Sandra Scratches Her Head:
I’m having a lice problem, I just wanted to know what’s the most effective way to kill lice and nits and not dry or damage my hair in the process?? Thanx!!
The Left Brain‘s Louse-y Reply:
Sorry to hear about your lice infestation problem, Sandra. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty common problem. There are many other parasites that I’d prefer to have! But before I talk about a cure, here’s a bit of background for those of you who may not be familiar with this problem:
Head lice are tiny crawling insects about the size of a sesame seed or smaller. They have six clawed legs that they use to crawl over your hair; they cannot hop, jump, or fly. Lice lay eggs, also known as Nits, which they glue to individual hair shafts. Lice live only on humans, not pets, and (here`s the best part) they FEED ON HUMAN BLOOD!
The good news is that there several Over-The-Counter drug products that are effective against lice and nits. The bad news is, these products contain isopropyl alcohol which can dry your hair. There are “natural” lice cures but there is little or no data to prove these are effective. The safest and most sure way to get rid of lice and not damage your hair is to use a lice comb, but this is a very extremely tedious process.
Recently, there was a study done by researchers at the University of Utah in which they created a steam cleaning device (a cross between a vacuum cleaner and a hair dryer) to kill lice. This could prove pretty interesting.
Which treatment method is best for you? Rather than recount all the pros and cons of each method here, we’ll point you to Head Lice.org for a very through question and answer page that you should find helpful. And if you do decide to use the lice-killing shampoo please make sure you follow that with a good conditioner to counteract the drying effects of the alcohol. Good luck!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
the way i got rid of my lice was first to smother my hair in butter overnight, to kill the lice. then coat my hair in olive oil and have my mom rake through it with a nit comb to get out the eggs. then i went to these “nit picker” people who went through my hair to get the rest of the nits out. but they said that after all that butter and combing there werent many left, so maybe multiple treatments of the combing and butter might work. but if that doesnt work, go with the shampoo and a really good conditioner.
Most commercial lice shampoos contain Pyrethrum or some other insecticide. I avoid insecticide-based lice treatments. During our last (I truly hope LAST) infestation, we learned that oil (baby oil, salad oil, mayonaise, butter) suffocates live/hatched lice. I also found a children’s hair care product manufacturer that sells a product to loosen nits and a line of product that repel lice from taking residence on your family’s heads. I didn’t know your policy on name-dropping, so if thebeautybrains.com wants further info, I will provide it.
my daughter (8) got nits and then lice for the first time in her life – we don’t know how or where. She then gave them to me and we have tried so many products and spent so much time and money. We went to a hair salon in mobile, AL and the owner promised her product would cure it. She removed the nits from both of us and charged us $250 plus prducts she recommended (Fairy Tales). It was OK for a little while and then they came back, even though we cleaned everything that could be cleaned every day including the interior of the car. We are so exhausted. We have tried everything safe and are unwilling to use the chemical products. I would love to know the name of the product that repels lice from “taking residence on your family’s heads”. Thank you so much.
you can kill lice using pine-sol.my aunt is the head nurse at a major hospital and when her children got lice she used 1 part pine-sol to 3 parts water and first she washed their hair and while it was still wet she mix the pine-sol/water solution and rinsed their hair.do not dry the hair after the pine-sol solution cover it with a bathing or shower cap over night.it worked like a charm on my nieces and nephew when they came home from school with these nasty little bugs.also put any combs and other items including book bags into a plastic trash bag and set it in direct sunlight.the heat and lack of oxygen will kill and that are on these items.PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR CHILDREN IN A PLASTIC BAG THIS WILL KILL YOUR CHILDREN.I HAD TO ADD THAT LAST WARNING SINCE WE ALL KNOW THERE ARE SOME PARENTS OUT THERE WHO DO CRAZY THINGS.
