampoo afterwards. Now I will warn you, this stuff absolutely stinks!! I actually quite like the smell, but it is very strong. Make sure you don't get it anywhere near the eyes, and also if your children are asthmatic it can make them a bit wheezy for about an hour afterwards (according to the pack anyway, although I am asthmatic and I never had any problems).

When I was in primary school there was one kid who constantly had head lice and he sat at the same table as me, so my mum got one of those headlice repellent sprays to stop me getting them again. Also if your kids have long hair, make sure to keep it tied up cos it lessens the chance of them catching them again.

TheQueen

A drop of lavender behind the ears helps, honestly!!! Wont help with existing ones but will help prevent them coming back

lizzyd66

As you probably know the lotions and potions only kill the live ones not the eggs - it is very easy to miss one or two when treating the first time and from what I've heard there is a round a 3 week cycle so really you need to keep fine combing regularly for the 3 weeks afterwards.

mumof2

She has extremely long hair, which is always tied up. Unfortunately 2 hours of fine combing for the last 3 weeks still hasn't shifted them. I was susing Full Marks as I had used this when she was about 4 or 5 and it had worked first go and no return.

Now even after 2 hours of combing yesterday, I decided just to have a look again today, and I saw lots of eggs again. I don't get it:mad:

Toots

That prioderm stuff I mentioned gets the eggs too. Honestly, it's so strong you might want to shut the family pets in a different room just in case :p

foxinsocks

I wouldnt use any more pesticides honestly, it can make your daughter ill.

When mine got lice I tried full marks, and it barely made a dent, not nearly the genocide i was hoping for. In the end I just fine combed every night with good old fashioned water for a month. It's a pain in the arse, but it's safe, and its effective. I used a jug of boiling water to kill the lice, but i hear a sheet of paper and squishing them is just as effective. Put something good on the telly, sit her in front of it, and sit behind her and just get it done. Your little one has thick hair, so you can use hair conditioner to make it a lot more painless. Just rinse out afterwards.

To prevent future infestations a dab of tea tree oil behind each ear is pretty effective.

embee

Prioderm all the way. I know it's smelly and harsh but it really is the only stuff that's going to kill them all.

You may need to sit in a room with the windows open though, there is a woeful smell of it.

MrPudding

foxinsocks wrote: »

To prevent future infestations a dab of tea tree oil behind each ear is pretty effective.

We bought shampoo with Tea Tree extract and that seems to work quite well keeping them away.

As for getting rid of them, I think we used Full Marks and lots of combing with the lice comb.

MrP

Nevyn

Combing and making sure you are changing her bed clothes
and pillow case and putting them on a boil wash.

Have you considered using straightening irons on her hair ?
That way if you miss any of the eggs they get cremated on the plates.

This topic comes up from time to time on the parenting forum

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055178445&highlight=head+lice

mumof2

Thank god for the Nintendo in this case as my daughter has ADHD - which means sitting still is a no no!! But fair play to her she knows it has to be done.

I don't want to use full marks or anything else anymore either, so I will try the combing everynight business!

Anything to get rid of them.

Thanks all for your help:)

TargetWidow

My creche sent home guidelines for all parents with the following recomendations this week:
"Shampoos kill the head lice but do not kill the eggs and thus must be used repeatedly until any hatched nits are killed. The lotions, applied correctly kill the nits and hatched lice, however it is a good idea to wash the hair with one of the anti-head lice shampoos 7 to 10 days after the initial treatment. Getting rid of the nits is difficult. A solution of vinegar and water applied to the hair helps loose the nits which can then be removed with a nit removal comb......Personal clothing, bed linens and anything that might have become infested should be washed in hot water where possible. (normal hot wash in washing machine should suffice). Brushes and combs should be either boiled for 10 mins or soaked in a dilute bleach solution for 1 hour. As head lice pass rapidly from one family member to another it is a good idea to treat the whold family at the same time."

