Head Lice

[Phincer]

Last night, rather late, we got an email from my sis-in-law. She was up late doing LOTS of laundry! Seems as though our nephew has a lovely case of head lice.

Biologist that she is, she has pinpointed the source as the beginning fencing camp our Darling Nephew attended not too long ago.

Most of the parents here have already purchased their new fencer the basics, but to those of you who haven't-perhaps the mask and glove purchase could be pushed up a bit. We couldn't stand the thought of our kids face in something that had been sweated in by other people...we never thought of head lice. The glove-well, kids don't wash their hands, so that grossed us out as well.

I will be urging her to contact the club and let them know that they need to wash those masks!

Now join us in a collective "eeewwwwwwwww".

[occasionalfencer]

Advertising to the contrary notwithstanding, you do not need any of the poisonous sprays, shampoos, dips, etc. to get rid of head lice. The old (OLD) tried and true method of picking out nits really is the best approach, and has no toxic residue. I did this many times while my children were in school.

[whiteandbluefencer]

Oh man, I remember my sisters getting lice when they were little... it's one of the worse things little kids get. This is definitely an "eewwww" moment!

[Mo]

Oh man, I remember my sisters getting lice when they were little... it's one of the worse things little kids get. This is definitely an "eewwww" moment!

Just seeing the word "lice" makes me itch.... Ewwww is right.
The Momster

[Hauptman]

Advertising to the contrary notwithstanding, you do not need any of the poisonous sprays, shampoos, dips, etc. to get rid of head lice. The old (OLD) tried and true method of picking out nits really is the best approach, and has no toxic residue. I did this many times while my children were in school.

There are some non-toxic preparations available out there too, and you can even use something like olive oil to drown the nits.

But combing, combing, and even more combing with a good lice comb is the best solution. We just went through it last year with our then 8 year old; his whole class had the buggers.

[HDG]

Advertising to the contrary notwithstanding, you do not need any of the poisonous sprays, shampoos, dips, etc. to get rid of head lice. The old (OLD) tried and true method of picking out nits really is the best approach, and has no toxic residue. I did this many times while my children were in school.

If you had to do it many times, maybe it isn't the best way…

[bigfirststep]

If you had to do it many times, maybe it isn't the best way…

this is exactly what I thought when I read the nit-picking suggestion...

[occasionalfencer]

If you had to do it many times, maybe it isn't the best way…

I did not have to do it many times for the same infection. My children kept getting re-infected by children from families who relied on the toxic shampoos. Finally I started a small business (with another friend who was tired of the whole re-infection cycle) of nit-picking for other people. We managed to include the family who was the main source of the VERY pesticide resistant infection. No lice are resistant to physical removal. The mother was very grateful to learn another way, one that actually worked, and did not poison her children.

[Hauptman]

I did not have to do it many times for the same infection. My children kept getting re-infected by children from families who relied on the toxic shampoos. Finally I started a small business (with another friend who was tired of the whole re-infection cycle) of nit-picking for other people. We managed to include the family who was the main source of the VERY pesticide resistant infection. No lice are resistant to physical removal. The mother was very grateful to learn another way, one that actually worked, and did not poison her children.

I agree. You won't beat the lice with the shampoo alone because it's too nasty to use often enough. I think they only recommend once a week at most.

So I recommend the non-toxic alternatives AND active combing (nit-picking) to finish the job. And make sure your kid knows how NOT to get them again from the other kids at school.

[Fencing Mom]

Gee, and I've always been criticized for nit-picking! Who knew?

[hologramqueen]

take the masks and put them in plastic trash bags and seal them up.. put them outside in the heat for a few days and let them bake in the sun..if there is no sun, seal the mask's in a bag and put them in the freezer for a week.. no residue, no chemicals and very little expense to kill the lice..DO NOT PUT PEOPLE IN FREEZER!
for people, if you can find an old fashioned bonnet hair dryer that fits over the head, put conditioner on the hair (cause you are basically baking the hair) place a shower cap over all the hair and put the bonnet hair dryer on and sit under the dryer till hot..but DON'T burn your head!
If you can get close enough WITHOUT BURNING THE PERSON, try using a hair straightner or curling iron close to the scalp as you can get, again WITHOUT BURNING THE PERSON..Use it in the normal manner as you normally would on the hair..
then use the nit comb...
good luck!

[rdg]

Head lice is part of growning as a parent. In my family, now two grown girls and a boy, we went through this a couple of times. Worms are bad too. I expect you will probably get them in your course of growing up, esp, if you have a garden. I wouldn't exchange these miserable experiences for anything.

We are biological beings. We get things. The over-the-counter Walmart stuff worked well in both cases.

Persist and your children will grow up to be beautiful adults (lice and worm free).
I kind of envy you, in a way. There is a real intimacy in curing these nasty little bugs.

Best of luck.

Sam

[Nolano]

I forget if we ever did this... What I remembered hearing about was putting(I think) mayonnaise in your hair and either putting a shower cap over it or using plastic wrap. The idea being that the thick goo in your hair suffocated the lice.

I think. It's been many years since I had lice.

[ApAperture]

Oh gosh, this thread scared me. I bought myself a gear; I'm thinking that the opportunity of losing a couple of days of school and work is bigger than getting a gear.

Hope everything works well for the children.

[Empty Wallet]

We went through this recently. Head lice are a fact of life in our schools. The kids are check by a nurse from the city council once a year.

We were lucky to escape for so long.

A couple of things were recommended. One was a hugely thick layer of conditioner left on for some hours. It kills the lice, but not the nits.

The other was a tea tree oil based herbal shampoo. Used everyday for 10 days. Smells nice and not toxic to humans.

With each option, the comb was a must because the preparations do not deal with the eggs. Lots and combing, very systematically. Perhaps it is a nice bonding exercise.

Again, we had the issue of one family who did not deal with the problem properly.

As the kids at school must wear a hat to play outside, hats got shared along with their inhabitants.


(With the nitpicking puns, I have been expecting Inq to drop by for some sagely advice.)

[Grimaldi]

(With the nitpicking puns, I have been expecting Inq to drop by for some sagely advice.)

Probably involving the use of gasoline back when he was young.

[occasionalfencer]

With each option, the comb was a must because the preparations do not deal with the eggs. Lots and combing, very systematically. Perhaps it is a nice bonding exercise.

)

Yes, our family found this to be the case.

[HDG]

Probably involving the use of gasoline back when he was young.

Gasoline still walked the Earth in dinosaur form at the time of his youth…

[Empty Wallet]

I guess a dinosaur stomping on the kid's head would end the lice problem

[Jay83]

Thank you for this thread.

When we started a kid's class last year, lice was the last thing we were thinking of until a concerned parent brought it to our attention. We ended up labeling masks with kid's names and passing them out at the beginning of classes. I realize this only minimizes the risk as the masks are kept in the same bag. Thankfully we never had any cases of lice, but I will definitely be doing a mass freezing of our gear just in case.