HEADLICE

My daughter has been battling lice for months. she has a full time job and two children under 5, she was at her wits end, then we found your website. we went down and bought the Cetaphil and a trial size bottle of Listerine just for back up. I put a few drops of the Listerine in the Cetaphil started massaging it into my granddaughter's scalp and before I was done with one section of hair, they were dead! We got a shower cap so we can leave it on over night and it is the first dosing. but after I comb through her hair should be the deciding factor. Also Listerine has a mild acid in it and the nits are falling out. and just a few drops so we don't have to worry about the alcohol so much, of course it will be washed out asap.

Please note - it is not recommended to mix various products as this can sometimes create adverse effects and reactions.

I would like to thank you for your web site. I had only battled head lice on my daughter for a week with Rid and Nix creme rinse, when I was tempted to cut her very long, thick, wavy hair off. Thankfully I gave the internet one more try and found your web site. I read through the suggestions about Denorex and Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil. I am grateful. It worked. I used the extra strength Denorex and then put on generic Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil conditioner for two hours. I was surprised out how many lice I combed out of my daughter's hair. The next morning there were no lice in her hair and I was able to manually remove the remaining nits. This evening I used the same method and absolutely nothing was combed out of hair. The lice lost, my daughter gets to keep her hair. Thank you. I would have never have tried either of the hair products for lice without having read about these.

I have just read your page on headlice/nits. Being from Australia I haven't heard of some of the products mentioned by others. In any case, as a mother of 6: 3 boys-3girls, my skin just crawls at the site of a louse/nit in my kids hair! 

I have recently been battling the war of headlice, not the 1st time and I'm sure not the last. I have tried herbal remedies bought from the chemist, I find the nit combs useless, I have tried a mixture of apricot kernel oil and kerosene, tried vinegar etc and the list goes on. There is a product here in Australia called KP24. It is available with a blue or pink label attached to the bottle. Go the pink, don't ask me, I just know it works better than the blue label. This is so easy an application. A few mls massaged into the hair and scalp, to a foam, leave in for 5 minutes and repeat. I have actually seen the little blighters work their way to the top of the foam as I massage and they are dead, well at least they aren't moving!! 

This is no cure for the removal of the eggs and as most people who have had dealings with headlice are aware, there is nothing that kills the unhatched eggs. I have yet to try the conditioner to loosen the eggs but here is how I have found the best way to remove them from long hair and your sure they are gone.

1. Section dry hair into 4. A part from the mid forehead straight down to the nape of the neck, then from one ear across the top of the head to the other. Tie the sections with hair bands.

2. Starting at the nape of the neck with one section, make a part, left to right, separating a FINE section.

3. THOROUGHLY search for eggs. These can be white if they are hatched or greyish/brown if still incubating these filthy parasites. Look for them anywhere along the hair shaft starting right in close to the scalp. Sometimes the glue they are attached with loosens and they can be found 3 inches or more down the hair shaft so look the whole length.

4. Using the thumb nail against the tip of the index finger, pull the egg the length of the hair shaft and off the end. CHECK your nail tip and index finger to be sure you have the egg out.

5. Flick the offending egg into a bowl of HOT water as you go. Don't submerge your finger in the water because others already floating will end up on your finger too!

6. Tie the egg free section of hair separately and start again.

Dispose of the eggs/water how you see fit, hell why not just flush them with the s**t where they belong!

Nit combs pull the kids hair out sometimes and that can hurt. Three year olds end up crying and don't really understand you didn't mean it. By sectioning the hair off you AND your child can take "breaks" from the tedious task. I have heard people say finding the eggs in blonde/fair hair is hard. This is true, but also true for darker hair. The reason being the different colour of the eggs according to whether or not they have hatched. 

Those who have boys, don't think having a quick number 2 with the shears is a fixed remedy, it's not. I have shaved my boys heads and there have been eggs attached to the tips of the hair!! So by all means, shave their heads, but still LOOK for eggs. Good Luck to you all I sympathise with you.

I have had to deal with head lice for 12 years now about 18 months ago I came across a comb, aptly called NIT FREE. It wasn't cheap but it is very effective, not only clearing the lice and nits but also the empty white egg cases. I have tried shampoo's which worked wonders for several months and bought all the usual lotions ( against the advice of my GP... who says the chemicals in these were banned from use with cattle over 25 years ago!!) and in the end unless everyone treats their children, they will return. This is not a problem that is going to vanish over night.

Combing takes time and I hate it but it doesn't hurt as I condition my childrens' hair well and my children are after all "worth it"

I have been dealing with head lice in my family since October, 2002. It is now June, 2003. I have tried everything. I bought otc shampoos of every brand. I found, especially with my daughter, there were still live bugs after using the shampoo. I was told by a pharmacist, that the shampoo's aren't working well anymore and must be left on for double the recommended time. I tried leaving rid on for 30 minutes and still live bugs!! I have tried, Vasoline, beer, vinegar, lamp oil (only on myself for fear of what it would do to childrens' scalp). My mother always swore by Kerosene, but I am not ready to be that desperate yet.

CeeJay writes - "I have suffered with head lice over the past 8-10yrs whilst at school i found a very effective form to get rid of lice and this was full marks mouse althought it does not kill the eggs i dont think many products/remides do. i moved into my sisters house an during that time i got lice again but did not realise because i was suffering with very bad dandruff i was told that a ver good form of gettin rid of dandruff was to use T/Gel shampoo to my amazement the shampoo also killed the lice as the day after i used it i was massaginf my scalp to try and see if there was any dandruff ant found an egg i sat for hours try to find a live head louse and didnt. as for the eggs all u need is good old patients a good nit comb and a large bottle of cheap conditioner or mayo and a friend/relative to sit for a few hours and help u comb the eggs out once u have finished ad u are certain that there are no more eggs rinse ur hair with a vinegar and water solutin this is to help rinse away the conditoner and mayo then wash ur hair with t/gel shampoo. for the next 7 days rinse ur hair with water and vinegar solution to make sure there are no surviving eggs comb your hair with a fine tooth comb then 3-5 days after that start the whole process again then again the following week. i know this is a grueling long process but it really is worth it patients and more patients headlice will not go away with one treatmeant like this over night because it takes upto 8 days for an egg to hatch and they can live for upto 3 weeks and female lice can lay upto 6 eggs a day u do the maths."

As a professional lice debugger and nitpicker I want to make sure people are aware that Denorex or any product that has Salicylic Acid (a form of aspirin) SHOULD NOT be used on children!