Now I feel all itchy myself!

mymo

We had this problem for first few years of school, I had 3 months of treating daughters hair weekly at one stage and got so fed up (after hearing several mums saying olive oil or combing with conditioner got rid of headlice:rolleyes:) that i went to principal of the school. I explained it was pointless some parents treating hair and not others, and told them growing up in UK if headlice were in school everyone got a note to treat all kids over the weekend and every weekend for 3 weeks. This breaks the cycle and if done by everyone saves money for all parents. This seemed to do it. A note went out explaining headlice had become a big and expensive, problem and if everyone co-operated it could be eradicated. There were clear instructions on washing bedding, clothing, hats, etc. It worked and has been done a few times since and has been a great success.
Hope this helps.

littlebitdull

As you dont want to do the chemical route again there are several other options.

Smoother her hair in olive oil, comb it through, leave for an hours or so and then do the fine combing. You will need to do at least a double wash with shampoo to get the oil out, but its not harsh on her hair anyway....

Another thing that seems to work well is mayonaise, again used like the olive oil.

But the main thing to do is repeat the treatments every three days for about two weeks.

Sometimes you can still see the little eggs clinging to the hair, but they are often just empty egg sacks and dont contain live nits. You could try picking these off with your nails - but thats not easy.

I totally agree that if the schools could get everyone to do it at once it would perhaps make more of a difference. My youngest picks them up every time they are in her class, her siblings have only ever had them once ...

mumof2

Ive done the picking them out with my nails, have to tackle her again in a minute, but will try the olive oil trick as I don't want to use any more treatments.
Thing is, all I see are the things stuck to the hair at the scalp, which people are saying are the emply cases, but if thats correct, what are eggs and what are casings??

I treated her hair 2 weeks in a row, and she seemed clear, last Wed was week 4 and I spotted them again!! Obviousely I missed a few or at school they are not co-operating!!

Nevyn

The casings are the empty eggs that the lice have hatched out of.

littlebug

+1 on checking all the family and washing all the bed linen/ hats etc. I gave up on the chemical treatments after a while. There was one product that was chemical free that I used... I can't for the life of me remember what it was called but it was really sticky and immobilised the little buggers so they couldn't run away from the comb. I got way more out that way than with any of the chemical treatments. I combed her hair 2- 3 times a day- my victims becoming smaller and smaller by the day until they were all gone. Conditioner etc didn't get rid of them as such but it certainly made the combing easier. This sounds awful but I found that I almost had to comb the scalp as opposed to the hair to get the nits... gently of course. A box of chocolate in front of her helped the whole process.

mumof2

Thats another 2 hours spent nit picking:mad: Hope theyre all gone and that their dad will help out when they go to him this weekend......

Wantobe

Ugh, the dreaded head lice. My two got them from an adult!

Anyway this is what worked for me ( and my oldest has long thick hair too):

Day one- used lyclear ( non-insecticidal so easy on them), left it in for at least half an hour and then washed hair and combed. Boil washed all bed clothes, put all combs etc into dishwasher ( it IS a steriliser!) and hoovered the sofas and mattresses. Combed again before bed-time.

Day two- combed morning and evening.

Day three-combed in morning and in evening put loads of conditioner in their hair, left it in for at least half an hour, then washed out and combed.

Kept combing every morning and evening and every second day put on conditioner in evening. The conditioner suffocates the adults or at least makes them easy to comb out.

On day seven repeated lyclear treatment.

Second week exactly the same ( including bedclothes and combs etc).

Clear after two weeks but kept combing morning and evening for another week. It is such a hassle and time consuming. I feel for you!

Billiejo

mumof2 wrote: »

Sick of dosing child now for 4 weeks.

Willing to try different product at this stage - possibly Hedrin?

Head lice (crawles) have a cycle in which they lay their eggs (nits) close to the scalp. When treated make sure this is repeated between 4-7 days later to catch the newly hatching eggs. Do not use a hairdryer or allow child to go swimming as this undo's the treatment.

Evidence suggests that all of the 'herbal stuffs' mentioned here are usless and in some cases harmful, as indeed the PX lotions can if not used to official instructions. Some will say herbals do work but evidence says its the elbow greese which does the trick. One can do the same with simple conditioner.

