Lice - Peoria,IL

All good advice, but the key is removingn every last egg with tweezers, a flash light, and a comb. They are resistant to that RID stuff and just washing hair with it will not get rid of them. Once you do everything, and get rid of them, you will want to keep hair products in their hair. I hairspray my daughters hair everyday. They don't like hair spray. I may try the tea trea oil, too,

I haven't seen this option listed yet, so I'll add Robicomb for a possibility. It doesn't help with the nits, but it "zaps" lice with an electrical charge. It's expensive, but pretty simple to use. You just comb through dry hair with the device, which hums/buzzes until it detects one, then you brush out the critter with a little brush provided. In a family of girls with long, thick hair, this in nice to have. So far, my Robicomb has lasted for 7+ months.

Have you treated your whole house? All bedding, towels, etc? It won't go away until you do. Here's a link on how to get rid of it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2346_treat-head-lice.html

Treat your child and then get a Bug Bag asap! You can find them on www.bugbagusa.com

There is an all natural product line called Fairy Tales that you can buy at Custom Cuts. Not sure where you live but it is available at many beauty supply stores too. This product line is awesome! It's a great prevenative once you get everything back to normal!

Hey Lisa, you got lots of great advice. You MUST go through his hair strand by strand, for several days to be sure you get EVERY nit or the lice will still be there when the nits hatch. If you can't go through his hair,shave it, give him the choice. Then do everything else that was suggested, look through every other family members hair, vacuum, wash bedding, put way stuffed animals etc. DON"T use Rid every again, it is a pesticide that can have long term effects on the body and brain. Tea tree oil works, put drops on his scalp and in his shampoo, you could do this for all family members for prevention. We do this every so often to prevent lice.

you might want to check your own head too!

Shave his head. ALL of the household bedding needs to be washed with HOT water. Stuffed animals need to be sealed in plastic bags for at least 2 weeks. Pillows as well, or just get new ones. Someone else in the family may have them so check EVERYONE. This went thru my daughters school two weeks ago and I called the girl that cuts my hair. My daughter didn't get it, but she said to prevent it use gel or mousse and dry her hair with the hair dryer. They don't like the added dirt in the hair and can't live thru the heat. Good luck!!

I haven't read through all the responses, but my girlfriend did this when her girls - with sensitive skin - got lice. She coated their hair in mayonnaise and put a plastic shower cap on and had them sleep that way. You could also have him wear it all day on a Saturday if over night is not comfortable. I think one poster mentioned leaving it on an hour, but I've heard that's not enough time. This method took care of the lice/nits on their heads 100%. BUT, she also washed all bedding and clothes they'd worn in hot water and dried these items well in a hot dryer. Stuffed animals, decorative pillows etc. she bagged up for a week as the bugs can't live that long off the host. Bed pillows that couldn't be washed went in the dryer on high for an hour or so. Obviously all hats, scarves, coats etc. got washed, too. It's a pain in the neck, but if you wash everything, bag what can't be washed and do the mayo, you should be in good shape. Don't forget to treat other members of your house -- you could all have lice and not even know it yet, but be passing it back and forth. Treat everyone and everything. Good luck!!

Believe it or not there is now a pill! My step daughter had lice last year and we spent hours washing and nit-picking to get through her long fine thick hair. Here is some info from the internet.

WEDNESDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News)-- In children with hard-to-treat head lice, the oral medication ivermectin is more effective than the standard treatment, the topical cream malathion, new research finds.

The study, published in the March 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that 95 percent of those treated with ivermectin were lice-free after two weeks compared to 85 percent of those using malathion.

"Ivermectin may be a good alternative to malathion when topical insecticide resistance is suspected," the study authors wrote.

The researchers caution that ivermectin generally shouldn't be used as a first-line treatment, but instead suggest that it be reserved for treatment-resistant lice. Overuse of ivermectin might lead to lice developing resistance to this medication as well.

Between 6 million and 12 million American schoolchildren are infested with head lice each year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Worldwide, as many as 100 million people contract head lice annually, according to background information in the study.

Although most lice infestations respond well to over-the-counter remedies, some lice have become resistant to these medications. In some cases, lice have also developed a resistance to the topical prescription medication malathion.

Ivermectin, an oral anti-parasitic drug, has been used to treat other parasitic infections, such as scabies. A previous trial on ivermectin found that a dose of 200 micrograms per kilogram of body weight was only effective in killing lice in about one out of four people, according to the study.

The current study was designed to assess the efficacy of ivermectin at twice that dose -- 400 micrograms per kilogram of body weight -- and to compare it to the standard treatment for difficult-to-treat lice.

