Any Suggestions on Treating Head Lice?

Mayonaise is the best way that I know of. I used to teach Head Start and recommended this to parents all the time. It is gentle on the hair and actually works. Work a large amount of it through her hair down to the roots and then put a plastic bag over her hair. Leave it on for 20-30minutes and then shampoo her hair. Comb through her hair to remove the knits. Repeat this in 3-5 days in case any eggs were missed and hatch.

Wash bedding in hot water and also any other items that can be washed. Stuffed animals should be bagged air-tight. You can also use a hot iron on the mattress. Vaccuum and throw away the bag.

L.

I went through this several years ago when my daughter brought it home from school. What a nightmare. We called the doctor and she said to wash everything in the hottest water possible, put all plush animals and toys in plastic bags that cannot be washed (to suffocate the bugs).

We tried the over the counter rid, twice with no luck. It was embarrassing to have to go back to school to have her head checked just to be sent back home. Finally, I was at wits end. I didn't want to burn her scalp buy putting any more chemicals on her head so I found the following remedy - and it worked the very first time.

Get you a bottle of olive oil (cheap stuff is fine), it's very smelly and thick consistancy has several purposes, A) the smell overtakes them and it suffocates the little buggers. b) it will condition your kids hair after using all those harsh chemicals!

Once your childs head is completely drenched in the stuff, you need to put a plastic cap (or a simple walmart bag works fine) on their head and secure it as tightly as you can. Then, apply heat from a blow dryer for at least 20 minutes.

Once you have done this, take your child over to the sink and start parting their hair and combing it with the nit comb. The bugs will be dead and the heat will have completely wiped out the possiblity of the eggs hatching. It will be messy, and you will see the lice just falling out of their hair but i'm telling you - it is well worth it!

When I was a child, my mother used many methods: Crisco, Peanut Butter, Kerosene, Mayonaisse, Rid, combs, etc.
I have found that the shampoos and a metal lice comb (not the one that comes with the shampoo) are effective. I also made sure to spray all furniture with an over-the-counter spray, clean all linens, vacuum, and bag up all unwashable pillows and blankets. To avoid the rest of the family getting it, it is recommended that everyone use the shampoo.
I was once told that using herbal shampoo can prevent an investation of lice. I think this is likely, ever since my daughter's started using Herbal Essence shampoo they haven't had it. (Prior to that, they had lice 3 times)
Hope it all works out. Unfortunately, lice is a part of many children's lives.

Someone else had the same question on 9/25 "I need help getting rid of lice fast", so I am just re-posting my answer for you. You may want to go back and look at the rest of the suggestions on that post as well.

Lice are one of the hardest, most aggravating bugs to get rid of. We've had it twice in my house. Lice cannot live long off the body, so wash what you can in very hot water, and all the rest-pillows, blankets, comforters, stuffed animals, hats-just put them in plastic bags for two weeks. Mayonaise is the gentlest on your head, you can use it over and over, is effective, and it is also, thankfully, the cheapest option. You must use real mayonaise, not the miracle whip or other "light" type. Generic is fine. Thickly coat all of their hair, slathering it especially around the ears and close to the nape of the neck, and any other place you saw a lot of nits. Cover with a shower cap. Keep it on for at least an hour. Use one of the good, metal nit combs, not those cheap plastic crappy ones that come in the box with the Rid. Those don't work very well. If you try to comb through with the mayonaise still in the hair, you won't be able to see the nits, so shampoo her hair before you start combing with the nit comb. Start at one side of the head, and work towards the other, using clean hair clips to keep the "clean" (already gone through) hair away from the "dirty" (not gone through yet) hair. After every pass through the hair, wipe the comb off on a towel to remove all the nits. This prevents a stray nit from being transferred back to the hair. You will have to go through the hair in very small sections(about a 1/3 of an inch by about 1- 1/2 inches), and probably go over each section several times to make sure all the nits are removed from that section before you move on. This will take hours to do, so you may want to rent a couple fun movies for your kids to distract them. You can either buy the spray to treat your upholstered furniture, or just put a clean sheet over them, and just change the sheet often until you know the lice are gone. Clean all the combs and any other hair accessories-I boiled my nit comb so I knew it was clean. Check through their hair with the nit comb every day until you are sure that all the lice and nits are gone. It is hard to get every last one even with the most diligent effort, so keep checking. As long as you get the nits before they hatch, you are okay. Keep looking for bugs as well, and retreat with the mayo each time you see them. Make sure you have someone keep checking your hair, your husband, your ex, and everyone else in the family. Your ex will have to be as diligent as you are, or it won't go away. Is there any way you can get him to agree to you keeping the girls for a couple weeks while you all work on this? That would limit possible "re-contamination". That way you would know the girls are getting checked everyday, and that their bedding isn't reinfesting them. Good luck to you. Don't give up. This will work, and you'll get your life back.

