Treating headlice without telling your parents?

[WhisperingSilence]

Ok this is like somewhat embrassing - but I seem to have somehow caught headlice - I want to treat them without like telling my parents because at the age of 25 its like somewhat embrassing... so about a week ago I used the hedrin treat and go it worked - but they're back so I've used it again. How do I effectively treat and get rid of them without telling my parents - I used to catch them alot when I worked in a pre-school however I no longer work in a pre-school so theres no head to head contact as such anymore so I cant work out how I caught them. I don't get close enough to anyone to catch them.

[MsNobleEleanor]

Hello Lydia,

The best way to treat head lice is to comb all your hair in pieces with a bit comb to get them out. Dry hair then wetting can work or wet hair. You should go through your hair 2-3 times a day, for the first 3 days and go back and fourth to combing your hair, keep doing this for about 2 weeks to ensure no eggs have hatched.

Also, when you wake up either wash your bedding (headlice can live up to 24-72 hours on sheets) and they can go back in your hair after treatment. You can also put your bedding into plastic bags and tie them for 2-3 days, this kills them. They will die from no food source. So you don't have to constantly wash your bedding. When you are combing your hair with the nit comb it's important you do on floors and not carpet.

You can also go to the drug store for the nit comb and treatment shampoos you can also talk to your doctor about it as well.

The important part is the combing it out, and keeping on top of it helps them to stay away.

I hope this is helpful, if you have any questions let us know.

[WhisperingSilence]

Ah ok thats where I'm going wrong I'm doing spray/shampoo treatment weekly. I didnt know they could live on bedding etc . Will wash out the shampoo. Buy some more and change my bedding!

I bought a lotion to apply to my hair today so im gona to like apply it before going to bed leave it in over night - and then wash it out tomorrow. it says i just need to apply it and then like wash it out no combing needed. Just need to wait for me mum n me mum dad to go to bed so i can apply it so they dont like find out... i feel embarrased that ive got nits at the age of 25 ... ive nto even been in close enough contact with anyone to catch them... it only started itching like this like it is since my visit to the hairdressers.. which is weird because hair dressers refuse to do anyones hair if they have headlice etc.

[Lizzie]

You need to comb your hair because the shampoo won't kill the eggs. The only way to get the eggs out is to comb. They are really small, so you need to be really thorough about combing out all of the eggs. They attach at the base of the hair usually, so start the comb at your scalp and pull all the way though. You need to do this to your whole head at least once a day.

[WhisperingSilence]

So even if the bottle says kills lice and eggs it wont kill the eggs ? :/

[Gingerbread Latte]

Hey Lydia,

I do know some shampoos and lotions say they kill lice AND eggs but even if that's true think of it like the anti-bacterial gel that kills 99.9% of germs, there's always a chance some eggs will survive and hatch.

Also, even if the shampoo does kill them you still want to comb them out otherwise you're left with a bunch of dead lice in your hair.

Hope this helps!

[Lizzie]

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are no approved treatments for lice that can kill eggs with just one treatment.

That website gives a lot of great suggestions. Also, try not to wash your hair for the next few days. Lice do not like dirty oily hair and thrive in clean washed hair.

[WhisperingSilence]

Ah okay though I will need to wash it tomorrow as its made my hair sooo greasy... Since applying the lotion shampoo I've stopped itching so now I'm wondering if it's like all in my head :/ the stuff I used was Hedrin it's like supposed to suffocate the lice and the eggs :/

[JazzyJazz]

For future reference, it's all very well using strong chemical shampoo treatments to suffocate the lice, but the combing using a nit comb is equally important to remove the eggs.

If you're thorough, combing is actually so effective that it can get rid of headlice and their eggs using just hair conditioner.

[WhisperingSilence]

I'm now uncertain if it was headlice as since applying the first treatment the itching has stopped and I;ve had no more problems this time round.I did do a comb through nd found no lice or eggs so I;m not sure what was causing it but its all stopped itching.