K.M. asks from Gresham, OR on February 18, 2008
What to Do When "Rid" Isn't Getting Rid of the Lice??
Good morning moms! I need some help with head lice. My daughters have both had them for almost 2 weeks and RID doesn't seem to be killing them. I've gone through this before and know all of the other items that need to be done like washing bedding, toys, furniture, etc so that's not a problem. My oldest has the thickest hair alive, takes at least 3 hours to comb them out after treatment, and had just as many, if not more during the 2nd treatment. My youngest hasn't had many but they also haven't gone away. Just yesterday, I picked 7-8 nits & a live one from her before doing her hair. Seems I'm finding them everyday. The box says to treat once a week & only leave the shampoo on for no more than 10 minutes. I'm following it exactly but no luck. Any suggestions, or anything you might have heard from a pediatrician? I don't really want to try "home remedies" unless I can find info on the internet that they really do work. Thank you for your help!
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C.R. answers from Seattle on February 18, 2008
Hello there. Yeah rid doesnt work. It even says on the internet that the lice are ammune to it now. Growing up i and my sisters kids got it from school. And believe it or not mineral oil works the best. At night put a full bottle of mineral on there hair... Let them sleep in it. It takes a long time to wash out but it works. Do that every other night for a week then look throughly through there hair to see if it is done with. :) good luck
-C.
p.s. The mineral oil sufficates the bugs
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J.L. answers from Seattle on February 22, 2008
Whatever you do, PLEASE stop using the chemicals, including bleach, RID, dog shampoo. Those chemicals are extremely toxic and can cause serious long term effects. Please take a look at this website. http://www.headlice.org/
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C.R. answers from Seattle on February 18, 2008
Hello there. Yeah rid doesnt work. It even says on the internet that the lice are ammune to it now. Growing up i and my sisters kids got it from school. And believe it or not mineral oil works the best. At night put a full bottle of mineral on there hair... Let them sleep in it. It takes a long time to wash out but it works. Do that every other night for a week then look throughly through there hair to see if it is done with. :) good luck
-C.
p.s. The mineral oil sufficates the bugs
1 mom found this helpful
E.S. answers from Portland on February 18, 2008
Actually, home remedies work. You can check with your local health department, but part of the issue with Lice products is that they no longer are as effective - due to overuse, the lice have become resistant. Also, to continually use the chemicals in products like rid is hard on your daughters hair and scalp - they are a pesticide product. Home remedies that may help - and which have worked for me or people I know personally at one time or another:
saturate the hair with tea tree oil, wrap in saran wrap and a towel and leave on hair for a while - I always went for at least a couple of hours, but that is because I had extremely long hair. Some people find that tea tree oil burns and do not like this remedy. You can also add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to your regular shampoo and conditioner to use as a preventative measure, or buy tea tree oil infused shampoo and conditioner at your local health food store.
Alternatively, a friend of mine has used olive oil. It smothers the nits and she swears it softened her hair as well. Another friend treated her teenager with mayonnaise - it supposedly works well to break down the glue that the nits are attached with.
The combing is critical. You have to do it every day. Safeway sells a special metal comb - much sturdier and more effective than the comb that comes in the Rid box. It was $14.95 several years ago, and I had to ask the pharmacist for it - she kept them behind the counter.
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K.T. answers from Portland on February 18, 2008
G.D. answers from Portland on February 19, 2008
try dog shampoo and at walgreens they have an battery operated shocking lice comb it's $35.00 but it was the only thing that worked for us the bug's get amuned to RID good luck louiseD
R.M. answers from Anchorage on February 19, 2008
I didn't find that rid worked either. My oldest daughter has incredibly thick hair. I worked for two hours every morning and every evening -- picking out nits and bugs. Each night I soaked her hair with a mixture of tea tree oil and olive oil, and every morning washed it well with a mixture of shampoo and malathion (1 tsp to an 8 oz bottle). It does take a week. You have to wash all the bedding, pillow, toys and clothes they wear. Spray down your house every morning and evening with Lysol (where they go) -- anything with FABRIC that their heads might touch. It should take a week to get rid of all of them. Yes -- this is an expensive and time eating solution -- but it works.
Fast -- buzz their heads, wash everything, dry everything in a HOT dryer, spray everything down with Lysol about four times for the next three days.
Good luck!
C.S. answers from Seattle on February 19, 2008
Check out this website and download their home remedy program. I used it and so did some other moms at my daughter's school. Even if you do it a bit less strictly than they suggest, it works! http://www.headliceinfo.com/treat.htm. It's worth downloading just for all the sensible advice and information.
Also excellent is the Cetaphil treatment you can find by Googling "head lice home remedy, cetaphil". I alternated that with the above website's olive oil regime and it worked. I was pregnant and got the lice too, and it worked on me with no chemicals.
good luck!
J.L. answers from Seattle on February 22, 2008
Whatever you do, PLEASE stop using the chemicals, including bleach, RID, dog shampoo. Those chemicals are extremely toxic and can cause serious long term effects. Please take a look at this website. http://www.headlice.org/
K.M. answers from Seattle on February 18, 2008
Oh yes, the dreaded head lice. My daughter had them this year and it just made me sick to death. I felt so bad for her. I found that you have to do something at least every day. Yes, you treat with Rid or Nix or whatever, but in between treatments I found that the nits were still hatching (even though the bottle leads you to believe that it is also taking care of the nits in addition to the head lice). I used mayonaise every day on my daughter. I would put it in her hair and cover it with a shower cap while she played in the tub. Mayonaise, like the mineral oil suffocates live lice. Remember, as long as there is live lice, they can continue to lay their nits. I could not see putting more chemicals on my daughters head every day and doing a mayonaise shampoo wasn't too bad. I would still spend at least an hour going through her hair with a nit comb afterwards. I also got really discouraged with nit combs. They didn't seem to be doing their job. I finally sat my daughter down and with small scissors, cut out all of the nits strand by strand. Time consuming yes, but I think that is what ultimately got rid of the nits. Good luck! I know it is very difficult
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