Reoccurence of lice - can someone help?

[marathonmom]

My kids have this persistent lice that I can't seem to get rid of.

They had all been treated with permethin - yuck! - but it seemed to rid us of it. Then we did a home remedy that
worked really well for a friend - listerine and witch hazel, preceded by a vinegar rinse.

We had gone to the hairdresser and she thought all four of us were clear.

But 2 weeks later we had it back - at least with my two older girls. The youngest has been spared for which I am thankful.

We redid the listerine nad witch hazel (what they use to k ill mites on baby birds). But I am still finding bugs on them. I don't
really want to redo the permethin. I will if I have to. We tried the olive oil treatment - didn't work - tried mayonaise - didn't work.
Now I am combing through their hair every day with a mixture of almond oil and 5 essential oils that are supposed to repel them.
My oldest hasn't had a live bug in 10 days - just a few nits here and there.. But my middle child (my longhair) had 2 bugs today, 3 bugs a couple days ago and
anyway from 2 - 10 nits each day.

I am washing all of our sheets every day. Their matresses are covered in plastic. I toss the pillows in th e dryer too. Iwash
their clothes each day.

Ugh.

Did I tell you I found a bug on my hair a week ago - so I treated myself with permethin too. I keep itching, but there is no one
to check my hair :violin

We are all sick of lice!! But trusting that God is working diligence and persistence in us through this!!

oh yes, I have read the lice threads - several times ;)

[Katigre]

There are two scenarios:

1. The lice is not getting fully killed/nits not fully picked out from their hair.

2. You all are getting reinfected somehow

Have you considered that your car might be how it is still spreading? Have you considered loading all of your hair with lots of beauty products (gels especially) each day (those help impede lice)? Did you do the double regimen of the chemical treatment? I remember back when I had lice a number of years ago you did the initial chemical shampoo, and then a few days later did it again (sort of along the lines of taking an antibiotic for the full 7 days even though you feel better on day 3).

Resistant lice are terrible, I am SO sorry you are dealing with this! Oh - does bleach kill lice? Can you add a small amount of bleach (diluted in water first so it won't affect clothing color) to all the laundry?

[marathonmom]

There are two scenarios:

1. The lice is not getting fully killed/nits not fully picked out from their hair. This to me is the most likely scenario. Since I am not finding large numbers of nits, I'm wondering if I'm just missing some. I've heard an adult louse can lay up
to 100 eggs - eek!

Have you considered that your car might be how it is still spreading?
We have treated the car with chemicals twice. The furniture in the house too and then we cover the furniture with sheets.
We don't use the car every day, and it has been very very hot in the car now with the temps being in the 90's outside. I guess
I was hoping that would kill them. If I don't use the car for 2 days -they can't live outside a human for longer than 48 hours can they?
Have you considered loading all of your hair with lots of beauty products (gels especially) each day (those help impede lice)?
I didn't know that. We've been putting a mixture of almond oil and other essential oils on and our hair is all greasy. But I could try
the gels. There is one "treatment" that involves putting Cetaphil cleanser on your head, drying it with a blow dryer and leaving it
for 8 hours. It is supposed to suffocate the nits.

Did you do the double regimen of the chemical treatment? Yes, with my oldest. She does still have nits. I haven't seen any live stuff though, for over a week. My youngest only got one treatment, but she has escaped the reoccurence. My middle child only had one treatment, and she has had the most problem. If it doesn't get better soon, I will retreat her. I've thought about putting her on an air
mattress downstairs, away from everyone else to see if that helps.
Can you add a small amount of bleach (diluted in water first so it won't affect clothing color) to all the laundry?
Good thought, perhaps I will try that. I've hung them in the hot hot sun for 5 hours too.

Our electric bill went up big time last month because of all the laundry! We have sheets on all our living room furniture too.

Thanks for responding!

[JessicaTX]

Ugh, I know the feeling. My oldest daughter came home from dance recital with lice. At least that's my guess- she's the only one that had them and it was about 2 weeks after recital taht I found them. From what I read one louse can lay 4 -6 eggs a day, and the bugs live for approximately 30 days and can start layin ten days after hatching. so you do the shampoo once to kill the living bugs, and pick out all the nits, then do it again to kill whatever hatched before they start laying more eggs. It took me 3 and a half hours to comb through her hair to pick nits, and I did it every other day in the sun.

Are you washing the sheets on hot and drying them in the dryer? I think they live through a cold wash and sunning. I did the permethrin shampoo twice 7 days apart, then switched brands to a different bug killer and did one more treatment 8 days later. I didn't even think of looking here for more natural treatment options, I googled for options and only came up with the vile stuff.

