Featured posts & One Thing I Have Learned & the nitty gritty of motherhood 17 Sep 2007 03:00 am
Resistant Head Lice: One Thing I Have Learned
Head lice….the mere name can get yer scalp twitchin ‘eh? Well, I’ve learned a thing or two about this pestilence and it’s rare that I hear anyone say anything that is actually Helpful about what it’s REALLY like to get rid of them. And there’s TONS of stuff online about lice so why is it so hard?
Because the lice of today are “resistant“. That means the OTC remedies have been so overused the bugs have learned how to survive them.
The first time we had lice was three years ago. It was late summer; “back to school” had just started for the public schoolers and my kids had public schooled playmates. I’d never seen a bug for real on my own before; I had lice once as a kid… my mom washed my hair with some stinky RID, combed my hair with a tiny comb, and the ordeal was over. I was at our homeschooling convention and I looked down at my then-baby’s head whilst he slept in the stroller. Brown lice bugs really stand out on a little red-headed kid! I packed him up, left the seminar that had just started, went to the drugstore and bought RID and washed his hair. My mom looked me over (massivly thick red hair is hard to search let me tell ya) and we washed my hair too. I got the other kids home, told the friend who was sitting them, and got everyone washed. I stripped beds, washed stuffed animals, and vacuumed carpets. I assumed we were done.
I was wrong.
What followed was over FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS of trying to get rid of lice. We tried every single OTC remedy. We bought new hairbrushes, pillows and bedding. I threw away all the stuffed animals except for their “lovies”. We treated our car. We treated our house.
“They” will say this isn’t necessary. Wash hair. pic the nits. change the sheets and wash in hot water. “They” will not tell you that in some kids’ hair it’s nigh impossible to get every nit manually picked. “They” will not tell you that the bugs are resistant to all the OTC remedies.
I finally called our doctor. He called in Ovide.
Now let me tell you….Ovide is seriously nasty toxic stuff. It stinks and will give you a headache. You will have every hesitation on using it upon reading the nasty possible side effects. But the endless itching of your head will drive you to try. The utter fatigue at having to face the top-to-bottom housecleaning you’ve done AGAIN inspite of the many reminders out there that lice aren’t about cleanliness or not will make you try just about anything. Our first bottle cost $100 and we needed two of them for a family of our size.
Two months after finding the first bug, we were finally free.
The next year we had just moved to Tennessee. “Back to school” time came and guess what? So did lice. We had no medical insurnace. I wanted to try a few new “natural” remedies I’d found online that were cheaper.
Mayonaise? Doesn’t work.
Olive and Citrus Oil? Don’t work.
Blow drying your hair every day? Doesn’t work.
Manually picking? Helps but won’t guarantee you didn’t miss a few. And all it takes is a few.
Cutting hair short? Helps with the above but won’t guarantee anything either. And boy howdy do I ever get suspect of short hair cuts in the fall…..
Hair gel every day? YMMV. Didn’t have any effect on us except to cause scalp drying, which made things itchier.
All of the products sold at Walmart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Eckerd, What-Drug-Store-Have-You….DON’T WORK.
Sweet smelling organic remedies that promise not to be toxic? The lice will thank you for giving them a sweet-smelling home and decide to build an addition for their next hundred kids.
And so…this year “back to school” time came. Teachers, it’s my understanding, no longer send home notes with students warning parents “Head lice has been discovered…please treat your child accordingly” (which practice, ironically, is what likely caused the resistance in the first place). And homeschoolers ain’t talkin’. What’s true: A) You Got ‘Em SOMEWHERE and B:) It doesn’t matter where; no one is gonna say and you still have to deal. And I can tell you: “they” say lice can’t live off a body for long, leading one to beleive that head-to-head contact is the only way to get it. I think that hooey. “They” also tell you to clean everything in sight, replace or soak hairbrushes and hairbands (even if you haven’t used them lately), and my kids NEVER go head-to-head and get away with it. I say: lice are livin’ longer than you think and they travel farther than you know.
I found the first bug on one child, while it was still a glassy newborn. I called in for Ovide from our pediatrician and had the issue dealt with within 24 hrs. It cost $10 bucks…insurance now covers it. It’s likely that in a few years Ovide will also no longer work. Such is the toxic world we live within. But hopefully my kids will be beyond the ages that likely pick the critters up. If that sounds selfish, spend a few months scratchin’ your head, feeling ostraciszed and helpless, and then get back to me.
