The bullet I didn't dodge
By TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85137)
Shingle Springs, California
December 5, 2011 11:38pm CST
So up until Naomi started 6th grade, I was brushing her hair every day. If I didn't, it turned into such a rat's nest. But I guess she decided that she was old enough that she wanted to do it herself, so I haven't done it the last several months.
Which is why I didn't notice...
Her last hair cut, the stylist said that she had a bit of cradle cap, and recommended that she get dandruff shampoo. So when she mentioned that her head was itching a while back, I just assumed that was why. Her dad looked at her head and didn't see anything.
But after we got back from my dad's after Thanksgiving, that's when she mentioned that it had been itching really badly for weeks, and that there were bugs on her pillow.
Oh goody, you guessed, lice. And she was infested. So it's been over a week of shampooing and combing and spraying and vacuuming and washing bedding, even the stuff that doesn't get washed every week. Oh the fun, the joy, checking every head, and combing eggs out of her hair. And yeah, we all picked them up too, though she's the only one who had it really badly.
When I told my sister, she said she dodged that bullet with her son.
I now officially hate lice worse than fleas. Yuck...
7 people like this
25 responses
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
6 Dec 11
Thank God I never experienced that with my children but one day, whilst teaching, I did see little thingies jump from one girl's head into another girl's head. 
They were seated beside each other. But I dodged that too and reported it to the Guidance counselor who examined both their heads and yes, they had lice. worse than Yucky. Oh the joys of parenthood
They were seated beside each other. But I dodged that too and reported it to the Guidance counselor who examined both their heads and yes, they had lice. worse than Yucky. Oh the joys of parenthood3 people like this
@savypat (20216)
• United States
6 Dec 11
First time I treated lice, my daughter and her two daughters came to visit, after a couple of hours in my house my daughter said," by the way Mom the kids and I all have head lice and we need some help treating them." Did I get mad? no, did I fuss and groan? no. Good old Mom, just read the directions and started washing heads, and then I went after all the places in the house those people had sat or even touched. I did get the infection stopped. And then I got my grown daughter in a corner and told her if she ever did anything like that again, I'd disown her.
If she has something that spreads, call first, then come over and go directly to treatment central, which in our house is the bathroom with no carpeting for easy clean up. Even the pets are treated in there for fleas and ticks. I try really hard never to let any of those bugs get a hold on my house. Vut it's often a battle. Fleas still have the top spot, they get in the carpet and poison is the only way I have found to control them.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Pat, you can put salt liberally in your carpet, let it set anywhere from two hours to over night and vacuum it up. It dehydrates fleas and their eggs, and polishes off their exoskeleton.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 Dec 11
Fleas are a pain. At least lice can't be spread to the animals...
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Not fun. One way to fix them immediately on yourself is to dye your hair. Those little stinkers turn bright green and die. They hate hair spray and styling gel as well. I am the only one that ever had them in the immediate family, and I think I got them at work.
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Dec 11
With henna it is the smell that will kill them. I do not know if it coats and kills them as well or not. I have not known anyone who uses indigo. I know that there are people who combine it with henna--you can also check the term Hendigo, for more about that. I am offline for the day today. Little bit of contract work.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Gerty, I doubt henna would work huh? I guess if I want to avoid them, cover my hair with hair spray..lol Gerty, I also made a comment to what your reply in my box and I forgot to ask, I have done some research, but what do you know about indigo?
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
6 Dec 11
My scalp got itchy just reading this. You don't suppose there's such a thing as cyberlice, do you?
2 people like this
@jillhill (37353)
• United States
6 Dec 11
I don't blame you. My youngest daughter had long long hair...she was the one that would usually get them from borrowing a comb at school...finally we had to get her hair cut...and I cried. But that was about the last time we had them too.
2 people like this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Dec 11
Her hair isn't all that long, but it's really thick.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Gosh I'm itching just thinking about it!
I used to get lice constantly as a kid, I know how much fun they aren't.
