Fast forward and my 8 yr old grand daughter has been staying with us for a few months. For 3 months now we have been fighting lice. I get it cleaned up and a few days later they are back. I have read that lice today are more resistant to the traditional chemicals used to kill them.
During this time I have treated everyone's heads (just to be safe, however we never found them on our heads) about every week to 10 days. I used the generic equivalent to NIX. It seemed to kill them, never found live until about 5 days later. I talked with the school principle who assure me they send kids home that are found with live lice. They also have a no nit policy. However, I know this wasnt true because my DGD was sent home with a note, that I didnt find until late that evening, saying she had lice...again. They tried to tell me that I wasnt getting it cleared up, that she was getting it from the school repeatedly. I later proved this false too.
When she kept getting the lice back I started some research and found that what I was using didnt sound like it was supposed to kill eggs too. Anyone who has treated lice know how time consuming it is to find and remove all the eggs (nits). Sound the next few times I bought NIX brand. It stated it killed eggs and kept you from getting lice back for two weeks. well lo and behold, within 7 days I found live lice again. I have treated heads, washed bedding and stuffed toys, sprayed carpets , furniture, rugs, and mattresses. still we were finding them almost on a weekly basis. Every night, my husband and I armed with reading glasses, and flashlights searching her head. we got to be "nit picking" professionals.
Recently my son told me he had to do some research on it because one of their kids brought them home from the babysitter. He told me about Cetaphil, and recommended I read this site:
http://nuvoforheadlice.com/test/
I read it had been tested at about 96% effective at killing lice. Nix and others are only about 72%. So with that point alone it got my attention. He bought a generic from Dollar General. My husband picked up the name brand. we were desperate and didnt want to take any chances.
Make sure you buy the cleanser and NOT the lotion.
We treated her head on Sunday night. It didnt say to leave on over night, but we did. make sure you follow the directions on the above site to the letter. The only hastle from using this method was getting the hair dry with this in it. It took FOREVER. I also read that coconut was a good repellant. I knew from personal trial with my animals that coconut oil killed fleas on contact. I went shopping and bought coconut conditioner and a leave in product with coconut. The next morning we washed hair as usual. I checked thoroughly and found NO lice. Dead or Alive. Well school was canceled on Monday due to snow. I checked for lice again that night.....still nothing. Tuesday, I checked her head again and still no lice. I sprayed the leave in stuff in her hair, and sent her off to school. She came home later that afternoon, and I immediately checked her head again.
YEP, you guessed it.....LICE.....again.
I only found one, but it was an ADULT. so she brought it home from school again. A missed egg would not have time to hatch and turn into an adult within 8 hours! Not enough time for cetaphil so I used NIX again, and removed the lice and checked for eggs again.
So I hit the internet again for more research. I read loads of positive comments on Tea Tree Oil. Some were even research trials by organizations and doctors. Some are putting a small amount in the shampoo, some in the conditioner,some both and some also sing it diluted as a leave in product.
Now this stuff is fairly expensive initially, but you only use a small amount, so a little goes a long way. I believe mine was about $8 from Walmart. Since the leave in coconut product didnt prevent re-infestation anyway, I added about 1/2 tsp to my 8 oz bottle of leave in. Now let me warn you....if you have a cold or sinus congestion, this stuff will loosen it up real quick. It has a strong almost camphor like smell. I was a little afraid kids would smell my granddaughter coming before they seen her. Well...not really....I was desperate. But after I spritzed her hair thoroughly before school and dried it, it wasnt really noticeable. It left almost a "fresh" scent.
Fast forward 2 weeks later.....No LICE!!!. We are finally bug free. after spending hundreds of dollars on insecticides....poisons.. I have been checking her hair daily. If your school has a lice problem, I highly recommend this method to kill and prevent lice.
WARNING, I have read on several sites NOT to use Tea Tree Oil full strength. Always dilute. I had it on my hands with no irritation. Do some research on your own.
here was an impressive study done by the National Institute of Health:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22847279
