Head Lice.....Help!

ynul31f47k6b59

I did do a forum search, and the last topic was in 2009 so I just wanted to ask, what the hell do you do the minute you find headlice in a child's head? My son is in Senior Infants, and about 2 weeks ago we had the usual letter home saying that there had been an outbreak. That day, I bought the Lyclear repellent spray and some tea tree shampoo and a nit comb, and have been checking his head regularly since. This morning, I found three or four live lice. I nearly died, I've never had any experience with headlice and I've been itching ever since at the thoughts of it. I didn't know what to do, so I sprayed some Lyclear on, got the lice out with the comb, squashed them, and have all the household bedding, pyjamas, towels, etc on a boil wash.

So what do I do now? What's the best brand of shampoo or stuff to get? Is it just a case of combing them out and using the shampoo and spray daily? Or what?! Help!! Thankfully he has short hair but I'm completely paranoid, as mine is almost waist-length and curly.

I had to inform his teacher too, I was bloody mortified. Help!

Gerard93

Hi Shanna83,
Head Lice unfortunately is quiet a common problem and nothing to be mortified about, they prefer clean hair rather than dirty hair. My OH would be better versed on the problem but I remember we used find tea tree shampoo a great preventative & used wash the kids hair regularly with this and very rarely had a problem.
Google head lice treatment, also talk to the school, they're well used to dealing with this problem and will have info on this.

Sorry could not be of more help.

ynul31f47k6b59

Hi Gerard, thanks - whenever there's a breakout in the school, they send home leaflets about lyclear and combing, etc. and every single time it's happened, I've gone and bought the sprays, shampoos. I'm just gutted that he's got them, poor little lad was bawling this morning when I was trying to comb them out.

Has anyone tried Hedrin? Just unsure what to get now, may have a chat with pharmacist this afternoon. Can't understand how there are still epidemics in this day and age.

egan2020

Jillian Purple Redneck wrote: »

Has anyone tried Hedrin? Just unsure what to get now, may have a chat with pharmacist this afternoon. Can't understand how there are still epidemics in this day and age.

There was recently an outbreak in my daughter's school and I decided to give Hedrin Once a go. I got the larger bottle and used it all between her hair and mine (just in case). It worked first time and they didn't come back. She got headlice when she was in playschool a couple of years ago and I tried most of the brands and none of them worked as well as the Hedrin in that it took several goes to get rid of them. The only downside was that even though I washed her hair out with shampoo afterwards, it was extremely greasy for a couple of days.

ynul31f47k6b59

egan2020 wrote: »

There was recently an outbreak in my daughter's school and I decided to give Hedrin Once a go. I got the larger bottle and used it all between her hair and mine (just in case). It worked first time and they didn't come back. She got headlice when she was in playschool a couple of years ago and I tried most of the brands and none of them worked as well as the Hedrin in that it took several goes to get rid of them. The only downside was that even though I washed her hair out with shampoo afterwards, it was extremely greasy for a couple of days.

I'll get some Hedrin today so, thankfully he only has short hair so I wouldn't be too worried about it being greasy, how long does it take to get rid of them? I feel ill that I didn't cop it before now, after buying the bloody repellant a few weeks ago.

Morag

It is an actualy lice you found or one of the eggs/nits?
They can also live on soft furnishing so you need to boil wash the bed clothes.
Put any softtoys/teddys in a bag and stick them in a freezer for a few hours to kill anything which may be on them.

by 20 days a lice goes from an egg to being able to lay more eggs, so you need to spend 3/4 weeks combing ever night to be sure.



The thing is if they are in the school they can keep spreading back and forth, all you can do is check him once aweek after you know it's clear.

Baybay

On the recommendation of another parent at the time, I used ordinary hair conditioner to great effect on the two occasions my daughter had lice whilst in primary school. She had and has very sensitive skin so I was very wary of introducing lots of chemicals.