Here's what I found when I did a search online for natural treatments.

http://www.mercola.com/2003/mar/1/head_lice.htm

I have read to use mayonaise. Load up their head with mayo and cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes to 1 hour and it will smother the lice. Then you have to comb out ALL the eggs or they will come back.

after you treat your childs hair make sure you wash all their bedding and stuff like that. I have learned that head lice doesn't like hairspray or the the oils in vo5 shampoo.

Removing the nits and the eggs is the most important thing. Rid has a gel that helps you get the nits out easily. You should spend about 4 hours on combing the first time, use a metal comb, and then repeat the process in a week to ten days and spend that time again (follow the directions for your brand of treatment.)

Our school nurse is very helpful, she makes sure that parents know how important the combing process is. When my daughter had this a while back, I spent most of my time in the combing process instead of vacuming and washing and cleaning (we did that, the bed linens, hats, coats, etc) but the most important part is the combing. I had to keep reminding her that she would spread it to someone else if I let her get up and go when she wanted to.

Good luck! It just makes me itch thinking about it again! You have my sympathy!

try using some denorax it comes in a blue bottle it copsts around 10 bucks that should do it

If he treated her on Monday, you won't need to treat her again until NEXT Monday. Check everyone in your house to see if there are any bugs in their hair, and if not, then don't treat them. If your daughter has been gone for a week, there is a good possibility that no one else in your house has them, but there is still the possibility that they could. When your daughter gets home, the most important thing to do is to make sure that all the nits are out of her hair, so they don't hatch and start things all over again.

i have always known mayonaise will work my mom used to use it all the time on us

We had it when we were younger...MAYO...that's what finally worked and combing through hair every day. My sister and I both had it...Luckly, I was the one with the long hair but my sister had them about 10 Times worse! Wash everything in HOT water daily. Throw all brushes away. Check everyones hair daily, flipping the hair in chuncks from the middle part to the sides. Do not stop combing until all the nits are gone. MAYO...we used mayo in our hair. We slept in it. My mom baught shower caps and a HUGE jar of Mayo and started at the roots but did our whole hair. We did one night and then combed out the next day. I only had to do it once. Every time my mom found a live one on my sisters head she had to do it again. I think she only had to do it twice. But my mom washed everything in HOT water daily, baught LOTS of extra pillows and put pillows in plastic bags for three days before we used them again. She did this for TWO WEEKS after we found the last nit. I realize this might have been a bit obsessive but we did not have any reinfestations. Good Luck!

The OTC chemical treatments generally work, but be careful to follow the directions closely. They're insecticides and can be dangerous if overused so you should be carefully used. Be sure to comb the hair thoroughly with a nit comb. If it comes back several times I believe that there are prescription treatments. Wash everything, I think you're supposed to put stuffed animals and pillows in a sealed plastic bag for a week or two. I have heard about the mayo treatment, but never had to try it. I wouldn't treat yourself unless you have symptoms, just do a head check every night for a few weeks. Good luck!

after what seemed like a fortune we found an electronic comb just for lice. YOu run it throught the hair no need for chemiclas and it can be reused time and again. The important thing is that you get all your sheets, towels and stuffed animals clear. Really hot water an dregurlar detergant. If there is any threat of cross contamination go ahead and wash it. We quareteened the stuffed animals in plastic bags for a month and kept them in an empty room.

If you follow all the shampoo stuff and miss just one nit they are back before the incubation period. The nicest thing about the comb was I could use it on my then 6 month old baby with out hurting him. Ans I still have it if God Forbid that ever happens again. I would get teh spry for mattress and carpets and furniture. The good news is your house will never be cleaner.

Good Luck,
J.