Head Lice Nightmare....

I haven't had it or my kids..knock on wood... But tons of friends have.. And the only thing that worked is going to a professional hair dresser. That is a nit picker lice removal salon. The ones around her are named lice to know you. And they guarantee their services of lice free.. The new in the past has done success stories on theses places as well as schools recommend them.

It sounds like your hair brush or pillow or couch cushions...something is not getting a live bug out when you are vacuuming.

The things your are doing are way more than is needed so there is some way the bugs are crawling back on your head.

Did you wash all your head gear> Hats, scarves, coat, anything that you put on your body that has the ability to have a crevasses the bug can hide it?

Did you wash your combs, brushes, bobby pins, curlers, hair decorations, etc...?

Anything that comes into contact with your body must be washed if it is washable. If it's not then it needs to be vacuumed very well.

headlice.org has a lot of good ideas too. Don't use anymore chemicals on your skin. It's not good for you.

Your post talks a lot about your own personal head treatment. If you are not treating the whole house ... Other members of the household, beds, bedding, couches, chairs, jackets, hats, scarves, and an often overlooked one - the car! - then you will still have a problem. Most mattresses can just be heartily vacuumed, as can the chairs and car upholstry. Put your pillows in the dryer on high heat for at least a half an hour. If you have already, rewash all bedding on hot, then dry them on hot heat. Take all stuffed animals into a plastic bag and seal them up for two weeks.

This is, unfortunately, a huge task. Get everything in one swoop. Be methodical. Have a plan. I know what a huge pain it is. Good luck!

Update: The next treatment you use, make sure you don't have conditioner on your hair. The CDC says it can act as a barrier and the treatment may not work as well.
Also the eggs hatch in 8 to 9 days, so they also recommend TWO treatments 9 days apart.

You poor dear... how frustrating.

Gamma is correct.. Lice and nits can be on your fabric car seats, your fabric sofa, your linens, the clothing in your closet... All of these things need to be cleaned... And then 2 days after cleaned again.. In the meantime, the hair treatments and nitpicking need to continue on your head.

A nit will lay eggs one day and the next day and second day the eggs will hatch, so this cleaning needs to be done in succession to be successful.

I would call around and see if you can find people that do this as a profession. They will know the secrets to success.

Lice will sometimes drop off the host and can live in your carpets for a month without needing to feed. So even if you get your head clean if you do not vacuum your entire house and car you will get them back.
You need to vacuum the carpets, furniture, curtains, beds ect, then wash all bedding, area or throw rugs, stuffed animals then dry in the dryer. If something can not be washed and put in the dryer you can freeze them for a week or sealed in a plastic bag for a month.

I'm not sure where Sussex is, but if you can get to Brooklyn, I strongly recommend Abigail Rosenfeld (aka the Brooklyn Lice Lady).

http://www.liceconsultant.com/

She will get every single nit out of your hair. She's amazing. I just don't think it's really possible to treat yourself.

She is Orthodox, so you won't be able to reach her today until after sundown. But if you call her this evening you might be able to make an appointment for tomorrow, before the storm hits Monday. I can't say enough good things about her.

Good luck!!

Ok, my friend is a hairdresser and just dealt with this with one of her kids.

Cover your head in a whole jar of VASOLINE. It smothers the lice and kills them so you can comb them out. Put on for a few hours and cover head with a shower cap. 4 hours minimum to allow this to happen. Then shower and cover your head in vinegar. It will sting but it will help loosen the eggs and lice----then peppermint oil will get rid of them on top of that. Get a fine tooth comb and have a friend comb through your hair every little inch and get the nits out. As far as your clothes, bedding etc---wash in hot water and bag it up for 2 weeks. Disinfect your whole car, home, couches, beds, everything--hairbrushes etc.

I hope you get rid of these buggers!! Not fun at all--so sorry you are dealing with this.