Because of 'Community immunity' problems one should stick with what the Public Health people have suggested as if everybody is useing something different it defeats the success of the programme. This can be checked out at any reputable pharamacy or the local hospital pharamacy for advice on which lotion is recommended at that time. The recommended lotion gets changed every 6 months.

When treating head lice in any child one should primarily start with siblings, parents, grandparents, relatives and carers first, for the cause of infestation then other children whom the child has close human contact.

Lice do not fly and are slow crawlers outside of their environment > hair, & scalp which they inject an anasthetic type serum into while they suck blood.

Once treated check hair every 3-4 days.

bored and tired

im not a fan of combing at all it has never worked for me, but maybe it depends on how much hair you have to comb!!

Anytime i have found my daughter had lice, i sent a note into school or rang the teacher to leave them know.
The school sends out a note asking all parents to check and treat at weekend, in the mean time all girls long hair is to be tied up tight,

on the big day i dose childs hair with Derbac m lotion, dose brushs with lotion too and rest of family aswell if we have them or might have them, usually do lotion late at night and leave lotion in overnight, I strip bed during the day and boil wash, hoover mattress and pillow, hoover couch and dress bed with fresh linen, I wash all clothes and coats that she has worn in last few days aswell,

next day strip bed again to boil wash, wash childs hair, liberally smoother with conditioner and spend a good hour looking for dead guys, change clothes again after combing, then rinse and tie up in french plait,

I found the only time that we have had a repeat in the weeks after treatment is where someone in school had lice but didnt get treated and then spread them around again, the school have to nominate a "lice night" when it is in the school otherwise you could get them back the day after treatment,

chasm

This is going to sound disgusting, but a friend of mine who is a hairdresser recommends mayonaisse. It supposedly smothers the headlice. Don't have kids myself but a few of my friends have tried it and swear by it.
Here's the instructions
http://www.answerbag.com/articles/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Lice-with-Mayonnaise/a9d4e486-fd79-b6ee-1149-c368cdfa6f66

JJJJNR

Hi All, got a major issue with my 3 year old. She is infested with head lice on and off for about 3 months. We got rid of them for a good while but the keep coming back. We have got her hair cut also and its a little easier.

The big issue is the eggs, we have the plastic comb and its useless does anyone know where you can get a good metal lice comb in Dublin / Wicklow.

chasm

JJJJNR wrote: »

The big issue is the eggs, we have the plastic comb and its useless does anyone know where you can get a good metal lice comb in Dublin / Wicklow.

Most good chemist will stock them or buy Full Marks Solution, which contains a metal comb in the box.

MonicaBing

Oh the joys of being a parent eh? I found the basic old fashioned method the best to be honest, the painstaking combing and combing twice a day and using pure tea tree oil on the ears, collars of shirts, jumpers and coats and boil washing all their bed linen seperatley. Also found cleaning any sofa's and chairs my kids lay on helped too because i thankfully, (longhaired) never caught it from them.

But also, your gonna get the odd one or two lazy assed mum who cant be bothered to treat their own kids so no amount of treating by you at the end of the day is gonna shift the buggers. Try talking to school principle or class teacher and see if they'll send out notes to every parent in class to do the treatment otherwise your at nothing, not too mention all the cash your wasting buying OTC products.

Kid in my son's school was politely asked not to return to school unless she was treated, and it worked on her dirty minging mum!

JJJJNR

This is what's happening to us, we leave our daughter into the crèche and when she comes home they're back in her head.. We got rid of them around the last big snow and she had a few days off all clear. After the first day back she had been hit again...

Toots

Definitely say it to the creche. There's probably one or two kids there who keep reinfesting the rest of the class. I did work exp in a creche a few years ago and there was a really bad headlice problem. We sent notes home and everything, still had a problem. It got to the point that we had to check all the kids hair a couple of times a week, we narrowed down the culprit. This poor child was crawling with them every time we checked him, it was so bad that he even had a sort of rash behind his ears and on the back of his neck where they were biting him. It was totally obvious that he had had never been treated for them. Surprisingly enough, the parents were quite well to do and well groomed, however I got the impression that they really didn't spend much time and attention on the kid. They probably never even read the notes we sent home with him.

