Ugh . . . Lice

[shmokes]

What a pain, lol.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Saw a kid at a Dr's office with a shaved head, and it wasn't an oncologist or anything obvious like that.  My wife asked, turned out they had lice going around the child's school, and the mother got so fed up with repeat cases that she just shaved his head. 

Good thing she didn't have a girl. 

[stu33]

Oh yeah, it's miserable.  When my now-17yo was in grade school, she had it multiple times each year.  My daughter was a hugger.  I think after the third year of periodic treatments plus the whole-house task it took to make sure each particular infestation was wiped out, she was finally broken of the incessant need to hug other kids constantly.

Not only is it a pain...but expensive as all get out to eradicate each time too.  Although, olive oil did work well for us for getting the eggs out.  Olive oil, a good led headlamp, and tons of patience...

[Howard_Casto]

Best title for a thread ever!

Seriously man, I think you need an award for it or something.  If I had been drinking milk, it would have shot out of my nose!

[shmokes]

Thanks.

Just found 'em this morning. The ordeal is only beginning. I've got a daughter, so shaving her head is not (much of) an option.

[Ginsu Victim]

she just shaved his head.

That's actually pretty common.

[elkameleon]

she just shaved his head.

That's actually pretty common.

Thats what happened to me as a child when i repeatedly got lice, i've stuck with that ever since, now it's more out of necessity cause i'm balding wayyy too early, but whatever!

[EightBySix]

she just shaved his head.

That's actually pretty common.

Extra points if you paint a big blue cross on the top of their head.

[crashwg]

We went through this a few months back with our three girls (talk about "Ugh") and the most effective and easiest product we've found was this:

http://www.licefreee.com/products/licefreee-spray!/

Good luck.

[Dervacumen]

I did this with my girl when she was five.  The biggest issue wasn't so much her hair, it was washing every other F'ing thing in the house.  Now THAT sucked.  We just used the shampoo and comb twice, and washed all the sheets, lounge blankets, pillows, towels... Ugh...Lice.  You're right.  Sorry man.

[shmokes]

Yeah, just vacuumed all the floors and furniture. On way to laundromat now. The wash room in my building just doesn't have the capacity for a job this size. Sheets, stuffed animals, coats, clothes, hats, scarves, blankets.

[stu33]

Oh man...bad memories there...I still have a couple sealed up garbage bags in my attic of stuffed animals from my daughter's room from the last infestation, at least 6 years ago...pretty sure the bugs/eggs are dead by now...

[Well Fed Games]

Blah... my daughter's in preschool and my wife teaches at yet another preschool, so I imagine it is only a matter of time... thankfully I shave my head already, but it is going to be a mess when it inevitably happens.

[shmokes]

Catching them yourself wouldn't be that big a deal. First, you likely won't. Kids are way more prone. My wife checked me and I ran the comb through my hair and I don't appear to have any. If I did I'd just do the treatment (thanks for the recommendation crash, I picked up some of that spray--we'll see how it works). The big pain is all the hassle of getting rid of them from the house and kid. The wife is probably a lot more likely to have them. I haven't checked her yet. But she shares a brush with my daughter every day. Fortunately I do my hair with my hands so I don't have that exposure. On the other hand, I lie with my daughter in bed for an hour every night doing story time, so I'd think an opportunistic louse wouldn't have had any trouble changing cars.

[hypernova]

NEVER EVER EVER SHARE BRUSHES!!!!  Make sure each family member has their own brush/comb!

Our now 13 yo has had it about 4 times.  One time about 5 or so years ago.  During this past summer all the women in the family kept getting repeat infestations - wife and both daughters.  Weren't quite killing them.  Wife was being stubborn, and never followed the directions on the OTC stuff.  Never waited the full week to reapply, or didn't reapply at all.  After a few months of on and off again infestations in the three of them (my hair is only about 3mm long, so I don't have an issue with it) we finally got them all when we followed the directions and waited the 7-10 days.

Lice need to live near the head, within about a 1/4", I believe.  They can only live off the head for about 3 or so days (IIRC).  The eggs cannot survive away from a head for longer than about 7-10 days.  If you can survive without certain sheets and such for about a month, then you don't necessarily need to wash them all.

Oh, and our 13 yo just got another batch of 'em.  I don't like her friends anymore.  One of 'em has a problem, because she's getting these f'ing things from somebody.

We use LiceMD.  It's fairly sloppy and gooey, but it works well.  Screw Nix.  That stuff doesn't work.

[shmokes]

Well, if this spray crash recommended does the trick, I definitely will recommend it to you. It was easy to apply. It's not gooey, and it's not toxic. It's also very inexpensive. $10 at Walgreens and it includes the little nit comb (a good one with metal teeth).

