Embarrassing question!
 

The last time I was in Europe I became infested with headlice that were almost impossible to eliminate. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to avoid this plague on my next trip? Also, any great products to either prevent infestation or to rid myself of them? It is really hard while travelling to perform all steps called for ie washing clothing in VERY hot water or putting in freezer! Thanks!

stay in a better class hotel/hostel!!!

I know just what you mean! Isn't that the pits? Well, anyway, best thing I've found is to take a long, leisurely candle-lit bath in kerosene. Puffing-away on a cigar while doing this seems to loosen their grip (it's the smoke). If this fails, then submerging yourself for a minimum of 15 minutes in the North Sea might work. Good luck!

I'm sorry this was interpreted as a joke. Unfortunately, I am serious. This occurred in a very nice hotel (Villa Malpensa) near the Milan airport. Not a hostel! Travelling to France this summer and don't want any uninvited "guests". Does anyone have any real suggestions?

If avoidance fails you - - Nix. <BR>

??? <BR>

I have no experience with this, and no one I know has ever caught lice on a vacation. However, while working in afterschool programs in good neighborhoods during a brief period of "unemployment" I learned that nice clean children from clean families catch lice from shared rugs, blankets, hats, stuffed animals and playthings at school, in daycare and afterschool programs and recreation programs. All in takes is one child with lice to start the mess. I have heard that it is not too difficult to get rid of them. There are products in the pharmacy; ask the pharmacist if and when it ever happens again, and find out whether you might get something better than the OTC drugs if you get a prescription from your doctor. But, once "cured" it is still easy to catch again in these shared play situations. I think the odds are that it will not happen to you again on a vacation. However, to be extra careful, maybe you should avoid using the hotel pillows. Based on what I learned working with the children, one could easily catch lice from a pillow, and I don't think pillows are laundered for each new guest. To be even more careful, maybe you can take your own bedding liner. (I've seen some thin silk sleeping bag liner sold in travel catalogues for this purpose.) I guess you could also catch lice from the airplane seat, from sitting in a high-back stuffed chair in the hotel lounge, maybe even from bending down and looking under your hotel room bed for some money you dropped. But I don't think it's worth worrying about all these "dangerous" situations (though I guess that's too easy for me to say since I never had lice). However, if you must worry, you could take a lice control product with you, just in case. If the product you have doesn't work, what I would do (but don't tell anyone!) is look for a veterinary care product for lice (might be stronger???) and use it with extreme caution. <BR>P.S. I knew your post was genuine, but really had nothing to say from experience. These are just my UNinformed opinions about how to avoid/cure it.

The previous post is a good one - lice can be caught in any number of ways. I am always wary of airplane seats - they don't get cleaned between passengers, at least not adequately. A nit on a single strand of hair embedded in the seat back can become a major infestation in you head! If you're really concerned, wear a hooded jacket or sweatshirt and keep the hood up. People will think you strange, but do you care? Heat kills lice, but not nits (the eggs). You can try using a hairdryer on pillows and pillow cases, put the pillow in a plastic garbage bag, sealed up, and then the pillow case over that - that will seal in anything that's in the pillow. Don't try on hats or any clothing that goes over the head. All these things may reduce your risk, but may add stress and trouble to your trip. Take a licicide - Nix, Rid etc., and use it once a week preventively. (More often is not safe.) Good luck.

I'm a teacher, (surprise) and while I never thought I'd be answering a question like this here I go. The thing people never know about is that lice are attracted to wet hair. That's why there are often "runs" in school in warm weather. And yes anyone can get it, (though thank God in 10 years of teaching not me!). DON'T GO TO BED WITH WET HAIR. My guess is that your situation was a freak occurance. But if it happens again, there is no way to avoid re-infestiation without thoroughly cleaning everything. Did I say DON'T GO TO BEAD WITH WET HAIR!

