remedies for head lice

**IntlMom** · 12-01-2007, 09:26 PM

I am such a dummy. We were in Lowes today and I patted my son on the head and noticed a "gummy" area. I asked him if he had got hit on the head (thinking maybe it was a scab). He said no, but I kinda made a mental note to watch it. Later tonite, my dh helped him wash his hair really good on the spot, but it didn't get any better. Then my older son said "maybe their lice nips". I had no idea what he was talking about......untill I googled it, and OH YEA that's tottaly what they were!!! SO.....my son is now BALD, yup, we shaved him bald as a cue ball....well, a cue ball with a 5 o clock shadow. Now, I have stiripped his bed, washed all of our coats......and I am cleaning up the hair mess.............other than cleaning the entire house top to bottom, changing everyones sheets, and washing everything in hot and drying it hot, is there anything else I need to do???

oh, and tonite I was going to be scrapbooking....yeah right!

**justpeachy92** · 12-01-2007, 09:48 PM

If your son has any stuffed animals he sleeps with you should seal them in a plastic bag for a few days so to kill any that could be in there. I would soak hair combs and brushes in bleach or toss them and buy new ones. Aussie makes a hair conditioner with tea tree oil in it, we use that on the kids hair, we have yet to pick up lice when there are outbreaks of it in school.

**annymoll** · 12-01-2007, 10:04 PM

Check every other member of the family.Wash hats.Wash his bath towel.Does he lay on the couch or have a favorite chair? Use lice spray on it.Good luck.

**many houseapes** · 12-01-2007, 11:24 PM

after vacuuming mattresses & furniture....throw out the vacum cleaner bag immediately. If you have any girls in the house,use olive oil on their hair to smother the varmits & then for about 2 weeks....meticulously go through their hair at least 2X a day to pull out any eggs or critters that might have escaped your attention. The other members here have already stated everything else that I would do. Lice is no fun....I hope that you can get rid of them quickly.

**ilovechocolate** · 12-02-2007, 07:28 AM

I am so sorry about that!!!

Check your upholstered furniture, any throw pillows he may lie on, etc.

**Daisygirl** · 12-02-2007, 08:02 AM

We had cooties last summer. I bought some of the spray at Walmart. The pharmacist gave me some good info, too. He said they can only live for 24 hours off of a host. So the kids were not allowed to sleep in their beds for 2 days after we did the treatment on their hair, then we sprayed the psare bed and no one went near it for 2 days.

Yuck. This is NOT FUN AT ALL!!! It is a lot of work! I feel for you.

**Its_Donna** · 12-02-2007, 08:08 AM

Yes, lots of work and such an inconvenience and expense. Oh, I remember those days. I'm sorry you are going thru this!

**kittykatstrong** · 12-02-2007, 08:42 AM

Was he sad about going bald? I would cry if I had to shave my head. But Iam not a guy so it might be diff.

Katy

**lwlynch** · 12-02-2007, 09:29 AM

I feel for you, hang in there. we had it when my daughter was younger and it took forever to get everyone rid of it.. cause they were girls. If my son had it I would have shaved him like yours..

**baxjul** · 12-02-2007, 09:35 AM

I feel for you! Last summer my dd, with her long white blond hair had them.

Get some tea tree oil, put a couple of drops into his bottle of shampoo and it repels them to deter further occurances! You'll be okay. It's alot of work, but they will go away!

**Ceashels** · 12-02-2007, 09:42 AM

Did he go for a ride in the CAR!?!

**Cricket1** · 12-02-2007, 11:11 AM

It was gummy? Huh--I never knew that.

**IntlMom** · 12-02-2007, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Ceashels

Did he go for a ride in the CAR!?!

ugh!

about the gummy stuff - he had been (apparantly) scratching the area and it had kind of scabbed and oozed - thus the gummy-ness

One weird thing though - no actual lice, just the nits..........did that mean that we caught it early? hmmmm, but if we caught it early, why was it gummy from oozing?.......
In answer to the question about was he bothered by going bald - NO
He is Fetal Alch. Syndrom spec needs son, so he doesn't really get that he shoud be bothered by going bald, or about having lice.......

**starsapphire** · 12-02-2007, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by IntlMom

One weird thing though - no actual lice, just the nits..........did that mean that we caught it early? hmmmm, but if we caught it early, why was it gummy from oozing?.......

The adult lice are tiny, hair-colored and very hard to see so they are easy to miss. My dd got them when she was a child a couple of times (and gave them to me once) and the only time I saw an adult one was after I washed her hair with the lice shampoo and was combing out the nits with the nit comb and I combed out a dead adult. At first I thought it was just a tiny bit of fuzz or scab until I looked at it closer.

*Now I'm getting itchy*

**MOMMYDEAREST** · 12-07-2007, 09:50 AM

grrrrr....lice is such a pain. my daughter had it 2 winter's ago & i used olive oil & it cleared it up right away!!!! don't waste your money on the "lice shampoo's", plus the olive oil is so much safer to use. Good luck!!!