Spent $1000 for lice treatment - I feel sick! UPDATE Day 10: I THINK THEY ARE GONE!

[ccgirl]

This happened to my two kids about a montha go...ugh. I freaked out myself, but my Mom and I did all of the work, and we were super vigilant. Haven't seen anything since we did the treatmetns that first day, thank God. BUT...yesterday the kids went on a scout outing horseback riding, and my Mom told me they all shared three helmets (20+) kids. I am flipping out, as I know there have been many other cases in school in the interim. I am praying they did not pick them up again...

 

[funcinderella]

LOL...I know...so far so good. I keep checking them every day....

 

[fireflymedic]

wow over 1k, I hope they tell you ahead of time, not just hand you a bill after its too late, I guess they must know CPR and cary AED's for all the heart attacks they cause

 

[SeansMom]

Lice aren't nice @ http://www.tpchd.org/files/library/e9ac7c153b5b4e61.pdf

Everything you need to know and more about treating lice.

Picking nits and doing laundry is key.

This advice is free

 

[angelsmith52]

Ok, there are 12 pages on here and I am not going to read through all of them. Makes my head itch! LOL

My DD has had them 3 times!!! I finally had a nurse tell me the easiest way to get rid of them was this: Use Cetaphil body wash, put tea tree oil in it! The cetaphil can be used as a shampoo and will kill the lice!!! Then you will have to use one of those metal combs. don't get a plastic one. Also get a spray bottle and put some of the tea tree oil and water in it. Spray the couch, chair, anything that is cloth!!! Don't forget the car!!!
Unlike the lice shampoos, the cetaphil can be used daily! There are so many negatives to using Rid or anything like that, that I can't use those on my children!!! Look it up! It's scary!

The tea tree oil REALLY works!!!

 

[squirrel]

The tea tree oil REALLY works!!!

Not always! My sister put's it in her kids shampoo bottle and in a spray bottle with water & conditioner.

My niece's still got lice. They both have curly hair and the only way to comb it is to use the spray bottle with tea tree oil, conditioner and water on it in the morning.

They ended up having it a few times all because they hung out with a neighbour (her mom never treated her head). My older niece was also in her class. I think after the third time at school the nurse/teacher told the mom how to get rid of them so it wouldn't keep spreading around the class.

 

[sparklynails23]

Didn't you notice your kids itching before they had a head full of nits? They usually start behind the ears. Whenever the lice are around, we use medicated dandruff shampoo. I don't think the lice like it, because we've never gotten them.

 

[ccgirl]

Didn't you notice your kids itching before they had a head full of nits? They usually start behind the ears. Whenever the lice are around, we use medicated dandruff shampoo. I don't think the lice like it, because we've never gotten them.

One louse can lay many nits so it's possible there wasn't too much itching going around. My DD went to her school nurse with an itchy head and the nurse checked her head and said she was clear. Two days later I saw a bunch of live lice crawling around her head.

There are a lot of "rumors" of what lice like/don't like. The best method is to avoid contact with anyone else's hair. Girls get it much more frequently than boys as their long flowing hair make it easier for lice to transfer. Plus, they like to play with each others hair. I use the Fairytales shampoo and so far my DD has never had another case. But, there have also been reports of people that used it and it didn't work. I certainly don't wish to go through that again.

 

[Ephany]

Well, we've been battling this for 2 weeks. I haven't seen anything on DD's head since last week, but she's still getting spot checks every day. Thanks to this thread I'd ordered that metal comb from Amazon and I'm so glad I did. It made the comb outs so much more productive. I found a place north of Atlanta that does spot checks for $15 so I had my head checked today just in case. They also do treatments, and honestly after the $$ I've spent on the comb, shampoo, conditioner, spray, hair clips, anti-lice treatment, cetaphil etc, next time I think I"m taking her there right from the get go, if only for my sanity.

We both prefer how the licelogic lemongrass shampoo/conditioner/spray smells compared to the fairytales spray, so I think that's going to become a normal part of our morning routine. I think I've finally got DD convinced that she needs to keep her hair up at school, she was always pulling out her ponytail before. I'm so grateful for this thread, it really pointed me the right direction so I didn't freak out and I'm much better prepared if this ever happens again!

 

[vellamint]

You poor thing!