Put plenty on his hair, more than you think you'll need, so the whole scalp and hair are covered.
Leave it on for ten minutes or so. Then comb it out using a fine comb. If there are any lice in his hair, you will see them caught in the goo on the comb.
The best thing about using conditioner is that it smells nice, isn't bad for his hair, is easily combed & washed out and you can do it every day until you are satisfied they are gone.
I used a tea tree oil shampoo to wash the hair and I suppose you could use a tea tree oil conditioner too. I just used the biggest, cheapest bottle I could find to deal with all the long hair!!

egan2020

Jillian Purple Redneck wrote: »

I'll get some Hedrin today so, thankfully he only has short hair so I wouldn't be too worried about it being greasy, how long does it take to get rid of them? I feel ill that I didn't cop it before now, after buying the bloody repellant a few weeks ago.

The reason I decided to try Hedrin is that is stated that it kills lice and eggs in one go. The leaflet says to leave it on for a minimum of 15 minutes. I think I left it in for about half an hour. I used the fine comb and everything came out and they haven't been back since. I did check her hair daily for the next two weeks as there was a likelihood she would pick them up again in school but fortunately she didn't.

ynul31f47k6b59

Sharrow wrote: »

It is an actualy lice you found or one of the eggs/nits?
They can also live on soft furnishing so you need to boil wash the bed clothes.
Put any softtoys/teddys in a bag and stick them in a freezer for a few hours to kill anything which may be on them.
by 20 days a lice goes from an egg to being able to lay more eggs, so you need to spend 3/4 weeks combing ever night to be sure.
The thing is if they are in the school they can keep spreading back and forth, all you can do is check him once aweek after you know it's clear.

Baybay wrote: »

On the recommendation of another parent at the time, I used ordinary hair conditioner to great effect on the two occasions my daughter had lice whilst in primary school. She had and has very sensitive skin so I was very wary of introducing lots of chemicals.

Put plenty on his hair, more than you think you'll need, so the whole scalp and hair are covered.
Leave it on for ten minutes or so. Then comb it out using a fine comb. If there are any lice in his hair, you will see them caught in the goo on the comb.
The best thing about using conditioner is that it smells nice, isn't bad for his hair, is easily combed & washed out and you can do it every day until you are satisfied they are gone.
I used a tea tree oil shampoo to wash the hair and I suppose you could use a tea tree oil conditioner too. I just used the biggest, cheapest bottle I could find to deal with all the long hair!!

Thanks for your replies - Sharrow, it was 100% definitely live lice, there were about 3 - they looked exactly like that thing on the Day 8-9 picture. He only has one soft toy, and that's gone in with the sheets on a boil wash. I will definitely do thorough checks for at least a month.

Baybay that's actually something I was a bit worried about, I've been looking up different products online and some aren't suitable for asthmatics? He doesn't have asthma but he has a respiratory disorder that requires him to use a preventative inhaler daily. I really don't want him to get an attack on top of everything else! I will do the conditioner thing today, I had been using a tea tree oil shampoo on his hair anyway for the last few weeks. I think I will ask the pharmacist too and get some strong stuff just to have it as well, want to do my hair too because god help us if I get it - I'd never get rid of it.

Thanks a million for taking the time to reply. x

Immaculata

Get someone to check that you haven't caught them. The lice cannot fly but they do crawl from one head to another, so you might have caught them while hugging your kid, or they might have transferred on a shared comb or brush.

Once you've got rid of the lice, check regularly that they haven't come back. They can be living on your head for a week or ten days before the itching caused by your immune system's reaction to the bites alerts you to their presence. If one has been repeatedly infested, one's immune system makes less of a fuss each time, and eventually one could have them for months and not know. Creepy! So check the heads of the whole family, especially behind the ears and around the nape of the neck.

My sister, who has an eight year old daughter, uses neem shampoo, which she gets from her local health food store. Neem is a natural insect repellent. My niece has never had lice although there have been several outbreaks in her school. It could be luck or it could be the neem!

