Head Lice
 

Found this:

About Dogs - Do Dogs Get Human Head Lice?

when my daughter was in 1st grade we had a terrible time with this, but i remember them telling me they would not live on (my moms) dogs.
also, the shampoos, etc. do not kill the eggs, they literally have to be combed out one by one. we got this metal comb and used it every night for two weeks and we finally got rid of them. of course also vacuum everything that can't be washed in hot water, store stuffed animals etc. in garbage bags for 2 weeks.

Oh the joys of the fine tooth comb.

i used to reach in a preschool. I also took my son there with me when. We would get it. Get rid of it. Get it again. Get rid of it...and on and on and on. It got so bad that all our comforters looked old due to the scalding water washing and my hair was lifeless for awhile. I finally quit and while i miss the kids I do not miss the lioce shampoo.

A few things you may not think about that could be spreading the little buggers are

The car
The child that sits close to one of your children at school or on the bus
The area rugs or bath mats
mats in your kitchen
curtains

They used to make a spray you could buy to spray the car and things that could not be bagged or washed.

You may have thought of these things, but it took me a few bouts to figure some of these out.

Also we had a cat at the time and the vet said they could not get it.

Oh, the joys of head lice. I taught Special Education and remember one year was particularly bad. I had it two or three times. It certainly was a tremendous amount of work and very expensive. I finally started keeping the clean clothes in a room with nothing else in it. Also, remember spraying couches and cars, etc.

I remember reading that the shampoo would kill the live critters, but not the eggs. So, if you do not get every single nit out of everyone's head, they can hatch again.

Good luck... I am feeling sorry for you, but do want you to know that you can get rid of it, but it does take time, money, and effort. (I even remember tears.)

I had it several times as a child...it's just miserable. If you've tried everything and they're still getting it, it's probably coming from another child at school. Have you reported it to their school? Most schools will have the nurse check every student if one is reported with head lice. They send the kids home until they are lice-free. Harsh, but the only way to stop the spread.

This thread reminds me of when I was in school (and that is going back over 50 years OUCH!). This was back in England.
Used to be a health inspector that made home visits. I can "see" her now, tall, rather gaunt with an "inspector" hat on and a briefcase in her hand.
When we saw her in the street we used to say "There goes "Nitty Nora", the bug explorer. (Nits being head lice of course).
I remember when there was a break out of nits in school, every night my mother would sit me and my sister down at her feet and she would sit in her chair and comb our hair with a very fine comb to make sure we didn't have any.

Memories!! I haven't thought of "Nitty Nora" in years!

That's how it works at my kids' school. My daughter's class kept passing it around last year and she literally could not get rid of it. I think we had 4 rounds, including prescription lice shampoo from a dermatologist. It is embarrassing to report it, but if you don't other kids will go undiagnosed and pass it around. My son got it once, but my dog never did.

The heat from a hair dryer can help kill them too. Of course, their is a special dryer they sell now that gets to a specific temperature... maybe try to google it...

Yorkies can get sarcoptic mange, which is Scabies when humans get it, and one can pick that up from the dogs, and vice versa. Revolution kills mites on dogs, maybe check with your vet, if head lice maybe visit the dogs.... One would think they would as Yorkies have hair similar to humans....

I read they can't but (parasites are my serious phobia!) so ye I'd treat anyways...why can't one jump or crawl onto the dog and then back off? Just be sure to use a safe for dogs nontoxic product.

We had an incident with the neighbor kids here, they kept using the shampoos and RX from Dr. and kept getting them back from either re-infestation or they just didn't l with it and they we laying eggs and hatching again. Sent them the bottle of what we got and they didn't get it back again.

Ugh I'm all itchy now!

We saw one large bug after school went immediately (per teacher's advice she's been aware of these things for 20+ years) to the hippy herbal store and got something called "essential oils" and that was that, of course I also made the kids wear it to school for two weeks after because it also repells them also-apparently it's nontoxic and kills them in all stages by attacking their organs, dissolves eggs, and is safe for pets.