My daughters and I all ended up with it. I found a home remedy online and it worked perfectly.

Soak hair generously in olive oil, put a shower cap on, go to bed. In the morning, all the lice will be dead and the nits just comb out as easy as can be with a comb. No more picking at them. I swear, just run a comb across the hair once and they come out easy as can be. The only downside is washing the olive oil out of the hair. It may take about 3 times. But it's SO worth it.

I agree with this!! And then do it again about a week later just to be sure...AND use a flat iron as a precaution as soon as a letter comes home BEFORE you find any.

 

[cm8]

wow over 1k, I hope they tell you ahead of time, not just hand you a bill after its too late, I guess they must know CPR and cary AED's for all the heart attacks they cause

, I'm sure they'll have no issues with sending the bill to the next of Kin

 

[jkc0325]

I don't have time to read this entire thread, but I just want you to know that you are not alone in spending that kind of money for lice treatment. 3 years ago I found lice on my dd and 2 hours later got a phone call that my Dad was in the hospital dying. Obviously, I couldn't deal with both problems at once so I went off to the hospital and my husband worked on my dd's hair. He had NO clue what he was doing. My father died the next morning and I called a Lice Specialist. She came and checked the entire family and we all had it except for my dh. Even my poor sister had gotten it from my kids. We spent about $1000 and she treated 5 of us. We then did olive oil treatments for 2 weeks. It was the worst time of my life.

Last year we got it again, despite the fact that I put my girls' hair up every day and spray with hairspray. This time I treated them myself. I am grateful that the Lice Specialist taught me as she worked the previous time so I could do it all myself.

A few months later, a friend of a friend called me and hired me to check her whole family. I made $200 checking and treating her 2 kids over the course of two weeks. She insisted on paying me, but I wasn't out to fleece anybody.

I sincerely hope you find no more nits on your daughter.

 

[mefordis]

Well, after day 8 or 9 I found no more nits and my girl's heads are still clean. I really am shocked when I read that people can still get it after putting their hair up and spraying it. Ugh! I really hope I don't have to deal with this again! I have all the products if I do, but I HATE doing all the laundry the most!!!

Thanks again for all of your support!

 

[jkc0325]

So happy to hear that you're not finding anything anymore. My advice would be to continue with the olive oil treatments every 5 days until it's 3 weeks out from when you first found the lice. This is based on the life cycle of lice and how if even 2 nits don't get noticed, you'll have to start the entire process over again.

Having lived through this twice and worked as paid consultant, I'll also tell you that after 8 days you can ease up on the laundry. By this point in the treatment, I was throwing the pillow cases in the dryer for 30 minutes on high heat and that's it. There is no need to kill yourself doing all that laundry anymore!!!!

I'm not sure what it's like at your school, but my kids don't get their own lockers til 5th grade. Instead, all the backpacks and coats are thrown together in a closet. That's a fabulous way to spread lice. I bought these oversize Ziplock bags at Target and my kids put their coats and backpacks into the bag. So far so good this year for us even though our town is having a massive lice epidemic right now.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

 

[mefordis]

Wow, I wasn't nearly as diligent as you! I did a LOT of laundry for 2-3 days, then just switched pillow cases for 8 days. I am not doing any olive oil but I am spraying her hair and using lice conditioner in her braid. I also exclusively comb their hair with a fine toothed comb. Mostly because I haven't bought any new brushes yet, after throwing all the brushes out!!

So happy to hear that you're not finding anything anymore. My advice would be to continue with the olive oil treatments every 5 days until it's 3 weeks out from when you first found the lice. This is based on the life cycle of lice and how if even 2 nits don't get noticed, you'll have to start the entire process over again.

Having lived through this twice and worked as paid consultant, I'll also tell you that after 8 days you can ease up on the laundry. By this point in the treatment, I was throwing the pillow cases in the dryer for 30 minutes on high heat and that's it. There is no need to kill yourself doing all that laundry anymore!!!!

I'm not sure what it's like at your school, but my kids don't get their own lockers til 5th grade. Instead, all the backpacks and coats are thrown together in a closet. That's a fabulous way to spread lice. I bought these oversize Ziplock bags at Target and my kids put their coats and backpacks into the bag. So far so good this year for us even though our town is having a massive lice epidemic right now.

Good luck!!!!!!!!