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lice please help

how do you get rid of lice. I have tried the products on the market in the uk but none get rid of them completely. I have long hair and dont want to cut it to get rid of them.

Sat. Mar 31, 7:59pm

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When you say "on the market", do you mean at the chemist? Because there are different products available by prescription, and they really work.

Saturday, March 31, 2007, 8:36 PM

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i used Quell on my kids but I also had to vacum everything and wash all sheet jackets whatever I had a friend who said her daughter got it from her dog. Good Luck It was tough! Get washing all the sheets and linens jackets and whtever

Saturday, March 31, 2007, 8:41 PM

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And don't forget the coat closet if it's cold where you are -- lice is often transmitted in schools that way, by hopping from one hood/hat/collar to another.

Saturday, March 31, 2007, 8:54 PM

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smother your hair and head in mayo-wrap with seran or plastic wrap... do a google for lice and mayo for more specifics...

Long hair board- if you are interested

Link

Saturday, March 31, 2007, 9:31 PM

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We had a lice problem a couple of years ago. After using whatever the doctor told us to use, we still had the problem. I started looking at alternatives and found tea tree oil. I am fascinated by science, so, after coming through my daughter's long hair, I got one of the little critters, put it under a microscope and added tea tree oil. It killed it very quickly. (Same test with what the doctor suggested - slowed the louse down, but didn't kill it. )

Tea tree oil is available at health food stores. Put several drops in a small (like travel size bottle) of your favorite shampoo. I think I used about 8 drops in a 2 oz bottle. Mix it well. Wash your hair with it.

We used it everyday for about a week to 10 days - mostly because I was really paranoid about the little creatures in my hair - but I wanted to be sure that any hatching nits that I had missed were also exposed to the tea tree oil. We did comb throughs with a ton of cream rinse several times over the next few days. The first time, we got a few out - all dead. Never saw any again.

Long term exposure to tea tree oil has recently been shown to have an effect on hormones, so, don't continue using this as a preventative measure. But, it should solve your problem in a week, and it didn't affect my long hair as badly as the prescription stuff. (That was awful!) I still have long hair, and so does my daughter. (Incidentally, the study that I read about tea tree oil said that any adverse reaction seemed to go away when the exposure was discontinued.)

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 12:35 AM

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yes I meant at the chemist. havent been to a doc embarrased I guess, but I might have to. what prescription names do you know of. thanx

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 1:32 AM

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I will look for the tea tree oil. I just dont want to have to cut My hair. thanx

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 1:35 AM

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thank you. alot of good tips there

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 1:50 AM

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I am the 12:35 poster returning. Just wanted to let you know that I did have to condition my hair quite a bit after getting rid of the lice. The doctor's stuff was really horrible on my hair, but I don't think the tea tree oil was really gentle - just didn't seem to be quite as bad. (Hard to tell, since I used the other first.) Anyway, get a good conditioner to use at the same time and you'll be able to keep your long hair.

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 5:19 AM

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We are currently dealing with a lice outbreak. My kids brought it home from school. 3/31, 8:41 pm - You cannot get human head lice from pets. She had to have picked it up at school or daycare or something like that (see link).

I freaked out and called the doctor, and we've done what he suggested...his thinking was that the shampoo should kill most of the live bugs. After shampooing, you can pick out any of them that are still around when you comb out the nits. So, we treated with one of the chemical shampoos and we have "nit-picked" EVERY DAY for a week. One of my daughters has very long hair - it takes well over two hours to do hers. However, six days later, we are down to finding one or two nits per day. We are going to re-treat today in the off-chance that an egg or two hatched. The re-shampoo should kill anything that's hatched before it's mature enough to lay eggs (that takes 5-7 days after hatching). We'll just keep nit-combing for another week or so until it's gone. I don't just use the nit comb, however, I pluck the entire hair out with a tweezer and put it into a bowl of soapy water. I flush the water when I am done. He did say that if the commercially-available shampoo failed, he could prescribe something stronger.

I did wash ALL of their bedding, clothing, etc., that they had worn for the past week or so. Here's a link to the CDC website - they had some good information about the life cycle of the louse, etc.