[marathonmom]

Are you washing the sheets on hot and drying them in the dryer?

Yes, that was what I had been doing until we had a very hhot day here. A doctor friend had
suggested hanging them in t he sun.

We are just continuing to comb. I did some reading tonight and it looks like I will be combing for another 3 weeks.

[Katigre]

I think the continual combing will make the difference in the long run. Good luck!

[kklibrarian]

I do foster care and have become a lice expert. I swear by teatree oil as a preventative. I just put a little in the shampoo we use and also comb everyone's hair with a little diluted in water once a week. The lice apparently hate the smell. Garlic capsules are also a pretty good preventative if you can get your kids to swallow them. The garlic helps with mosquitos too.

For actual infestations, we've done the mayonaisse, the vinegar rinses, the poisons (permethrin and pyrethrin), etc. You name it we've tried it. I found a product a few months ago called Licefreee!. It's not a poison. It is a very concentrated sodium solution. You put it on clean hair and let it sit. Then, comb through the hair and rinse. It's worked great and I feel better about using it than the poisons. I get it at Walgreens here and its about $20 for a double treatment. I usually follow up with combing through their hair with a teatree oil solution for several days.

I'm sorry y'all are dealing with this. Lice are no fun. I have an outbreak every time we get new kidlets (they all seem to have them), and it never fails to completely freak me out. :hug2

Blessings,
Kelly

[marathonmom]

I found a product a few months ago called Licefreee!. It's not a poison. It is a very concentrated sodium solution. You put it on clean hair and let it sit. Then, comb through the hair and rinse. It's worked great and I feel better about using it than the poisons. I get it at Walgreens here and its about $20 for a double treatment. I usually follow up with combing through their hair with a teatree oil solution for several days.



Blessings,
Kelly


Thank you for the hug! :) I've seen that product at Walgreen's perhaps i will have to try it. Do you know - can you go swimming
after you have used it, or will that deactivate it?

[kklibrarian]

I found a product a few months ago called Licefreee!. It's not a poison. It is a very concentrated sodium solution. You put it on clean hair and let it sit. Then, comb through the hair and rinse. It's worked great and I feel better about using it than the poisons. I get it at Walgreens here and its about $20 for a double treatment. I usually follow up with combing through their hair with a teatree oil solution for several days.



Blessings,
Kelly


Thank you for the hug! :) I've seen that product at Walgreen's perhaps i will have to try it. Do you know - can you go swimming
after you have used it, or will that deactivate it?


It's not a poison like the other commercial treatments are, so once you've done the application, let it sit for thirty minutes, combed out, and rinsed, you should be able to go in swimming. I let my daughter play in the sprinklers right after we'd treated as a reward for sitting still for the combing and it didn't seem to make any difference.

[Garnet]

my kids go to public school, so i go thru this every once in a while. if my stepson isn't bringing it in first. :sick anyway, here's the steps i follow.

treatment:

kids hair

my hair

all hair brushes, combs, clips hair ties, etc get tossed in a bucket with bleach and hot water ( although this alone may not kill them. think about it, bugs survive pool chlorine.) then i let them air dry on paper towels in the sun. a friend says she puts all hers in the top rack dishwasher in a lingerie bag. That will kill them.

all the furniture, cars gets sprayed down

the pets need to be treated with a lice shampoo for pets. especially if they sleep with the kids.

vacuum all carpets ( there is a floor sprinkle that kills lice and smells like cinnamon)

tie up all stuffed animals for 2 weeks or wash them

wash all bedding, flip and spray each side of the mattress

wash all items the kids use daily that are on hair/shoulders, like bookbags, purses, coats, hats, etc.

wash all bedding and pillows ( of course)

if your kids have a wading pool drain it and don't refill it till the infestation is over.

next, you can expect to see a reoccurance in 2 weeks, since thats the hatching cycle of the bugs. 7-10 days they hatch, but day 14 they are medium sized. so if the shampoo didn't kill the nits, and they didn't get removed, they will hatch.

comb every day. there is a neat spray like halloween fake hair color you can spray on and them brush out but it will stick to the nits making them bright blue, orange etc. sometimes it helps.

[marathonmom]

next, you can expect to see a reoccurance in 2 weeks, since thats the hatching cycle of the bugs. 7-10 days they hatch, but day 14 they are medium sized. so if the shampoo didn't kill the nits, and they didn't get removed, they will hatch.

comb every day. there is a neat spray like halloween fake hair color you can spray on and them brush out but it will stick to the nits making them bright blue, orange etc. sometimes it helps.


Thanks Garnet. I've done all those steps except flipping the mattresses, but they do have plastic airtight covers on their mattresses. I like that idea of the spray. My kids would think that was really fun too.