Disgusting how some people do half*** jobs and send their kids back to school, or don't have their house cleaned thoroughly, the first time. So after there's an outbreak, be on the alert for a bit afterward.

I've read elsewhere that a few drops of tea tree oil in your shampoo will prevent head lice from returning once they're eliminated.

I've been lucky with that. Fourteen years as a teachers assistant and three kids and I never had to deal with it. I did check many little heads for it at school though. If you still see nits (very small white or clear eggs attached firmly to the hair shaft), there's a comb you can buy that has a static charge that will remove the nits. You will most often see nits in the hair directly behind the ears or at the nape of the neck. They must be combed out, the shampoo won't kill the eggs.

Bag all stuffed animals and throw pillows for at least a month in a tightly closed plastic bag.

I don't know if the tea tree oil is for real, but others swear by it. Good luck :)

I agree. It was always more prevalent in the winter months. All those jackets and hats get piled on top of each other.

Some more info on tea tree oil:

The following treatment for removal of head lice is recommended: Add five to ten drops of pure tea tree oil to a shampoo and wash the child's hair, massaging the mixture thoroughly into the scalp. Do this every day until the eggs are removed. In between shampoos, a few drops of the oil can be massaged into the scalp. Do not rinse out. To help sterilize and prevent further lice infestation, brushes, combs, bedding and towels may be soaked in a tea tree oil solution of 1/4 oz. of oil added to a tub of water. You may also spray a dilution of tea tree oil in the clothes hamper to help control infestation

http://aztec.asu.edu/iaha/articles/Tea_Tree_Article/tea_tree_article.html

I havene't read all the post but when one daughter got it 20+ yrs ago this is what I was told to do and it worked like a charm.

Take some basic cooking oil and douse the childs head with it. Get it good, all over.
Wrap with some clear plastic wrap and leave on hair for a couple of hours.
Take it off and lice comb it...good.
Wash hair and comb again.

Then off to the house with washing and vacuuming.

This worked like a charm. My daughters pedatrician said that lice were becoming immuned to all treatments.

Good luck!

We had a bad run of it when my daughter was little. I finally scraped out aloe and "slimed" her head with it, and sat her in plastic wrap for an hour. I had read that the enzyme would dissolve the nits glue and they would release. It worked! I think RID makes a conditioner that says it helps to remove eggs.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

In my 8 years of being a hair stylist, I have seen MANY cases of head lice come in to various salons. The best advice I can give you along with treating the the head topically, (which you have been given many excellent advice and tips on) is the ONLY way to really get rid of those little suckers is by cleaning anything and everything...

Lice LOVE carpet fibers and fabric that is a wonderful place to hatch eggs... I would shampoo carpets, rugs, mats... and vacuum

Drapes, throw pillows, and check your furniture.. they LOVE couches, loveseats and chairs.. I always recommend shampooing and vacuuming anything fabric..

Remember your bathmats too.. kitchen rugs...

And don't forget your cars..

I have also heard of success of Bug Bombs from others stylists recommendations but I am not sure what they are or what they really entail..


Just thought I would pass this info on.. People think lice jump. This is a major misconception. The only way a person can get it is from direct contact. Such has sharing, hats, scarfs, shoes, clothes, hats, combs, brushes..

Also Hugging someone may pass it on... may not necessarily because you HUG someone who has it but because they are on their clothes. Because you hug someone and your clothes do touch, this is how they will pass...

I would also check every head, in your house, even your own.. all it takes is sharing the same pillow or laying on the floor.. If someone has it in your house, there is a 99% chance everyone has it.. The best you can do is treat everyone...

I am sure you already knew this but I thought I would pass it on.. I studied them quite intensively in school and many extra education classes. I have also looked at a few under a microscope.. nasty little bugs...

Hope this helps:) Good Luck:)

They are nasty little bugs. I've only seen a few live bugs, mostly nits, but the school used to give us rubber gloves and wooden sticks to part the hair with. We'd go out in the hall and go through each kid one by one. I consider myself lucky to have never gotten them. It is SO hard to get rid of them.

Kids would come back with a release and two weeks later have them again.