Lice - self-treat or outsource?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind the combing, so I prefer to do it myself. Scheduling, traveling, and waiting during the appointment seems like more work to me than just treating myself.

This

[Anonymous]

We also treated ourselves, multiple times and had success with this:

https://www.andoverpedi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Nuvo-lice-treatment.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kids got it we did it ourselves.

If they ever get it again I will immediately throw gobs of money at it to pay someone else to deal with it. It will be worth every last penny to have it done quickly, thoroughly, and not by me!!!

+1. The treatments and combing destroyed my curly hair. We ended up outsourcing for peace of mind and I regret not doing it from the start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just went through our first-ever lice experience. I treated it myself and it was fine. I can't imagine my 4 yo, very sensitive DD doing well with a stranger combing her hair so thoroughly. We did the treatment shampoo twice, one week apart, even though there was no sign of bugs or nits the second time, but I wanted to be sure in case DD had picked it up again at school the week between treatments. The first time, I combed immediately after the treatment, then again the next morning and next evening. I washed pretty much every sheet, towel, coat, hat, and recently worn article of clothing in the house the night we found it, and then washed DD's sheets again the next day. My DH and I both did one lice treatment on ourselves to be safe.

We started using fairytales rosemary repel shampoo and detangling spray at another parent's recommendation. FWIW, her daughter that uses those products was at school & a bday party with my daughter when mine definitely had the lice, and hers didn't pick it up. We also have started religiously putting my DD's hair up in a bun before school, and spray behind her ears and the back of her neck.

The OTC shampoos and sprays are unnecessary. Combing works.

[Anonymous]

Lice happens will come to you house. We had them come (two days before maternity leave ended) and did whole family and show me how to comb. Totally worth the money and not even that expensive. I would have paid any amount to not feel itchy every second of the day. DD 5 had them but no one else did (thank god).

[Anonymous]

If you live in NW DC, Bethesda, Potomac or the nearby areas, Lauren of Potomac Lice Lady is amazing. She can deal with special needs (or sensitive kids) and shows you how to comb. We’ve been to her for 2 lice treatments and 2 family follow-up checks and will go back in a second.

Prevention- start using Fairytales shampoo and conditioner + home lice checks whenever there’s an outbreak at school. SO MUCH Better to catch early!!

[Anonymous]

People should know, there are two different methods being talked about here:

You can pay someone to treat and comb out for you and then continue follow up combing at home. This works.


You can pay someone to treat you with a heat device and then comb out dead bugs and nits. This also works, but you don't have to keep combing for weeks afterward.

So some of us are saying call Lice Happens/Lice Ladies and learn how to comb out. Some of us are saying call the Lice Clinic and kill the lice with the magic heat device. Both ways work. It's definitely worth investigating which method you prefer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kids got it we did it ourselves.

If they ever get it again I will immediately throw gobs of money at it to pay someone else to deal with it. It will be worth every last penny to have it done quickly, thoroughly, and not by me!!!

+1 DD has long, thick, wavy hair, and it took a month to get rid of it completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my kids got it we did it ourselves.

If they ever get it again I will immediately throw gobs of money at it to pay someone else to deal with it. It will be worth every last penny to have it done quickly, thoroughly, and not by me!!!

+1000000!

[Anonymous]

We had our first big case in our older child about a month ago. He's a boy with short hair, so that probably made a difference, but I treated it myself. Did the RID treatment the night we discovered it, washed sheets and blankets and soft stuff, bagged up stuffed animals, used the lice comb on his 2 year old brother the next morning (a single louse was found but still washed all of his sheets, etc.) - DW and I were in the clear. I just continued to comb his hair with the lice comb a few times a day, then once a day when he returned from school. Did this for about two weeks and all was fine. Will still occasionally run the comb through his hair just to make sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also treated ourselves, multiple times and had success with this:

https://www.andoverpedi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Nuvo-lice-treatment.pdf

This is what we did, with cetaphil. It is NBD and was very simple.

For lice prevention, don't worry about your kids having clean hair constantly and put gel or hair products in it, and put it up in braids or ponytails if you have girls.

[Anonymous]

All you need is a good comb, the right technique and patience. No need to do a bunch of laundry or buy a nasty shampoo.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for your helpful suggestions. I just ordered the fairytale spray!

[Anonymous]

Buy an electric comb, and do it yourself.

[Anonymous]

We did it ourselves - but then my kid has short hair so it was easy. We did not do the car vacuuming, bags of laundry, packing away stuffed animals - none of that (Lice cannot live outside of the head after 24 hours, so even if they fell on any of those they would die.

For 2 weeks, every day we did a comb out with a lice comb and conditioner and they were gone.