I believe (just my opinion) the best thing is to just thoroughly vacuum and launder everything and be unmercifully relentless about nit-combing. It sucks, I know, but if you can't get the live bugs out, they'll just keep laying eggs. The best way to stop the live bugs is to remove the eggs. I would see if I could get someone to help you comb through your hair - I know how difficult it is to comb through the girls' while I can see and reach everywhere very well - it must be nearly impossible to get to all our your own hair.

Best of luck to you - this is a horrible nuisance!

Link

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 8:45 AM

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this is an old fashion way it does take longer to get rid of the eggs but it will work what you do is buy olive oil put it on your head soak it then you put a shower cap on your head and leave it over night with the oil still in your hair then for the next 2 weeks wash your hair in vinager to remove the eggs and use a comb for lice to remove eggs the oil and vineger will make your hair more healthy and this does work call your local health department and ask....They say it works without any of the harmful effect that the store brand has.

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 8:58 AM

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http://specialchildren.about.com/od/medicalissues/ht/smotherlice.htm
this is the link for the above great non-toxic way to kill them I recomend the vinegar to remove the nits

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 9:02 AM

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To 8:45 poster -

Are you sure that you have not got lice too? Four out of 6 members of our family got it --- we assumed from my youngest daughter --- especially after we heard one of her friends had it and went to school while infested. The school advised me to keep my daughter home until their was no further sign of lice. (We still had live lice a week after using the doctor recommended stuff and we nit picked constantly. Incidentally, I found that slathering the head with cream rinse, sitting on a white sheet spread out on the floor, and combing through and letting stuff fall onto the sheet was a good way to check for more and to comb out the nits. The cream rinse makes it so the lice can't hold on so well, and the nits loosen up a little as well. You have to really look at the stuff on the sheet afterward, but, they show up as little dark spots (almost dust sized) against the white sheet and it's easier to see them. A good magnifying glass or a microscope makes it easier to be sure if what you see is a louse. The first time I checked my own hair, I didn't find any and thought I'd gotten away without them infesting my hair, but, 2 days later I found a giant one (sesame seed size) in my hair as well and had to sterilize every sheet and towel in the house along with everything else.

Tea Tree Oil was my lifesaver & sanity saver as well. I still get nervous every time I feel an itch on my head, and that was nearly 3 years ago!

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 9:05 AM

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Car seats have to be vaccummed too. Stuffed animals washed and dried in hot dryer. the nits (eggs) have to be taken out of the hair as stated. It is a long process but it does end. Check other friends and family members who have been over at your house. I work at a day care center and have seen a few cases in my many years of being in the childcare setting. It is not related to a dirty house, usually seen in large group settings, at camps, schools, after travel to other countries. (sometimes)
Good luck!

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 9:21 AM

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845 am here...

No, I am sure that no one else in the household has lice. We checked each other (the kids came home from their dad's with it - one of their half-siblings brought it home from their school - I wasn't very clear about that in the original post) and I just got a hair cut (my hair is very short - less than 2" all around) this week. They won't touch you in a salon if they see evidence of lice.

Our school's policy is that they can be sent back to school once they've been treated with the shampoo and have been thoroughly combed to check for nits. I also had our school nurse check them three times this week - another pair of eyes is always good.

I think that I was lucky and caught the infestation early enough that it didn't get out of hand (although any infestation is not fun) - I only ever found three live bugs after we initially treated and haven't found all that many nits, compared to some of the horror stories I've heard. I think I will try your cream rinse/sheet idea this week, though. Hopefully we're on the downhill slide.

Sunday, April 01, 2007, 4:06 PM

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it's a myth that lice "jump" from one persons head to another. here is a link to the google search page with the websites it found when i typed in "lice contagious"? you can find other info, too. good luck!

Link

Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 9:22 AM

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They do transfer easily if you share a comb, brush - or hats. At schools, the theory is that they often transfer from one coat to another when the coats are all jumbled together. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of my daughter with her school friends though with their heads together - hair intermingled.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 10:42 AM

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don't forget to either soak all of the brushes/combs in the house in bleach or throw them all away and get new ones.

They also sell sprays for the mattresses which we also used on the floors before we vacuumed.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 11:10 AM

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