Question:
My six year old has head lice. We just discovered this, today, but
apparently she's had this condition for quite a while.
The nurse recommended an over-the-counter product called NIX. One
application, and it would do the trick, she said. However, after one
application, we were still finding live lice on her head. So, we tried
another application, still live ones using the nit comb. Went for a third
time, less and less every time, but the live ones are still there. What is
going on?
Also, the larvae (eggs) can still be seen attached to the shaft of her
hairs. Just about every strand seems to have the nits, I guess they're
called, attached. Repeated, and repeated combings with the nit comb,
provided, don't seem to get rid of them. Are these nits (eggs, larvae)
dead from the NIX, or are they just waiting to hatch? Why isn't the NIX
killing them, as is claimed? Or are they dead and just waiting to fall
off?
We're afraid, tonight, to give her another application, but we're going to
have to do something. Obviously, call the doctor back, tomorrow, but
searched out this group and thought there might be others who can share
their experiences with this.
What more can we do? Please respond here and by email, I'm pretty
concerned about this.
Answer:
I've been there before two years ago, to be exact! My daughter got
them at a slumber party, and my two of my sons had it to a lesser degree
before I found out.... We also used nix at first, but it didn't quite
knock them all down, either. I called the doctor and "demanded" something
better, and he prescribed kwell, which is a bit more powerful. The down
side is that my kids (and myself-- I ended up with them, too) hair got
fried by this stuff, as it is basically a pesticide. Three or four times
a day I would go through their heads, and I hand-picked with a tweezers
any eggs or bugs that I found, placing them in a cup of hot water with
bleach for disposal. I also vacuumed our car upholstery, our sofa and
chairs, and washed all of their bedding in hot soapy water. Stuffed
animals went in the dryer for a round of hot air. Lice are such a pain to
get rid of, and I had to be painfully diligent in order to get
rid of them. It took *hours*, and the kids hated it, but we had no
choice. My children have thin hair, but parents of children with thick
hair often cut it just to get on top of things. The problem with the eggs
is that you often have to strip them off the shafts and all the way down
the individual hair; they don't just let go. This is why thick hair is
such a problem.
So, to summarize-- try Kwell, then hand pick those rascals till their
gone and diligently clean your home and car