With my kids, I only ever had a scare once, and that was when my oldest was just a baby. I honestly wasn't sure if he'd even be able to get lice due to the kind of hair he has (he's half black, so he's got that course, curly hair which I keep rather short). But a friend of mine at the time was infested and we spent all of our time at her house, so naturally I took precautions.
Thankfully no scares since.
If it makes you feel any better, my mother has bedbugs.. I hear they are the worst sort of thing to try to get rid of. They even hang out in electrical devices and nothing kills them. She can't even flea bomb her house, that wouldn't kill them.
2 people like this
@lilaclady (28206)
• Australia
6 Dec 11
I have often wondered why it is always kids that get this problem, what is it about kids that this happens to, this seems to have happened from way back in time but it is always kids that it seems to start.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 Dec 11
No, clue, but it sounds like a good topic for a thesis...
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Add sleepovers, trying on each other's hats, sharing lockers, hanging coats in coat rooms and you have other points for the thesis.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
13 Dec 11
Oh crap...now I'm scratching...again. We are having a dreadful time with sand flies/mites and mozzies. The sand flies/mites are even affecting the cattle. My poor Lucy dog is being driven mad by them as am I. The mozzies only come out at dusk and stay the night. The others can attack at any time of the day. I need to take an antihistamine for the severity of the itching.
Sorry that you're having such a dreadful time with lice. My friend caught them from her guy's kids and had to chop her hair off.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
6 Dec 11
First of all, P1ke is correct in the reason kids get it more than adults. My kids never got them until we started going to this church where the people would hug a lot. Not that it was wrong, sometimes I went in needing a hug, but that did cause my first and only outbreak of these nasty things.
Since then, I have learned a lot and one thing I learn, and this will be good for Naomi since she is a girl, is hairspray. Lice hate hairspray, and I realized that women at this church who used hairspray, didn't get lice..
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Dec 11
If you have an infestation, and you dye your hair, the chemicals kill the adults and the nits and the eggs and everything else. In my case they all turned this bright turquoise color. My adult niece had various reasons where she would run into people with headlice and get them. Her solution for herself was to dye her hair to kill them. Hair spray, hair gels, and hair oils suffocate the lice, by clogging all their pores. Hot hair dryers repel them and possibly kill them.
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Hair color? I know there is a smell when I color my hair, but after a while it disappears, or is it something in the dye that repels them? Plus what you have to consider with hair color, if one didn't keep it up, the roots are fair game once they grow out.
1 person likes this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Oh no that sux! We've been there done that! It's a horrid thing to have to go thru all that mess! Atleast she's old enough that she can tolerate all the combing ect. My middle was a baby when we got hit with it and my eldest was 4. Good times, I don't want to repeat EVER! And if you put a drop or two of Tea Tree oil in your shampoo bottle & shake it is supposed to repel them w/o using harsh chemical, it's not the grandest of smells as it smells like medicine...
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Cider vinegar as a rinse is supposed to repel them as well. Blow dryers are effective as well.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Well that scent is probably much better than dealing with those horriable critters.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 11
Yuck is right! I went through that with my granddaughter. We all had long, thick hair and it was horrible to get rid of them. Even had it to the point the school wouldn't let her come back until we got rid of them. Kept getting them back over and over. I did some research and found that you also needed to wrap stuffed toys up in bags for a month to be assured they weren't infested. One month I spent $120 on shampoo and stuff. I finally did all the washing, shampooing and bagging, then took her to the park and in the waining light I combed through her entire head for hours making sure I got rid of every egg. For a year or so after the last time every time my head itched I would freak out.
Luckily(knock on wood) we haven't had any infestations with my grandson. He wears his hair shaved so short I doubt a bug could find a nesting spot.
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
7 Dec 11
I'm sure two weeks would be long enough. They can't live long without blood from a host.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
7 Dec 11
I had them when I was a kid and vaguely remember what a pain it was, at least now they have better medicine than 40 years ago and you don't end up having to shave your head
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Dec 11
Just think how much fun she could have picking out wigs...
