I wish I had known these little tidbits 14 years ago. One of my reasons for not being ready for kids yet is my fear of lice.
When I was 10, I had very long, VERY thick hair. I caught lice. A month later, I was finally allowed back in school. Every night, my mother would use the OTC lice shampoo. Then, she would section my hair into 3 areas. She and my sisters would stand around me, each with a section, and they’d de-nit my hair for hours. My mother cut off about a foot of hair and used a hair thinning comb. Nothing worked. By the time we finally got the lice to go away, my hair was permanently about half as thick as it had been (this was actually a blessing). My mom made me cut it so short I looked like a boy. Also, my scalp was ruined for over a year. It would constantly crack and bleed and brushing just kept reopening the scabs.
Even now, 14 years later, my mother and I still have nightmares about lice.
Amazingly enough, no one else in the house caught it. I think my sisters used so much Aquanet that the lice couldn’t penetrate the hair.
I could never imagine having school age kids and getting one of those lice letters. Now, when I have kids, I’ll just stock up on Vasoline, baby oil, clarifiying shampoo and Denorex.
There may be some truth to this; there’s pretty strong evidence that lice dislike hair where a lot of styling products are used; the theory is that the products make it harder for the lice to move around; kinda like having the floors of your house carpeted with rodent glue traps, I’d imagine.
O.M.G. I have been dealing with lice for 3 weeks now. I have had to treat my own head for critters as well as my 3 year old daughter. I hate those pesky little pests with all of my heart.
The poem posted in this thread is more than brilliant and made me laugh and shake my head in complete agreement.
My husband just asked me this morning, if the lice shampoo doesn’t kill the nits, what does? What’s the use of buying all of this expensive shampoo if the nits are going to still be around? I had no answer until now. Thank you so much, all of you, for posting your success stories with these ungodly, annoying critters. I will be going to the store to buy the Vaseline and baby oil to use tonight, as well as a bottle of Denorex for proactive treatment throughout the months.
Nits are actually the egg shell of the embryonic louse, so they aren’t alive. However, the nit does a very good job of protecting the embryo from things which might kill it. The expensive shampoos originally killed both adults, nymphs (a kind of teenager stage), and eggs, but the lice evolve quickly enough that they’re able to lay nits which protect the embryos from the insecticide in the shampoo. I suppose in some cases, even the adults become resistant to the insecticide.
So, what you settle for is something which will at least kill the adults and unglue the nits from the hair shafts so they can be removed and disposed. Petroleum jelly (and mayonnaise and olive oil) does both and, if left on long enough, can actually kill the eggs by suffocating them. Because it’s a physical cause of death instead of a chemical, they won’t be evolving any resistance to it. It is, unfortunately, time consuming and messy.
Combine mayonnaise, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, cabbage, onions, carrots and horseradish to make a killer cole slaw that you spread over your scalp. Smothers the head lice and makes a tasty snack.
R.I.P., norinew. It was both jolting and sadly pleasant to see her name show up.
We’ve only had to deal with lice once, thank all that’s holy, but once was definitely enough. I got a bottle of something from the pharmacy to treat our hair that contained chrysanthemum oil, which we used right off and then again 10 days later. In the meantime, I had everyone wash their hair daily, after which I would comb their conditioner-soaked hair with a lice comb. I also washed our bedding every day for two weeks in the highest temperature the machine allowed. What an unbelievable hassle, and it wasn’t made easier by the ever-present itchy scalp. Bleah.
Denorex with tar also has alcohol which is why it works better than T gel. You may want to alternate with some gold Listerine mixed in with your shampoo for a few minutes, preferably tea tree. Or wash with the Listerine. And use tea tree mint conditioner or add a few drops of tea tree oil to a dollop of shampoo and conditioner. Leave the conditioner in a bit. Combing with conditioner in the shower every day for a month is all some ppl do .
One lady beat them by simply spraying gold Listerine on her kids hair every night for a few nights and once with vinegar while combing off nits. Then she continued with the Listerine for a week to be sure. Listerine won’t hurt hair. Just use a leave in or dab of conditioner in the morning. Vinegar washes hair and makes it shiny but clarifies, so rinse after two hours or all night and combining off nits, and use moisturizing conditioner. A little dab of coconut or olive oil or some leave in conditioner combats dryness. A little bit of vinegar in the Listerine helps with any gold stain. Or a water and vinegar rinse for a few minutes. Vinegar actually improves shine but can over clarity so moisturize. You may need to leave the denorex on ten minutes to kill lice. Someone else said the denorex with saliylic acid for a half hour cured them. Idk.ask a doctor about children . I just tried but idk yet. Doubtful at this point. But use tea tree conditioner if you wash with denorex with tar for a few minutes each. You may want to ask your doctor tar shampoo and children too. Unfortunately California only put a cancer warning for tar on the denorex, which really stinks because it kills them all in ten or fifteen but they return. You may just want to shampoo with it and leave tea tree conditioner in a little and with it in. Half water half Listerine can be used every day to repel. Or ten drops of tea tree oil to a spray bottle of water. Taking a couple garlic tablets a day can make them leave. Put a drop of tea tree or lavender oil on your neck to repel
I have never been so gland [and amazed] that I never had lice as a kid [up until I was 16 I never had my hair cut, so it was as thick as my wrist when braided and was at its longest down to my knees.] The descriptions of the sheer hell of delousing sounds like it would just be easier to say fuck it and shave ones head.
FWIW, what worked for us was Lice MD. This was after two or three weeks of no results. Lice MD took care of them basically immediately. (Had to do some more some time later due to the egg cycle of course, but the problem was basically solved on the first use.)
So if anyone is uncomfortable with or can’t get Denorex for whatever reason, try the Lice MD.
Some of it. I am happy to say that extra strength Denorex with salicylic acid for a half hour seems to have cured them! If they return I will use it for ten minutes. But I we will use it a couple times a week and tea tree conditioner. This has been a five month battle and I tried everything! Was about to try neem oil, heard that massaged in a few minutes works.
I used denorex with tar for twenty minutes which also worked, but had babies in a few days. The cancer warning from California for tar scared me, and I found just leaving it in a few minutes wasn’t totally effective, probably needs ten minutes every couple days, or every day for a minute, but I was afraid. However, I was just about to resort to one of those for a couple weeks. Or gold Listerine for ten days and once with vinegar, as that worked for someone else. They don’t hurt your hair if you use leave in during the day and moisturizing conditioner, your hair will be shiny, esp with the vinegar. I add a tiny bit of vinegar to half water half Listerine to help with the gold cast to repel.
After using the extra strength denorex for a half hour I used the half water half gold Listerine to repel for two days. And I comb with a metal nit comb over the sink every day to check. But I’ve had no crawling feeling. Please let ppl know, the extra strength denorex works! May only take twenty minutes. If you don’t want to do that, simply massage in gold Listerine and leave in all night, comb off nits and bugs after its in awhile. The next night use vinegar, you can rinse and condition in two hours or the morning. No need to wash. Hair will be shiny. Comb off nits. Then continue with the Listerine every night for a week. You can switch to half water half Listerine to repel. Or tea tree oil in water. A drop an ounce. Fairy tales repel spray is nice and their terminator nit comb. Or try the neem oil. Thanks!