I am an elementary school teacher in an inner-city school and so encounter lice far too often. I actually realized yesterday that one of the little girls from the school gave them to me when she hugged me this week. : S
As far as chemical products go NIX is the one that always works, because they don’t use common pesticides which the lice have begun growing immunities to. I have heard that oil works well – we’ll find out, I put some on last night and will go wash my hair soon to check the results. TEA TREE OIL SHAMPOO is supposed to be one of the best repellants, but it is very strong smelling.
I’ll let you know if the baby oil worked!
Correction: “RESULTZ” works really well, NIX is the one that was over used!
I tried the baby oil, left it over night and combed it out this morning. I definitely removed a bunch, but as I have really thick hair I will have to wait for boyfriend to get home for the final inspection. I blow-dryed my hair before combing as I read they hate that.
Anyway, it seems to have worked!
Just wanted to comment and say that I really like your blog layout and the way you write too. It’s very refreshing to see a blogger like you.. keep it up
My sister and i keep getting lice, weve tried everything from pesticides to baby oil to mayonaise.nothing works! but when i was 7 and got lice dawn{dish soap} got rid of it!
I have a 5 yr old daughter that is now in kindergarten and she came down with lice. I have tried everything and finally got rid of the bugs but I can’t seem to get the nits out of her hair. I don’t have fingernails so I can’t pick them out that way and the nit combs that they give you with the Lice treatments don’t seem to help. Is there anything I can get that might help the removal of the eggs? Please I am DESPERATE.
I have lice. I tried the RID lice treatment then the lil critters came back. My mom made me throw away my pillows. Is that necessary? I read on the box that you could throw the bedding AND pillows in the dryer on high heat. But she made me throw the pillows away anyway. Does mayo really work. I have never tried it. I’m tempted to try that or to try the conditioner idea. I hate itching all day long. It’s so annoying. I’m 14 but I know a lot about lice cause in past years at school kids got them all the time. I kept my distance cuz I didn’t want them but I got them now. I know that lice can’t live on the floor, bed, furnishings, etc. Cuz they need to survive on a human head.. Please let me know. So I have future references later on. Thanks.
Okay so I’m 18 and live with my grandma and I have had headlice 4 times w/ in the last month. I’ve used everything, including kerosene, and that has worked including the creme rinse for headlice. With the rinse though I have to use it over and over. I don’t want to resort to kerosene, but tis the only thing that has worked. Mayonaise doesn’t kill everything it just kills the bugs and the nits will still be alive. I keep getting them and we even bombed the house 3 times and cleaned everything. (oh! and by the way, the house bombs for fleas and stuff workk very well in treating the house for lice.) I dont know what to do though and it makes me feel nasty itching all the time.
I have a little sister that gets lice every Tuesdays and Thursdays, of course them lice get to me eventually. The problem is, My sister has a friend with Lice, she told her that she had lice and one day in class this creature jumped from her head to her notebook and she stamped it with a pen (awful). My sister now thinks its ‘cool’ to have lice and she doesnt mind it! aghh I hate them awful creatures! ive had them about 15 times the past 5 months and Ive come to the conclusion comb is the most effective one. Just wash your hair and comb it with your regulaar comb then comb it with the lice comb (get someone else to do that for you!) and sit there for as much as it takes until your hair gets dump do that process every night and be sure not to get close to anyone when your hair’s down and make sure your children keep safe and wear a ponytail to school.
Ive been obsessive about lice since grade 5 when i was bold around the ears trying to pull out lice and nits, it took me months to grow my hair back! I cant stand the thought of having lice or any creature around me so I am really distanced from people’s hair and still get lice!
Hair Fairies is a recommended source for hair lice treatment.
My 6year old daughter keeps getting lice and I’ve tryed everything under the sun and nothing seems to work. Well this last time someone told me about pine-o-pine just mix it with a little water and let it sit for a little while and it seem to work really good killed the bugs and the nits.. Icheck her head everyday and I haven’t seen anything since
both my daughters have lice and ive tried evrything how long do i have to keep them out of school and does baby oil really work ive tried vinegar and lice md ugghh
Wow I came here looking for for some research on Lice shampoo and hair dye and I am shocked at the misinformation that people have been provided with or are providing.
