AUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!(i.e.head lice)

[jen42]

Well, I knew it was coming... I've never seen anything move so fast as those little suckers diving in and out of that little girl's hair, squirming, running.... ew. Her father brought her back in the next day. "She's all cured!" Spying the nits from four feet away, I begged to differ. We argued until he pulled out a comb, combed through her hair to prove his point, and was rewarded with a nice fat louse falling onto the table. Point driven home.

Anyway. Now my head is crawling, although I know it's psychosomatic. Do you guys do preventative treatment on yourselves when there's lice at the school? I'm tempted to go home and smother myself in Nix!

[AussieTina]

Hi all,

I have always had good sucess with conditioner, put it in the hair and it paralyses the lice, so they can then be combed out (four kids, 3 of them girls with long hair...lots of practice ) My son just got a microscope so he took one of the lice that i had just gotten out of my daughters hair (using conditioner), it stayed still for abour 5 mins and then started moving around. the other lice on the tissue were still not moving, so we got to see that it really does work.

Up here in Queensland (australia), we are not even informed by the school when our own child has lice :angryfire , we just get a note sent home saying that 'someone' in the class is 'suspected' of having lice! Also the schools are not allowed to do lice checks on the kids, so they are a nightmare!

Tina

[jen42]

Well, after seeing three more cases of horrendous, horrendous head lice infestation, I can happily say that it doesn't freak me out as much as it used to. However, I still have dreams where I'm pulling six-inch bugs out of my hair. One of the moms was so mortified she came into the nursing office, closed the door, let down the blinds (!) and conducted our conversation in a barely-audible whisper. I felt like I was about to send her off on a secret CIA mission.

[SFCardiacRN]

CRIPES! Now my head is itching!!!

[Jeanine]

I LOVE my Robi Comb! I ordered it from one of the school nurse supply catalogs a few years ago. It sort of works like a bug zapper. It runs on batteries and you use it to comb through the hair like a nit comb. When you hit lice or eggs, you actually hear a zap - and they are destroyed. You wind up combing to get rid of the nits anyway, so if you have the money in your budget (or are so grossed out by the thought of getting lice yourself), it is well worth the investment. I forget how much I paid for it, but I think it was less than $100. It obviously doesn't help with the sheets, clothes, etc., but you will get them out of the head without harsh, possibly toxic chemicals.

[Pamela8]

So glad the dangers of lindane was posted here!!!!

Here's another site with good info.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze444wi/id3.html

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

never heard of the robi comb before...found info here:

http://www.schoolhealth.com/shop/pe_90273.asp#productoverview

anyone else use this product as screening tool?

[shajasiRN]

Hi, just wanted to comment on this comb. I was very skeptical when I first read about it some time ago, but when my daughter had lice for the 2nd time in a year, I thought I would give it a try. The comb never stopped humming when used on her, although there were nits,( which I had spent 3 hours picking out before the comb was purchased.). Decided to run it through my sons hair, (I had checked him, he was clean, husband took him to get a summer bur-cut) and low and behold I "caught" four of the little buggers! Was very impressed with the comb, but a little perplexed that I never saw them or the any nits before. The main thing I wanted to say is that it didn't kill the lice, I brushed them out on paper, and within minutes they started crawling again, slowly, but they were moving. So in my case it was more like they were stunned. My husband paid 20 dollars or so at Walmart for it....oh, also, the next day I went to run it through their hair again and they both complained that it was "zapping" them. After close inspection I found that one tooths protective coating was gone. Talk about feeling like a bad mother:o . This is my first post to allnurses, been more of a lurker, so glad it could be about lice!

[peds77]

My daughter has had head lice on and off for months now schools out and i thought it was gone but its not...i've tried everything spent hours and hundreds of dollars can anyone please help me i'm VERY seriously thinking of cutting her hair...we're going to the dr tomorrow but i've heard that doesn't work either...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE any help would be great!!!!!

[bergren]

What have you tried so far?

How long / thick is her hair?

Who else has lice that she is in contact with?

[Montessori Mommy]

We had a horrible run of head lice last summer/fall at home. My oldest got it at camp, and passed it to her little sister. We couldn't get rid of it on the little one (4 years old)! She cried like we were tearing off her limps each time she had to sit through the combing. Eventually, we went to the olive oil treatment - soak the hair with olive oil every third night. Put them to bed with the oil in their hair. The next AM, comb out, wash with a clarifying shampoo and blow dry. We did this for a full month - and finally got rid of everything! It also cleared up our daughter's cradle cap - which we had been battling since she was an infant.

I'm praying there won't be another outbreak this summer!!

[peds77]

well i've tried rid..licekiller which was 150.00...lice meister washing EVERYTHING in the house...cutting her hair which is chin length but VERY VERY thick i have the rx ella mite but i'm afraid to use that.. so tomorrow i am going to a nit picker..who is a woman that my pediatrician recommended she said she would definatly get rid of it so we'll see what happens...