Similarly to the kid MonicaBing wrote about, the creche phoned the mother and asked her to come and collect the child, and told her that she couldn't leave him back until his headlice were completely cleared up. The problem dissappeared after that.

edit: my mum got a vibrating comb thing in argos a couple of years back and it worked very well at getting the eggs out too. There's a similar one out now, not sure how effective it is though.

oh well

we've been down this route too. School sending out the notes as rate of one a month but like everything, some parents believe it doesn't apply to them. We even have to sign the note to say we've checked the hair and I know that some parents are just signing the note and not checking - they've told me this!!!! Its like their kids are too special for common headlice.

So, went to teacher, explained the situ and suggested that next time places are changed around, the girls with short hair or hair tied back are seated together in the classroom and the girls who presistently wear their hair long are seated together. Generally I've found that its the girls with untied back hair that are the biggest culprits as when the hair swishes around the lice move from head to head.

It solved it for me, the other girls in the glass didn't cop what went on at all but I've never had a headlice problem since. Other thing is that they should never ever share combs, hats (for school plays they seem to do this regularly - yuck), hurling helmets, etc.


Also regularly use tea tree shampoo and conditioner and the a dab of tea tree oil behind the ears.

cat&mouse

I make Anti Head Lice Herbal bottle of special Herbal oils which are effective. (conditions the hair & scalp if nothing else) Generally within 60 minutes they are dead.:o Can be left in overnight. Probably best done on a Sunday night (before school). Then Finecomb (easy as scalp is oily) Wash hair & rinse in vinegar & water. Hair should be shining and looking healthy as well. A confident child again.Any other info, lets know.

mumof2

MonicaBing wrote: »

Oh the joys of being a parent eh? I found the basic old fashioned method the best to be honest, the painstaking combing and combing twice a day and using pure tea tree oil on the ears, collars of shirts, jumpers and coats and boil washing all their bed linen seperatley. Also found cleaning any sofa's and chairs my kids lay on helped too because i thankfully, (longhaired) never caught it from them.

But also, your gonna get the odd one or two lazy assed mum who cant be bothered to treat their own kids so no amount of treating by you at the end of the day is gonna shift the buggers. Try talking to school principle or class teacher and see if they'll send out notes to every parent in class to do the treatment otherwise your at nothing, not too mention all the cash your wasting buying OTC products.

Kid in my son's school was politely asked not to return to school unless she was treated, and it worked on her dirty minging mum!

Totally agree!!

~She was at her dads for the last 5 days, and just checked her hair and found another casing/egg and need to comb it again in a minute. She got her hair cut up a bit shorter and added layers to it, and a fringe, she looks totally different, but thats her wish!! Hope it makes the combing easier!!

Im going to try the mayonnaise, if they keep coming back!

mumof2

Toots85 wrote: »

edit: my mum got a vibrating comb thing in argos a couple of years back and it worked very well at getting the eggs out too. There's a similar one out now, not sure how effective it is though.

My friend has one of these and told me its brilliant, but hers doesn't take out the eggs just makes a noise....

Thanks for the info

labradoodlelady

Hi mumof2. I can remember my Mom using some essential oils in an olive oil solution and it worked when the medicated shampoos/lotions didn't. I found this treatment online. I can't recall the solution she used but I do remember her using rosemary oil and lavender oil so it looks like the one! Perhaps if you inquire in your local health shop they might be able to give advice.

http://www.helium.com/items/125469-tea-tree-oil-for-head-lice

The vinegar rinse should clear the oily texture, but overall the treatment is great for the hair!!