Any type of gas product – Kerosene, petrol etc, is poisonous and can seep through the skin. This kind of treatment is considered child abuse in many districts. Similarly any household cleaner will also poison although to a lesser extent. All of these items can also be inhaled or drip into the eye causing serious damage.
RC, Nix and Resultz are SAFE products that do not contain pesticides. They must be used properly in the correct dosage, left on for the correct time and finally a second treatment must be done from 7-10 days later. Using a proper comb (Licemeister, terminator) will work extremely wekk in getting the nits out. These combs have special cross hairs that grab the nits as the comb passes down the shaft. Use a strong head lamp or have the infested person sit in a very bright area and methodically comb through the hair.
Most people think they keep getting it over and over when in reality they probably haven’t gone away in the first place. Oils, mayonnaise and tea tree oil have not been clinically proven to work. “Natural” remedies are not regulated by the FDA or CDA so they are not subject to stringent testing and regulations.
You can minimize the chances of contracting lice by reducing the amount of washing your hair gets (they love clean hair), using a hair product that helps coat the hair to prevent gripping and keeping hair tied back in a pony or braid. Spray with hairspray to keep flyaways at a minimum. Of course this is not fool proof but it can help. Check your childrens hair frequently and caution them not to hug their friends and to keep their heads away from others.
You do not need to fumigate your house or steam clean furniture. Lice can not live off the human head and are mostly unable to reproduce if they have in fact fallen from the head.
If you need help recognizing and removing nits or even applying the shampoos, contact your local health department. There are also some very good videos on you tube showing how to do the procedure.
Happy Nit-picking! (Now you know where that expression came from)
As a mom of 8. We have had our bouts with head lice. After you have gotten rid of the lice. we have found that if you blow dry you childrens hair after every bath it heps to keep from getting them. The heat seems tokill the bugs.and if you blow dry their hair oftwn the bugs dont have time to lay eggs before you kill them.
The best way to get rid of head lice is with pine sol. Not the pine sol with lemon but the old fashion pine sol. It does work really well and it will kill all the lice. Just make sure the hair is wet and delude the pine sol with water.. anybody who says it doesnt work is lying.. Do it every week until you get all the babies that keep trying to hatch. Wash and dry all fabrics on the beds.. make sure to mix the pine sol with water because it can dry out your scalp. I have a daughter with longer hair than everybody in her school. Everybody asks me why she dont ever get lice like all the other kids she plays with do. I tell everybody its thanks to pine sol.
I have been battling lice with my oldest daughter for months. She often gives it to her two younger sisters. No matter what I do, she keeps getting re-infested so we have made it a part of our daily routine to just leave in a thick conditioner in their hair and comb through it NIGHTLY with a metal lice comb. Then, the next morning COMB ALL 3 heads again and fix their hair using a lice comb and then use gel. (especially in the 2 who are in school). Then, weekly, I put soda in their hair (the acids in the soda eat at the glue on the eggs)and let it sit for 20 min or so and wash it out and then put in olive oil and comb to make sure they arent getting re- infested. If I dont do this, they always come back so I can only assume my oldest is picking it up from school. She seems to get it before my younger daughter if I dont keep this routine. I personally comb through my hair in the shower every night and I keep up with their bedding and spray and vacuum our furniture regularly. Dont get frustrated and use anything like kerosene or pine sol or any other crazy chemical. THESE ARE YOUR KIDS! Ya, it may work, but SERIOUSLY? Just because something is said to be guaranteed to work doesnt mean that you should do it. Especially considering that they can get re- infested. Using these chemicals will NOT prevent a re- infestation if it is coming from somewhere else. You can do EVERYTHING right. All it takes is one kid having it and your open to re-infestation. Just make prevention part of your daily routine and everything should be fine. And for the mother who puts pine sol on her kid’s head once a week, why not just poison your kid’s food once a week ? Oh ya, BECAUSE ITS NOT HEALTHY! DO NOT take her advice!
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