@missybear (11391)
• United States
8 Dec 11
There are some really cool ones, my friend wears a different 1 every other week.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 Dec 11
From what I've read, they aren't all that dangerous. But they are very contagious...
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
12 Dec 11
Hi Dawn!!
Oh no!! I haven't had to deal with lice yet (hope not to, but ya never know). I remember my sister's friend had it and she had to shave nearly all her beautiful long hair off . . . I don't know what they do in lice treatment these days. My daughter still has cradle cap - I thought she was supposed to outgrow that condition by now. The last time she got her hair cut, the stylist thought it might be shampoo build up (from not rinsing well). Anyway, best of luck with going through that . . . that (bullet) too shall pass!!
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
13 Dec 11
I hope you don't ever have to, it's a pain and a half!
@jazel_juan (15745)
• Philippines
7 Dec 11
Oh i know what you mean! The past few weeks have been busy with work and my daughter who is 7 can also comb on her own..so i just let her without checking her hair these past few weeks. So.. guess what, my mom came up to me the previous sunday and she said she combed my daughter's hair and she found - LICE! GRrrrr i hate those. they ick me and i know how fast they spread! I checked her hair and all the eggs and the life..so i have to really wash the sheets to and got her this lice shampoo. 'I then checked my other kid's hair my two boys and thank God they did not have it yet..and i don't have it either. I am still finding out where she got it.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Dec 11
it's awful, isn't it? And then you have to torture the poor kid with the lice comb and all the bad smelling stuff you put in the hair. Yuck.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
9 Dec 11
Lice is horrible. I remember my daughter...when she was in the third grade..had hair to her hiney and got it. OMG..I freaked out. I never got it when I was in school and I had no clue. What I did find out though is that those expensive shampoos won't kill them anymore. They are immune to it so it is elbow grease that gets them off.
A trick for you...get a cheap bottle of detangler after you treat her...soak her dry hair in it..the whole bottle if you have too and then use the comb on her. It takes every little nit out. Good luck.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
13 Dec 11
that is exactly what worked for me, soaking her hair and then combing it
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
8 Dec 11
I had it go around my school building. I sat there and scratched just thinking about it. I kept making the nurse check my head just to be on the safe side. My class has been bug free for about 5 weeks, but I still get a bit of an itch and run down to the nurse to double check.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
8 Dec 11
Yeah, no kidding. I'm still itching just thinking about it.
@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)
• China
9 Dec 11
The louse is really a type of nasty insect,which lives on the skin and in the hair of us ,feeds on our blood and spreads germs of infectious diseases.I travelled round on business before I was retired.I once got infested with them .Now I feel as if I itch all over at the mention of them.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
13 Dec 11
Yes, just the mention of them gets me itching...
@Robswife2006 (1208)
• United States
8 Dec 11
Oh the hateful memories this brings back. For some reason my younger sister always got them first, then she would bring them home & we all got them. My siblings & I were very clean, always showered, washed our hair etc. etc. but that made no difference we always seem to get the lice. After the 4th time(within a few years of each other of course, not all at once)my Mom had decided she had enough. We all got short, very short hair cuts. My sisters & I looked like boys & we cried because our long hair was all gone. It eventually grew back of course, but till this day when I think of lice I remember those short, boyish haircuts we were all forced to get.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
8 Dec 11
Nasty things, but sadly if you have longer hair, you're much more likely to get them...
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Oh gosh! How awful! I've never had to deal with lice with myself or with my daughter, but a friend's daughter got them all the time. I remember seeing her mom cutting out the nits out of her hair rather than coming them.. instead of using shampoo she kept cutting... my other friend (her sister in law) ended up buying the shampoo and stuff and treating the kid herself.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
7 Dec 11
I did read that once you had combed out everything that you could get, that cutting the remaining ones off was effective. But what a pain!