This page explains wet combing, which is the best chemical-free method: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Treatment.aspx

Good luck.

ynul31f47k6b59

egan2020 wrote: »

The reason I decided to try Hedrin is that is stated that it kills lice and eggs in one go. The leaflet says to leave it on for a minimum of 15 minutes. I think I left it in for about half an hour. I used the fine comb and everything came out and they haven't been back since. I did check her hair daily for the next two weeks as there was a likelihood she would pick them up again in school but fortunately she didn't.

Thanks egan, i'll ask and if won't affect his breathing then I'll pick some up. I've been scratching all morning at the thoughts of it, it's horrible!

Fittle

I remember the first time my lad got headlice - it was also in Senior Infants - I was horrified:eek:

Since then, they are a regular occurence, so they grow on you;)

Having tried any and every product that various chemists would sell me, the only thing that has ever worked for me is ordinary hair conditioner, as mentioned by a previous poster. Honestly, leave for about 10-20 minutes, and use the fine come, and they'll all come out.

I am in the fortunate position of having a boy, and always get his hair cut as tightly as possible - would dread to have a girl with them though. He didn't get them at all last year, because I also got some tea-tree spray, and used to spray a bit on every morning as a preventative measure - not sure if that worked exactly, or the fact that he's older and I was able to explain to him how they passed from one head to the next if you're both leaning together to read a book for example.

Mr. Muddle

I have two daughters with long hair and they have both had head lice at different times, I found Hedrin very good as it's an oil and smothers and kills anything that is in the hair, I've treated myself with it too just in case I also have long curly hair but because it is so oily it was easy to comb through.

We were in Portugal last summer and discovered the little buggers in one girls hair again, even though the girls were sharing a bed at the time only one got them, I got something similar to hedrin there it worked great.

My daughter has very sensitive skin and cant use anything containing soap or sls so can't use tea tree shampoo. I was using a detangling spray on the girls hair I suspect they may have been attracted to the nice smell, needless to say I don't use it any more.

niallb

At least if you got the note home before you found them,
you weren't the first to report them (that's who'll get the blame :-) )

There's nothing much you can do to stop the spread when they're in the school.
Just keep up the combing. Tea tree shampoo works for us too.

Ever seen a bunch of kids with their heads pressed together around a nintendo screen?
Those little bukkers don't need to be able to fly!

Moonbeam

mayonnaise is very good at treating them.
I have also heard of listerine being used .

byhookorbycrook

You need to keep combing for a few days to get the nits too.

ynul31f47k6b59

Immaculata wrote: »

Get someone to check that you haven't caught them. This page explains wet combing, which is the best chemical-free method: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Treatment.aspx
Good luck.

Thanks Immaculata, I got the OH to check this morning but have still washed my hair twice, gone through it with a nit comb and treated myself and the OH too.

Fittle wrote: »

Having tried any and every product that various chemists would sell me, the only thing that has ever worked for me is ordinary hair conditioner, as mentioned by a previous poster. Honestly, leave for about 10-20 minutes, and use the fine come, and they'll all come out.

The chemist had no Hedrin, so I just got the Lyclear - I couldn't get anything stronger because of his breathing. I did the conditioner after school today and got 6 live ones, uggggghh. Didn't see many eggs?! I've put the lyclear stuff on him too, and combed again - didn't get any more live ones thank god.

Mr. Muddle wrote: »

I have two daughters with long hair and they have both had head lice at different times, I found Hedrin very good as it's an oil and smothers and kills anything that is in the hair, I've treated myself with it too just in case I also have long curly hair but because it is so oily it was easy to comb through.

I've got long curly hair too, I'd die! I hadn't seen them before.

niallb wrote: »

At least if you got the note home before you found them,
you weren't the first to report them (that's who'll get the blame :-) )

There's nothing much you can do to stop the spread when they're in the school.
Just keep up the combing. Tea tree shampoo works for us too.

