# A warning about the lice would have been nice . . .

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [May 13, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750 "2005-05-13T21:37:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750/21 "2005-05-14T12:07:32Z")

</div>

My daughter has been to child care and to 2 different schools. All have had occasional outbreaks of headlice (the previous, expensive private school had the most! One kid had lice in his EYELASHES!!). She has yet to have headlice, but it will come, it will come. I bought the chemicals, but they sit in the bathroom cupboard waiting.

[This site](http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/headlice/nitbusters/index.html) is very helpful - recommends school-wide nitbusting days. Busts a bunch of myths , too.

It does point out that the efficacy of tea-tree oil as an anti-nit treatment is unproven. Tea-tree oil has been shown to be an antimicrobial, not an insecticide (did some work on it myself, many a long year ago 😉 ). Also tea-tree oil can provoke an irritation reaction in sensitive (think young scalp) skin.

One thing that has been shown to work is [thick, gluggy conditioner and a comb](http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/headlice/treatment/index.html).

And you get nice, shiny hair too!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chattywine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@chattywine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chattywine)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750/22 "2005-05-14T13:16:08Z")

</div>

Ack!

I’m still in paranoid mode from an infestation at the beginning of the school year here. The Dope saved me it did! In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271593) \*\*presidebt \*\* tells how to not only kill the lice but have nit free hair in one go. Vaseline, baby oil then clarifying shampoo. I used vaseline with olive oil and dishsoap same results. A weekly shampooing with dandruff stuff and no more freaky little beasts. Crap now I’m itching. Good luck!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750/23 "2005-05-14T16:00:24Z")

</div>

> [@DarkSideoftheFloyd](#):
>
> I’ve heard it said that lice prefer cleaner hair… Is this true?

I don’t know…but I do know you don’t just get them. You have to get them from someone else who’s already got them.

Thankfully.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750/24 "2005-05-14T16:03:13Z")

</div>

> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I don’t know…but I do know you don’t just get them. You have to get them from someone else who’s already got them.
> 
> Thankfully.

That’s why they’re so common in schools–little kids spend a lot more time with their heads close together than adults do.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-warning-about-the-lice-would-have-been-nice/303750.md?page=1)