A total of 812 children were recruited for the study. Their average age was 10. The children were put into one O. treatment groups. One group received ivermectin on days one and eight at a dose equivalent to 400 micrograms per kilogram, while the other group was treated with malathion lotion on the same days. Study medications were provided by the drug manufacturers.

Each group was also given a placebo equivalent. Those in the ivermectin group were treated with a similarly-scented lotion on treatment days, and those in the malathion group were given placebo pills on treatment days.

No other lice treatments were permitted, not even combing lice eggs (nits) from the hair.

On day 15, the researchers examined the children for evidence of continued infestation. They found that ivermectin was more effective, with 95 percent of the children lice-free. In the malathion group, 85 percent of the children treated were lice-free.

The researchers found no significant differences in the frequency of adverse events related to treatment, according to the study.

"Ivermectin looks like another tool against head lice, but there are still a number of questions to be answered," said Dr. Mark Diamond, a pediatrician affiliated with Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "The risk of side effects isn't totally clear, and a systemic drug vs. a topical medication is clearly a change in process. Plus, I have no idea of the cost."

One advantage of ivermectin might be that it's easier to administer, he said. "Lotions and shampoos are messy, and if all other factors are equal, parents might prefer an oral medication," said Diamond.

The good news about lice, he said, is that "a head lice infection is not serious, and it doesn't lead to other harmful diseases or complications." And, he said, most children can be effectively treated with over-the-counter medications and careful combing to remove nits from their hair.

Shave his head. Then you need to wash all bedding in hot water and dry with the dryer set on the highest heat setting for at least 45 minutes. You should gather up all the stuffed animals and put them in garbage bags for 14 days minimum. Afterwards, you can vacuum them. You need to vacuum the mattress, all carpets, sofas, chairs, even your car, car seats to get rid of the eggs.

The eggs can last 10 days without being on a human's body. Good luck.

I second the women who commented about natural soluctions from Melaluca/Tea Tree Oil. I have their book with home remedies and there is one for lice. My Melaluca rep, Lola Wright ###-###-####, can help you out with what products you need. My book is at home otherwise I would help more.
Best of Luck.
J.

Try to wash his hairs with antilice shampoo once or twice.I think it will work.

I think, especially for a boy, at this age the easiest thing to do is shave his head. We have friends with twin 2 and a half year olds that recently went through this and after a week of washing and combing meticulously they shaved both the boys heads. The boys thought it was cool, the hair grew back in about 2 months and life could go on.

Good Luck,
D.

If you don't want to shave his head, prepare to spend a lot of time sitting and taking out the nits. I suggest a video that your son loves, to encourage him to sit still -- and maybe a lollipop too -- works for my kids when I need them to sit still. Then pull up a good chair, a bright light, and the nit comb and get to work. Lots of other people told you what to do with toys and bedding so I won't repeat that. Could be worse -- could be a girl with super long hair! Good luck.

Everyone needs to be treated, not just your son. Vacuum vacuum vacuum every day! Stuffed animals away in plastic bag 2 wks or longer or throw them in the dryer on high heat, but don't take them out til everything else has been taken care of. Tea tree shampoo every day, it will prevent them from coming onto your son in the first place if it's always used when ever you wash his hair. Be sure you wash his bed sheets, pillow cases and the pillow itself can go directly into the dryer. I have 3 kids from my now husband and we have never had lice. I swear it's the tea tree oil shampoo that keeps them away. I also have a 19 yr old from first husband and I didn't know about using the that shampoo til after he got it twice in his elementary years. Good Luck!

One easy way to solve this would be to shave his head. No more lice.

You do need to pick out every single last nit, since the shampoo only kills live lice and not the eggs. The nits are the eggs and you have to go through every strand of hair to get every last one. You really need glasses and a strong light and a patient child.

You also need to check yourself and anyone else in the house to see if you're carrying them and reinfesting him. You also need to bag up his stuffed toys for two weeks, and vacuum wherever he sits (lice-killing spray for the furniture works too) and you need to wash his bedding every single day in hot water. Getting rid of lice is ALOT of work.

But if you can shave his head, you won't have any more work to do on him. You'll just have to work on the rest of the house to make sure they're all gone. If I had a boy instead of a girl, you bet I would have shaved his head to get rid of them. Kinda hard to do if you have a girl.