Ever seen a bunch of kids with their heads pressed together around a nintendo screen?
Those little bukkers don't need to be able to fly!

Niall I can't think of the amount of times I've been out with him and warned him not to let anyone look at the Nintendo DS!!! The note was about 2 weeks ago, just makes me think that someone got it and completely ignored it.

Moonbeam wrote: »

mayonnaise is very good at treating them.
I have also heard of listerine being used .

Thanks Moonbeam, if he was a little older I'd try anything but it's hard to get treatment onto a 6-year-old as it is, I could imagine if I came at him with the mouthwash Will def keep it in mind though!

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

You need to keep combing for a few days to get the nits too.

Cheers, I'm so paranoid now that I'll be woolling the head off the child every night after his bath, just praying that I got all the live ones, can deal with eggs and nits - can NOT deal with those dirty-looking little creepy-crawlies.

Must do the back of the car with something too, tea tree oil in a spray maybe? Thanks a million for all your replies. x

liliq

A guy I used to know is a hairdresser and he used to tell me to use hair spray that had a high enough content of alcohol in it- I think it dehydrated the lice or something!

Below copied and pasted from Wikpedia (very reliable source, I know )
The active ingredients listed on Listerine bottles are menthol, thymol, methyl salicylate, and eucalyptol. In combination all have an antiseptic effect and there is some thought that methyl salicylate may have an anti inflammatory effect as wellURL="http://www.boards.ie/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"][COLOR=#0645ad]citation needed[/COLOR][/URL. Ethanol, which is toxic to bacteria at concentrations of 40%, is present in concentrations of 21.6% in the flavored product and 26.9% in the original gold Listerine AntisepticURL="http://www.boards.ie/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"][COLOR=#0645ad]citation needed[/COLOR][/URL. At this concentration, the ethanol serves to dissolve the active ingredients.

Maybe it's the same idea with the Listerine?

sallystar

Hey OP, my son got headlice when he first started school.. Was recommended Chinese Whispers shampoo by my GP, she had used it on her kids as well. My son also has asthma and had no problems. I found it fab, and used to use it prophylactically during his early primary school years (every 3-4 months). Only problem is I can't remember where I got it... It was either Holland & Barrett or Boots.

Deliverance

An interesting point to note is that pure alcohol smothers the lice and kills them by stopping them from breathing. My Mom treated our heads with spirits (whiskey) at one stage where shelf solutions were not available on an intuition that it would do the job, it worked.

In later years products appeared that were smothered upon our heads that smelled really strongly and she kept us in to avoid the 'shame', I suspect (ethanol) a derivative of pure alcohol was used in the product?

Interesting to see how the use of housewives solutions was made into a product that she swears that she discovered as a solution before it appeared on the shelf as the 'smelly version'.

She wasn't an alcoholic by the way, she just had an instinct that it would work and it did.

carolinespring

Moonbeam wrote: »

mayonnaise is very good at treating them.
I have also heard of listerine being used .

Tell me about the mayo, how dose hat work?

I run a pre school and one of the parents uses olive oil to combout the nits from her first class daughters hair with a fine tooth comb (the wavy one) works a treat and just washes the hair well with teatree shampoo after. I also hear spraying the hair with vodca works but not sure how I feel about that one!!!

carolinespring

Deliverance wrote: »

An interesting point to note is that pure alcohol smothers the lice and kills them by stopping them from breathing. My Mom treated our heads with spirits (whiskey) at one stage where shelf solutions were not available on an intuition that it would do the job, it worked.

In later years products appeared that were smothered upon our heads that smelled really strongly and she kept us in to avoid the 'shame', I suspect (ethanol) a derivative of pure alcohol was used in the product?

Interesting to see how the use of housewives solutions was made into a product that she swears that she discovered as a solution before it appeared on the shelf as the 'smelly version'.

She wasn't an alcoholic by the way, she just had an instinct that it would work and it did.

Yeah, Mums often just know!!! Like that honey is great for nappy rash. Clears it in no time!!!

