I Got Head Lice

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It happened. The one thing I never thought I would get as a school nurse....I thought "no way it would ever happen to me, I'm way to careful". I was itching for 4 days straight, but I thought "Oh, it's probably that new shampoo I bought....". I was WAY wrong.

I had to apply 3 treatments over a span of 3 weeks to totally get rid of it. I also passed it to my poor husband and he needed 2 treatments. We treated our house of course, our cars, carpets, couches, etc. Several times. I must say, I never knew the extent of how tedious it is to get rid of until having it myself. I didn't have just 1, I had 9 adult sized lice in my hair the 1st day I did my treatment. I cried like a big baby and was mortified, not to mention I found out at work because one fell out of my head onto my papers I was writing on. I had to leave work to have my aunt apply the medicine. They allow students to stay in school with lice in my district, but there was no way I could work knowing my head was infested. So my aunt did my treatment because I didn't want to risk missing anything. I still had nymphs on my 2nd treatment, most likely because she missed a few nits. By the 3rd one, my scalp burned from the medicine and it burned my skin like crazy when I washed it off in the shower. A lot of my hair has fallen out, and still falling out now. It's thinned pretty bad. I still have dreams that I find lice in my hair. I still itch, here and there. I have a friend at work check my hair weekly. Ugh the horror.....

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Specializes in School Nursing, Public Health, Home Care.

Oh so sorry this has happened to you. I did a happy dance when my last kid graduated from HS and we never had lice, guess I should still hold my breath until I'm out the door.

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What treatment did you use?!? That is a horror story.

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My first two treatments I used over the counter lice treatment recommended by the pharmacist. Third time I went somewhere different and bought another brand also over the counter.

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I'm so sorry!

I'm also very itchy after reading your post.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Ugh. I'm sorry. Where I worked at for drug rehab also had a school (the drug rehab was for teens). I'm lucky I never got lice or scabies. I was itchy just reading your story. We treated everyone for lice as soon as they came in, whether they had it or not.

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Specializes in School Nurse.

I got lice from my daughter a few months ago. I opted with chemical-free manual removal using a good nit comb and conditioning spray. It worked for both of us and my daughter had a major infestation. FYI you do not need to treat your entire house, cars, etc. Washing your bed linens and hair brushes is really all that your need to do. Live lice do not live off the host for more than 24 hours. And nits that fall off the hair shaft are doomed as well without a food source. I keep my hair in a tight bun or braid at work and my daughter must always wear her hair in a "pony" at school.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

We're a family of 7. In 4th grade my daughter was kind enough to bring home a head full and was able to pass it along to my wife and 2 of the 4 brothers before we caught on and started the battle. I consider myself a lice expert but the standard treatments didn't do the trick. I finally ended up having to get the zillion dollar per ounce industrial/agricultural prescription treatment to totally eradicate those buggers. I though my wife was going to need counseling before it was all over. I think she would have handled getting ebola better than head lice.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

oh no!! That's a bummer and a half!!

i'd like to think i've mentally prepared myself for it but then i can't tell you how many times i've dragged my husband into the bathroom to check my head with two sharpened pencils because i felt itchy and he's rolled his eyes and said "nope still just dry scalp -nothing crawling - no nits". My hair dresser is also trained to check me for nits and paranoia.

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Specializes in School Nurse.

I whip out the nit comb for a quick screen every time I notice my daughter scratching at her head. Problem is that she is an itchy kid and so she is always scratching.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

Oh, geez. That's awful.

I was removing a splinter once and realized I was touching heads with the student. I was paranoid for days, getting hubby to check my head. I also have a 5th grader and lay down with her at night until she falls asleep so I remain paranoid.

I pull her hair up tight every morning for school. Her friends all wear their hair down and bug her about it but she, thankfully, agrees with my hair up policy. I've made her an OCD freak like her mom.

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

50% of lice are resistant to OTC treatments. Mechanical removal is often the best bet. There is no need to extensively wash and clean generally. If you want more information read this https://allnurses.com/camp-nursing/lice-everything-you-983887.html

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