[Dervacumen]

FWIW,  Yes, you do need to clean all bedding as part of the first treatment.  But the stuffed animals, not so much unless the kid sleeps with it (them) a lot.  Although this wasn't necessary, we used this as a forced excuse to do a deep clean of the house, which we really should have done anyway.  We did clean the sheets and towels vigorously, though, and with segregation.  In summary, segregate all the linens and stuffed animals that are in use, place them outside in plastic garbage bags so they don't get wet or damaged, then put them in your washing machine and wash them in series before you put them back in use.  Then, do it again in a week.  Oh yeah, and in between, give your kid a RID shampoo.  It's a hassle, but if you take advantage of the outside of your home as a storage area for possibly infected material it helps a lot.  The lice sure aren't going to get inside.

[Dervacumen]

Oh man...bad memories there...I still have a couple sealed up garbage bags in my attic of stuffed animals from my daughter's room from the last infestation, at least 6 years ago...pretty sure the bugs/eggs are dead by now...

Uh, y' think?  There is no reason to keep that stuff unless of course you want to. 

[SavannahLion]

Yeah, we've been hit before. It's a long story but I can guarantee you it was a ---smurfing--- nightmare because it was compounded by the absolutely half-witted thinking of my step-daughter's biological father. We practically had to brow beat him into cooperating with the whole process because we were in danger of constantly being re-infested, no thanks to him. I think my wife and I ended up losing about a combined weeks worth of work because the school wouldn't let her back with their "no-nits" policy.

Those mattress "bags" seem to be a big help in the overall process. Most people buy them to make it easier to deal with urinating in bed by young kids or antique people but we now use them on every mattress the kids sleep in along with the guest beds. It reduces lice penetration.... so to speak.

We went through this a few months back with our three girls (talk about "Ugh") and the most effective and easiest product we've found was this:

http://www.licefreee.com/products/licefreee-spray!/

Good luck.

That looks mighty interesting.

[jennifer]

       Just reading this thread makes my head itch....

[Gray_Area]

...the mother got so fed up with repeat cases that she just shaved his head.  

Good thing she didn't have a girl.  

Naa. Just show her some snippets of Alien 3 and V for Vendetta. She be aight.


This does cause me to wonder, though......is this another symptom of 'the modern world'? Because I don't remember these issues in grade school.

[shmokes]

When I was in elementary school the school nurses would come in periodically and go around the room checking all the kids for lice. I always loved when they did cos it feels really cool--a little scalp massage. I was sent home with lice once in 1st grade. That would have been the 1984-85 school year.

[Le Chuck]

This does cause me to wonder, though......is this another symptom of 'the modern world'? Because I don't remember these issues in grade school.

Depends on your definition of modern world.  Most of the surviving documents from antiquity mention lice as one of the scurges of communal living.  Wasn't lice a biblical plague?  I don't think we're any more concerned about these little ---daisies---, they are just thankfully less common in the last 100 years or so in America.   

[knave]

My daughters class had it last november, it was a major issue because the kids just kept reinfesting each other. My house wasn't really much of an issue since we had just moved and everything was pretty clutter-free. I segragated all the stuffed animals, washed the sheets and towels and sprayed a bit on the fabric furnature just to be safe. I buzz my hair so no issues their. My GF didn't get it but we did the treated her all the same.

Problem was some parents just didn't go through the effort to do it properly. 

My girls learned to wear their hair up every day, keep their jackets zipped inside their packs, and to stay away from the dirty kids...(just kidding about that part but that's how I felt)

Good luck Shmokes, I used a combo of Nix and Rid and one other product that has a different active ingrediant. Ultimatly I think being diligant of the repeat treatment 5 days later wether you see eggs or not.

[jennifer]

     Im so going to be sick....

[wizkid32]

I know the feeling.  I got lice once, and found that this was by far the best product for it.  Hope this helps, and you have my sympathy.

[BobA]

Lice are not fun but wait till you go to a posh 5 star hotel and bring home bed bug in your luggage. There is a very large risk comming from quick travel via jets and it is not just bugs.

[HaRuMaN]

Cleaned up, and back on topic...   

[shmokes]

Many thanks to Crash. The LiceFreee Spray he recommended was spectacular. It cleared everything up in one go (of course we laundered clothes, sheets, jackets, etc., and vacuumed thoroughly as well). We've been monitoring my daughter closely and after the initial application we haven't found any sign whatsoever of a reemergence.

It's also not a pesticide, which is a relief. No burning, or chances of brain damage (yes . . . other products can cause permanent brain damage!). And, although my wife disagrees with me on this point, it smells good. It has a strong scent, but it smells of black licorice. At any rate, and my wife does agree with me here, it smells a damned sight better than competing products. Also . . . it's cheep. $10 at Walgreens (call first, I did and the first one I called didn't have it in stock, the second had one left).

[CheffoJeffo]

Cleaned up, and back on topic...   

Haruman's tough ... he even clipped saint!

[HaRuMaN]

Cleaned up, and back on topic...   

Haruman's tough ... he even clipped saint!

Shhh....   

[crashwg]

Glad to have helped, to see you passing on the information of your success and to see this thread back from the dead thoroughly cleaned up.

[saint]

Cleaned up, and back on topic...   

Haruman's tough ... he even clipped saint!

You turn your back just for a single moment....