Oh_Noes

It he's a boy, why not just shave his head? You wouldn't have to shave it right down, just to a 2 or 3 blade.

Surely that would stop the problem firmly in its tracks and save you a lot of time tending to his hair.

Deliverance

Oh_Noes wrote: »

It he's a boy, why not just shave his head? You wouldn't have to shave it right down, just to a 2 or 3 blade.

Surely that would stop the problem firmly in its tracks and save you a lot of time tending to his hair.

Get him some suspenders and doc martins whilst your at it. That way the lice would be afraid to come back;)

ynul31f47k6b59

Oh dear god, I won't be shaving his head - I was as well send him to school with a t-shirt saying "look, i've had lice!" He's definitely not the type of child that could carry off that kinda look..

All okay now for the time being at least - did the conditioner thing, and then used the lyclear creme rinse treatment, and have been wet combing and using tea tree shampoo for the past few days. No more itching and no more lice or eggs. Just have to keep an eye out in case any eggs got left behind, so will monitor it for a couple of weeks - thankfully his hair's not too long anyway.

CK2010

i know you've sorted it but if it does come back then id strongly reecommend using the neem oil. my lttle one hasnt had lice yet but ive been using neem oil for a scar and i have read that its great for lice and i have to say id believe it because the smell is disgusting! the whole house does be gagging when i use it!
its good for the scalp too so if his scalp is itchy/irritated from the lice it'll soothe it too.
olive oil is good too but afterwards you need to make sure you shampoo BEFORE you wet the hair otherwise it'll be hard to wash out. a trick ive learnt from conditioning treatments!

ynul31f47k6b59

Thanks CK, you're not the first person to mention Neem, so I've ordered this as well:

http://www.evergreen.ie/bioforce-neemcare-neem-shampoo/500024pd.aspx

Hopefully they won't come back, but if they were in the school again within a few weeks of getting notice, then unfortunately they'll probably be rampant again in the future. Thanks!

maameeo

head lice are the bane of my life! my daughter gets them all the time!! ive spent so much money on products. ive no idea why she gets them.

i tie her hair back, i used repellents and tea tree shampoo and yet every two weeks since she started school a few years ago she gets them!

my mum says i was the same as a child, guess they just love our blood

anyways after using all the products, i find priodrem is by far the best



i also have an electric comb



its good but i still use the prioderm to be sure.

Morag

I'd more issues with my daughter hair then with my son's.
I found combing plus using the straigthers helped.

Stench Blossoms

Sharrow wrote: »

I'd more issues with my daughter hair then with my son's.
I found combing plus using the straigthers helped.

As in a hair straightener?

Morag

Yes, that way any that I may have missed got fried in between the cermaic plates.

Stench Blossoms

Sharrow wrote: »

Yes, that way any that I may have missed got fried in between the cermaic plates.

I don't agree with this. Hair straightners should not be used on a child's hair.

Morag

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

I don't agree with this. Hair straightners should not be used on a child's hair.

That's your opinion and it is your choice to raise your child in the manner you see fit.

I don't normally straighten my hair, I know the damage it does and I have only resorted to using them on my daughter about 8 times, no more then once a week until we were free from lice. I made sure her hair was well conditioned and that a protective serum was used. Her hair did not suffer any damage and we have not had a return of the head lice.

dark crystal

My girls get them a good few times during the school year and they're a bloody pain in the arse!

I used to use the branded products, but even leaving the stuff on longer than advised, I was still combing out live ones, so it wasn't killing them all. A waste of money, if you ask me.

I just condition and comb now at every bathtime, although my daughters hair is quite thick, so it's impossible to get every single one every time. I also use Vosene 3-in-1 kids shampoo, which has head lice repellant in it.

Although, I have seen ads now for a new Hedrin gel that supposedly kills both the lice and the eggs in one treatment (no further treatment needed in 7 days, like the others), so I might give that a go the next time I spot the little blighters.