Good luck

JJJJNR

Toots85 wrote: »

Definitely say it to the creche. There's probably one or two kids there who keep reinfesting the rest of the class. I did work exp in a creche a few years ago and there was a really bad headlice problem. We sent notes home and everything, still had a problem. It got to the point that we had to check all the kids hair a couple of times a week, we narrowed down the culprit. This poor child was crawling with them every time we checked him, it was so bad that he even had a sort of rash behind his ears and on the back of his neck where they were biting him. It was totally obvious that he had had never been treated for them. Surprisingly enough, the parents were quite well to do and well groomed, however I got the impression that they really didn't spend much time and attention on the kid. They probably never even read the notes we sent home with him.

Similarly to the kid MonicaBing wrote about, the creche phoned the mother and asked her to come and collect the child, and told her that she couldn't leave him back until his headlice were completely cleared up. The problem dissappeared after that.

edit: my mum got a vibrating comb thing in argos a couple of years back and it worked very well at getting the eggs out too. There's a similar one out now, not sure how effective it is though.

Thanks for that, we are still having the same problem, we even got a hair straightener and that seems to work at killing the eggs,. but the creche are doing nothing about it, we have never even got a letter to say the kids have lice.. We are going to take her out of this creche as I heard having head lice can make children insecure if its not treated properly.. well we are treating it as we can but she keeps getting a re infestation ..

mumof2

I kept combing every night and finally cleared it. If I see another day of it I will shave her hair off:D:D (just joking btw)

Seriousely, its a nightmare, and you'd even be afraid to meet up with friends who have kids that are going through the same motion for fear we'd get them again:eek:

I'm using Tea Tree Oil as a KEEP OUT sign:D Hope it helps.

Good luck to anyone currently in the situation - and be patient.

Aysha

Tea tree shampoo

kelle

Toots* wrote: »

Definitely say it to the creche. There's probably one or two kids there who keep reinfesting the rest of the class. I did work exp in a creche a few years ago and there was a really bad headlice problem. We sent notes home and everything, still had a problem. It got to the point that we had to check all the kids hair a couple of times a week, we narrowed down the culprit. This poor child was crawling with them every time we checked him, it was so bad that he even had a sort of rash behind his ears and on the back of his neck where they were biting him. It was totally obvious that he had had never been treated for them. Surprisingly enough, the parents were quite well to do and well groomed, however I got the impression that they really didn't spend much time and attention on the kid. They probably never even read the notes we sent home with him.

Similarly to the kid MonicaBing wrote about, the creche phoned the mother and asked her to come and collect the child, and told her that she couldn't leave him back until his headlice were completely cleared up. The problem dissappeared after that.

edit: my mum got a vibrating comb thing in argos a couple of years back and it worked very well at getting the eggs out too. There's a similar one out now, not sure how effective it is though.

I did a search and found this thread. In May, I got a message about head lice going around the school. Next thing I was scratching my head. I used Full Marks from the chemist on my whole family, and repeated the process 2 weeks later as advised. We were still scratching, so I tried Prioderm and left it in overnight. But after 5 treatments my hair is worse than ever!!! I went to my GP yesterday and he said I have so many eggs I would be better to shave off my hair!

I'm a bit mortified now as a note arrived from my daughter's creche about a case of headlice - and I know it's my daughter!

Back in 1983, somebody stayed at our house and infected us all with headlice. My mother sprinkled DDT powder on the beds, chairs and in our hairs - and that was the end of the problem. I tried to buy this product only to find it's use has been banned!

I'm going to try mumof2's advice and see how it goes. I must have spent over e100 on the remedies at this stage and I'm at the end of my tether!

mumof2

I'm hearing you Kelle!! What a disaster those head lice are. I hope I never see them again..............

Just keep combing each night. I even used olive oil to make the hair easier to comb and for the head lice to stick to the comb better. After combing just wash the hair with T Tree Shampoo, and rub some neat on collars and clothing. Even a drop into your conditioner will help. Stick to it - it will clear, but you have to let everyone know where your child is in contact with, so they can check and clear or it will just get passed back.

Believe me, there are parents out there that just cant be bothered, and everyone suffers as a result!!

Best of luck.

Nevyn

Kelle make sure you are boiling the bed clothes and see if you can get a lend of a steamer for the mattresses.