Lice: Those Annoying Little Buggers!

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“Mom, a girl at camp has lice. Don’t worry, they checked my head,” my daughter stated one summer day last year.

Ugh, just the word lice makes me automatically scratch all parts of my head. These tiny, almost microscopic bugs… yuck! I knew better having gone through lice many times myself as a child and once before with my daughter to let that statement slide:

“How long did they take to check your head?” I asked.

“Like five minutes,” my daughter replied.

Five minutes?! That’s it?! Oh, no, no, no. Five minutes was not going to fly. I suddenly had flashbacks of sitting in a chair for at least an hour while my mother pulled at my head with that lice comb. I know how long it took me to check my daughter’s head the first time she had lice.

“Sit,” I said to her, “I’m going to get the lice kit!”

The Lice Kit

What is this lice kit I speak of? This is a box of items I have collected since the first time my daughter had these annoying little buggers. It started with your typical over the counter remedy such as Rid and has blossomed into so much more. Because of the creation of the Super Lice breed, there are now natural and chemical remedies, some pantry items and a battery operated item. These suckers have got to die!

Starting with the supposed lice killer, Rid or Nix, my official lice kit now includes:

Looking through this list, some items might stand out as, well, odd. Olive oil?! Dawn Dish Soap?! What the heck?! When my daughter had lice the first time, about five years ago, I must have inspected her head at least five times in one day and still couldn’t get rid of those suckers. I was becoming desperate. I tried so many products (see above). My husband was breaking down because of all the laundry he was doing and my 20/20 vision eyes were becoming way over worked. I didn’t care how much money we spent, we were going to get rid of them. Enter the lice lady.

The Lice Lady

I can’t even tell you what number I dialed as my eyes were done after going through my daughter’s hair a handful of times at about an hour each time and looking on Google for lice miracles. After searching my area, I dialed a number and was so ecstatic that someone could come out that day and rid my family’s (daughter, husband and myself) hair of these things. The doorbell rang and when I opened the door I swear there were angel wings and a halo. She was my answer.

She sat us each down in a chair with a sheet underneath and worked her magic for three hours. Upon the end of these three hours we were lice and nit free and had the secret to making sure that all these nits (lice eggs) that might be left (these suckers are tiny), never hatched. This secret was well worth the $300 we paid.

The Secret

The Lice Lady worked the secret on our hair that night but it didn’t end there. We had to continue with my hair and my daughter’s for the next two weeks. This is where the Olive Oil and Dawn Detergent come in. Olive Oil, as she explained, suffocates the nits once they hatch so they die and do not have time to lay more eggs continuing a tedious cycle. The trick is the Olive Oil has to remain on your head for at least eight hours because it takes that long to suffocate these buggers. The next key to all this was that the eggs can hatch for up to seven days after being laid.

Okay, what does all this mean?

This meant that for the next week, my daughter and I slept with Olive Oil in our hair every night. We had our hair up in a messy bun with a shower cap over it and a hand towel on our pillow. Every night. For a week.  

How does Dawn fit into this?

The Dawn we used every morning to wash the oil out because for some reason Dawn is the only dish detergent that actually breaks down oil. So every morning, we rinsed out the oil from our hair and then proceeded to wash it with Dawn.

After the week was over, we were to continue for the next week doing this every other day.

I now swear by the secret.

Preventative Measures

Unlike myself who would pick up the eggs during the school year, my daughter has brought home these unwanted guests during Summer Camp. As another school year ends and another year of Summer Camp is on the horizon, a bit of panic surges in my head. Although we are armed with The Secret, it is a long process that like lice, is rather annoying. What can my daughter and others do to prevent lice from latching on to their locks?

  • Essential Oil Lice Preventative Spray – See recipe below – These bugs do not like these smells which prevents them from grabbing on to your head.

  • Fairy Tales Products: They have an array of preventative sprays, shampoos and conditioners which like the recipe above contains rosemary, lavender and tea tree among other things.
  • Put hair back. For my daughter’s long locks we usually will do a braid, ponytail or the occasional bun. At 11 she still fights me on this and I will jokingly threaten to shave her head if she gets lice again. After the hair is back, spray with hairspray. This makes it harder for lice to latch on.
  • Do not share hats, headbands, etcAnything that touches someone else’s head is a big no-no.
  • Do not touch your head to anyone else’s headThis one applies to both girls and boys. Yes, boys can get lice too.
  • A little oil goes a long wayLice like clean hair. Going a few days without washing your hair brings out our natural hair oils which like hairspray, makes it harder for them to latch on.

What lice remedies do you use? What preventative measures do you take?

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1 COMMENT

  1. Great post! Would you suggest getting a spiralized comb instead? I have heard that the metal spiralized combs tend to work better; especially for girls with longer hair.

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