Stop the chemical treatments. They do nothing for the nits, it only kills the live ones (and even then, they can be immune to it.) The chemicals are horrible for you and don't work any better than olive oil. My daughter had lice last year and I got it from her... (luckily my case was minimal). But, I freaked out after doing the Rid treatment and combing because I knew I didn't complete the task. I called a professional Nit picker the next day and she went through both of our hair- no chemicals, just combing and picking through each strand. She told us the myths and truths of lice. The best and only way to be sure you get rid of the lice is to comb daily for 3 weeks and go through strand by strand to get every nit. She said to dry linens daily on high heat until you find no nits or bugs for 3 days. Keep all combs and hair clips in a sealed bag for 2-3 days, as well as pillows etc. Lice can only live off the human head for 24-36 hours and nits will not hatch when off the head (ie. if hair with a nit falls on the ground). The problem is, if you miss just 2 nits, they can hatch and if it is a male and female, a new generation will begin in no time. If you have someone to help initially, have them clip your hair into sections and, in a well lit room pull small sections up and off the head, if they see a nit, pinch it between the fingernails and pull it all the way down the strand of hair then stick it to a lint roller or piece of masking tape. Do this on dry hair (contrary to what the rid shampoo bottle says), it is much easier to go through each strand with dry hair. If you have the money, it is well worth hiring a professional nit picker for piece of mind. It generally costs $100 per hour and takes about 2 hours to go through someone with medium length hair. It cost us $432 to go through my daughter and my hair and check my husband, son, and 10 month old just to be sure! Now that I know what to do, I wouldn't hire someone if it happens again, but it was well worth it. She also gave us the protocol to follow for the next 3 weeks and tought us the correct way to do it. Good Luck!.

Lice has become to many over the counter products. Your best bet is to go to one of those places that use natural remedies. They will cut out every piece of hair with nit put some stuff on your hair . Note dont use conditioner in your hair the day you go. Dont worry you wont be bald. Any stuff animals need to go in a garbage bag and awa for 2 weeks. Wash all your sheets in hot water.

You must have EACH and EVERY nit picked out of your hair. Google lice removal in your town and state. Go to one of these places and let them remove them for you.

There is NO product that gets rid of nits. The nits hatch every 7-10 days.

Please stop putting those pesticides in your hair, it can seep into brain and cause all kinds of damage. I'm sure the box says to NOT use it very often too.

NOTHING WILL WORK, you MUST have each nit picked out otherwise it's a vicious cycle as you have already seen.

Hi J.,

I don't know if this has been suggested yet, but if I were you I would shave my head and start over. It's much easier to rid yourself of lice with a clean-shaven head. Of course, you have to take care of your bedding and everything else you touch.

Good luck!
"Grams" from the Pocono Mts. of PA

Are you treating all of your linens and clothing and hats and any other materials that you regularly come in contact with? Launder with the hottest water they can tolerate, and for items you can't launder (e.g. furniture), vacuuming. You may very well be getting rid of what is on your head only to immediately reinfect yourself.

Spraying with commercial lice spray is probably NOT a good idea. They contain serious pesticides that I personally would not want to expose myself or my kids to. http://www.headlice.org/news/2003/pr100103.htm

There is no reply button. If you'd like to add to your comment, the So What Happened section is the most appropriate.

Look around your area for professional nitpickers. Yes, there are places that will charge you to comb through your hair for nits, either at your home or at a salon.

Good luck!

ETA: Just read the first reply and saw she's from Seattle. What she said. Use a professional nitpicker.

There's a new topical treatment recently FDA approved called Natroba Topical Suspension. It kills the bugs AND the nits, so there's no combing necessary. I was so happy when I read about it over the summer since I had to spend a lot of money at our local "Lice Lady" to treat my daughter's lice problem last spring. You have to have it prescribed by your pediatrician/doctor.

Oh mygosh how horrible. I have never had head lice either but obviously that can happen someday anyway. I have some extra advice: call school nurses, they most certainly would know and call your pharmacist and ask what is the most purchased treatment and sadly yes, wash, wash...oh you poor person that is so horrible. This won't make you feel any better but last year and I'm fifty five I had my first ear infections in fifty years. egads, just when we thought it was supposed to be easier...hug and superhug