I’ve heard there’s another rx that changes your blood so the bugs won’t like to eat it and leave. I think that scares me more than Ovide. And here’s a “haa haa”: September is “national lice prevention month”. Gee….I wonder why.
on 17 Sep 2007 at 6:52 am 1.Malva said …
My neighbour had been adding lavender essential oil to her family’s shampoo hoping they would be spared next time there is lice. The idea made sense to me since it has anti-bacterial properties (I use it to rinse cloth diapers).
After school last Friday, they were in the yard combing hair after lice was discovered, again.
So you can rule that out as a potential preventative measure.
on 17 Sep 2007 at 8:22 am 2.Tia said …
yup…tried that one too. The essential oil idea sounds attractive and I-oh-wanted-it-to-work, and maybe on the lice of my childhood it would have.
Thanks for the comment :-). My hope is that I will have at least saved some moms a lot of time, money, and aggravation on what doesn’t work!
on 17 Sep 2007 at 9:48 am 3.mary said …
If you search http://www.bulkherbstore.com under lice, you’ll find a remedy using tansy. I have not tried this remedy - we have never had lice. I have tried many of the other herb remedies from this company and find them a good supplier of herbs.
hope this helps!
here is a direct link to the article
http://www.bulkherbstore.com/THC?s=lice
on 17 Sep 2007 at 10:30 am 4.Sarah said …
That’s probably one of the blessings of having only boys…I can just shave their heads if lice ever attack us. Can you imagine anyone actually being ok with chaning their blood just to deal with lice? Maybe next they’ll invent a microchip to deal with it.
on 17 Sep 2007 at 12:12 pm 5.anita said …
My daughter dealt with this all of last winter. They had lice problems for MONTHS. She finally stopped using RID and did the olive oil thing. Every night for weeks they drenched their hair in olive oil with a plastic bag over top and let it sit for an hour. Then rinsed with vinegar. Picked out any nits, and repeated the next night. She washed bedding every day and sprayed every day. It was exhausting, 3 kids, no hubby, managing a small business, but it finally worked. I hope it doesn’t repeat this year.
on 17 Sep 2007 at 2:52 pm 6.Abby Irwin said …
Your story is not unlike many similar stories I hear daily. Head lice have become resistant to many over the counter products. I am truly sorry it took your family so long to get past the infestation. No one should have to live with head lice for any length of time. If I read correctly, your family lives in TN. The good news is that now there is help in TN!! I guess I am on of the “they” you mention. I am here to tell you that it is not impossible to pick out every nit. After all we treat hundreds of cases of head lice each week. Not knowing what to look for (like the size of a newly hatched nit is the size of the spot left by a fully sharpened pencil and looks like a speck of dirt on the scalp), not checking closest contacts, and not taking the time to do it right the first time all play into keeping the little beasts.
Lice Solutions Resource Network, Inc. is the only head lice treatment organization in the U.S. and our newest location is located in Nashville, TN. As a nonprofit agency, we are able to offer services on a sliding scale basis, making help available to everyone. Our reason for existence is to offer community awareness, reduce absenteeism, and get kids back to school with minimum time missed by using safe and effective treatment options. The best part is that we only use safe nontoxic products! You are right- Ovide is seriously toxic stuff that has been known to cause an array of problems in humans. Any treatment product used is nothing more than an aid in the treatment process. There is no miracle product out there, and none of the products on the market kill the nits. The nits have to be manually removed. If you would like to know more info about Lice Solutions feel free to visit us on the wed at http://www.licesolutions.org or http://www.myspace.com/licesolutions
If you have any questions or concerns please call 615-227-3919
Thanks,
Abby Irwin
TN Manager
on 17 Sep 2007 at 3:03 pm 7.Tia said …
Hi Abby~ Three years ago, when we had our worst case, I saw your site. We were in Florida then but I wasn’t near a location or I definitely would have tried you! Where are you in TN now? Thanks for stopping by and commmenting here :-).
on 18 Sep 2007 at 4:28 pm 8.George Coleman said …
Abby is absolutely correct. It is one of the most difficult and frustrating things to have to contend with alone. However, that is usually the situation. Dad isn’t doing the combing.