Try mayonnaise, just saturate the scalp & hair then put a plastic bag on head for about an hour. Comb thru then rinse, & shampoo. With this method you don't have to condition the hair. Coconut oil works also. Saturate the scalp & hair Put plastic bag on head for about an hour, comb thru then shampoo with Dawn to get oil out of hair. Both remedies suffocate the lice & eggs. Good luck!!

Oh I feel your pain! My daughter got lice this summer and it is awful! We treated her with the Rid also, and my sister in law recommended using Lice MD a few days after. It is not a pesticide, so you can use it between the applications of the Rid. It helped tremendously! It is very messy, but I didn't care. I also used conditioner on the days we didn't use the Lice MD. I would slather conditioner on her hair every night and comb through to get the nits. It supposedly smothers them for about 20 minutes. It took me several hours, but she was lice free within 7 days. I was crazy obsessed with being thorough when combing for nits. We retreated her on day 10 with the Rid just to make sure they were all gone. I also washed bedding every day and put pillows and stuffed animals into the dryer on high heat for 30 minutes each morning. Good luck, and if I were you I would take Julie's advice and shave his head especially if it's causing the sores. How I wished I could've done that to my daughter, but girls just can't get away with that! Thinking of you!

Cover his head in Olive Oil that suffocates the bugs and makes it hard for them to latch on then you can comb them out easier, and the nit eggs too.

If you put Olive Oil on at night you can either use a bandanna or Plastic bag over his head. This is what I did because the chemical burned my daughters head.

i know what im about to say may sound too good to be true but it works...i too went thru this with my daughter about 2 weeks ago and used everything! we are all lice and itchy free :) what you do is get some ORIGINAL listerine and soak everyones head in it cover with a shower cap or plastic bag and leave it until its completely dry (it will take a while but its sooo worth it) then comb out any dead lice and nits...wash hair with any kind of coconut shampoo (i was recommended suave) just check everyday and it will disappear in a few days!!!! get the listerine and put it in a spray bottle and spray hair once a week (i would do it sunday since its before a new week at school) you will never have a problem again a girl came around my daughter the other day and the little girl had lice...my daughter didnt get it :) so its worth a shot!!! good luck

Hi
Here is a proven solution. Tea Tree oil from Melaleuca. Read the following article and contact me for details. Thanks. S.

Tea tree gel gets rid of head lice
By Dr. Patrick Massey | Daily Herald Columnist

Published: 8/24/2009 12:06 AM


The beginning of school can be new and exciting, but it is also the peak season for head lice.
Head lice occur most frequently in young children between 3 and 10 years old. In the U.S., approximately 6 to 12 million children undergo treatment for head lice per year. Head lice are spread through direct contact between an infected person and an uninfected person. Although there are prescription medications that are effective in treating head lice, you might be surprised to learn that one nontraditional treatment, tea tree gel, may be as good as or even better at killing head lice.
The most common method of killing head lice is to treat the scalp and hair with a medication, permethrin. It is very effective and has few side effects. However, there are increasing reports of head lice developing resistance to permethrin, and stronger chemicals come with more side effects. Many people are looking to nontraditional alternatives: eucalyptus oil, echinacea, tea tree oil and extracts from other herbs.
Are these nontraditional therapies effective, however, and how do they compare to permethrin?
These questions were addressed in a recent medical study comparing the effectiveness of a number of nontraditional therapies to the permethrin approach. This study (published in the medical journal Medical and Veterinary Entomology) was done in Australia where head lice is a serious problem. In some schools, up to 30 percent of children are affected and permethrin resistance is increasingly common. Using very stringent methods for evaluating head lice mortality, the researchers discovered that most of the nontraditional therapies were relatively ineffective, except for tea tree gel.
Surprisingly, in this study, tea tree gel actually was better at killing head lice than permethrin. Almost 100 percent of head lice were killed by tea tree gel compared with 82 percent with permethrin. There were no significant side effects reported by either tea tree gel or permethrin.
Tea tree gel comes from tea tree oil, derived from the leaves of the tea tree, a native of Australia. Tea tree oil has been used for centuries as a treatment for many conditions including sore throats, open wounds and skin diseases. Now we can add head lice.
Even though there are few side effects to permethrin, not everyone wants to use a pesticide on their children - especially if nontraditional therapies for the treatment of head lice are as effective. Therefore, this study is timely and important: Head lice are increasingly resistant to permethrin; tea tree gel actually kills head lice and may be more effective than permethrin.
I hope you and your family will never experience head lice, but if you do, it is good to know that there are effective nontraditional therapies.
�Patrick B. Massey, M.D., Ph.D is medical director for complementary and alternative medicine for the Alexian Brothers Hospital Network.