There is help. Go to http://www.xpelheadlice.com. We believe that for persons treating themselves this is the best product available. We believe that Lice Solutions might agree.
X-PEL Anti-Lice Shampoo & Conditioner - treats and helps prevent head lice infestation.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 3:09 pm 9.Abby Irwin said …
Tia, We are in Nashville:) No need to thank me- We are here to help! Please keep in mind that phone and web support is available to those outside the range of a facility. If you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or drop an email~ abby@licesolutions.org
George, Your product is a good one! We make your product available to our clients.
on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:36 pm 10.kandy said …
can lice kill you if you have it over a year cause it freaks my out if it does.
on 05 Oct 2007 at 11:18 am 11.Abby Irwin said …
There is no evidence that lice can kill you but they do not go away on their own they must be removed. Believe it or not the little bugs have a very strong survival instinct. I have seen clients who have had ongoing issues for much longer than 1 year. Don’t worry, everyone gets freaked out about head lice:) If you have any additional questions you are welcome to call 615-2278-3919 or drop me an email abby@licesolutions.org
on 08 Nov 2007 at 11:39 pm 12.Christine said …
we have been struggling with lice for 6 months. my middle son is the only one getting it, he is 14. I have checked his friends and noone seems to have it. We used over the counter remedies, which didn’t work, then treated it with ovide. that seemed to work but he’s had it a few times since. he has it again now, the insuranc is fighting paying for the ovide again. hopefully they will, but i can’t figure out why he and only he, keeps getting lice.
on 15 Jun 2008 at 4:25 pm 13.sharon williams said …
i,a grandmother got lice from my grandaughter 6 months ago and i have tried every thing to get rid of lice! i just used ovide for the 3rd time last night and they are still with me. i have shaved my head 4 times,the last time was just over 2 weeks ago, it is the most devastating thing that i have been through. i read on line that to get rid of lice by shaving you have to do it every day for 2 weeks.i am just about ready to do that. it is just really hard to not have any hair on my head. i have spent over $1200.00, dont have any hair and still have lice.my hair is very thick and grows fast so i suppose that does not help. when my hair comes back so do the lice. my husband has got them from me twice and we can get rid of them in his hair but not mine.
on 20 Jul 2008 at 9:51 pm 14.Lisa said …
Anyone have a good suggestion for the BEST lice comb out there for combing out nits?
on 20 Sep 2008 at 6:55 pm 15.sher@pickyournits.com said …
The terminator comb:
Made of tempered steel.
The Nit Free Terminator has unique spiral micro-grooving that gets underneath every egg.
A SUPERIOR LICE PREVENTATIVE TOOL!
USE IT DAILY OR WEEKLY TO COMB OUT LICE AND NITS! YOUR #1 WEAPON IN KEEPING LICE AWAY!
#1 LICE COMB USED BY PROFESSIONAL LICE REMOVAL SERVICES!
THE LAST AND ONLY LICE COMB YOU WILL EVER OWN!
You can purchase one on my site
Sherry
Nit Picky
Head Lice and Nit Removal Service
Portland, Oregon Location
on 03 Oct 2008 at 12:02 am 16.stephanie said …
ive got them … for about 1 or 2 weeks now im from mexico cabo san lucas .. me and my friend we tried special shampoo , for about 2 days now, it still doesnt work. whey are still alive!, they are growning and they layed their eegs and we can not kill them with the shampoo because they havent grown yet. we need to know how we can get rid of them. please tell me a way to please. thank you.
on 15 Oct 2008 at 10:17 am 17.Amy said …
hi im from england and i am young (i dont really want 2 tell u my age thanks) and ive had these lice since the 21nd of august and it is now the date is the 15th of october and they are still there HELP ME!!!!!
on 29 Oct 2008 at 5:01 pm 18.Sydney said …
ive had lice for over a year and tried every possible thing you can buy at the drugstore. ive also tried sleeping with mayonaise in my hair that was the worst thing ive ever been through. I got a special cream prescribed and i did ovide and combed out. Still have it now its impossible to get rid of, and i can never have my hair cut or dyed again the stylists all notice it. Ive done everything, and it looks like im living with it for the rest of my life.