Lice like clean heads. Don't wash your hair so often and they'll go looking for someone cleaner. This is a serious comment. By the way, the only time I've encountered lice was in the USA. <BR> <BR>

For goodness sake, that's why Americans have a name for stupidity! <BR>Buy a nit/lice product from a chemist and bring it along with you. <BR>If you have long hair keep it in a pony tail. <BR>Nits are easily caught and have no reflection on the cleanliness on the receiver! <BR>You can catch them eating, you can catch them sleeping, you can catch them any old place...... <BR>Visit a laundromat for your clothes, the lice would drown regardless of water temp.

How horrid for you. I pass on advice from "nitty Nora" who visited my childrens' school. Yes, there are insecticides but some of them contain very nasty chemicals indeed. The beasties die if their legs are broken so do as your granny did and brush your hair at night. Granny did it 100 times and that's one of the reasons she did it. Put conditioner on your hair and comb through it thoroughly with a fine-tooth comb. This will get rid of any eggs.

I am a pharmacist. I promise you there is a lot to be said for cleanliness. 99% of the people seeking lice products are filthy. Wash and condition your hair daily. Before you leave if you are very concerned use Nix. It has a chemical in it that helps reinfestation for 2 weeks so it could help prevent a 1st infestation. It was probably a one time thing but I can understand why you are so concerned. Try not to worry and enjoy you next trip. If the Nix will help you relax, use it. Again I say I'm sure it was a one time, freaky accident. Have a great trip. Your Pharmacist Friend.

Well, I have no idea why, but I've heard through the parental grapevine that Dawn dishwashing liquid is particularly effective for getting rid of the little nasties. Wash you hair, and everything else in it, so I've been told.

Thanks everyone. I hope this is not a repeat problem!

Pharmacist is entitled to his or her opinion and observations, but I don't agree with the notion that 99% of the kids with head lice are filthy. My kids haven't had it (yet), but there have been numerous cases of it in our affluent suburban schools. You know, Betty's Mom calls to say that Betty has head lice, and so she's warning everyone at the birthday party to inspect their kid. So far, I've only been able to attribute lice infestation to plain old bad luck. <BR> <BR>Also, the prevailing wisdom out here is that the anti-lice products aren't great. Indeed, the government stopped the maker of one of the products from claiming it will end a lice infestation, because it won't. The only thing I've heard that works is using the pesticide shampoo, and then sitting down for about 3 hours and manually picking the eggs out of the hair. As for prevention, try to wear your hair up, wear a hat, and pray. <BR> <BR>So, www, don't feel bad, and don't worry too much. It was probably just extremely bad luck.

I was a 3-yr. veteran mom in charge of lice examinations at a private (read: parents have money for tuition) school. The kids who showed up with lice were no more likely to be unwashed than anyone else. Actually, it was the kids who got to travel internationally or go away to camp who came in with lice. The scholarship kids who worked in the summer were much less likely to have them. <BR> <BR>A real problem: hotsy-totsy moms who can't BELIEVE their sweet little girls have lice, resent having them sent home from school, and refuse to do the clean-up at home that would prevent reinfestation. One sweet-pea got sent home 3 times and her momma threatened to sue. She finally cleaned up the bedding, towels, etc., and got the right shampoo. <BR> <BR>So Dr. Pharmacist, maybe it's your clientele that needs to wash, not just those walking in to ask for Nix.

cmt is incorrect; it is NOT that easy to get rid of them. The only way to make sure lice are gone is to remove each and every nit from the hair. This is time-consuming, and I think a lot of parents skip this step, or don't do it thoroughly enough, and that accounts for a lot of re-infestations. The shampoo is NOT enough; you've got to remove the nits by hand.

Surprised that no one has mentioned the Olive Oil hair treatments that a study at Harvard Public Health came out with a while back. It's actually an old remedy that smother both the nits and the adult lice themselves. Use of anti-lice products has been adding to a resistant form of lice that has cropped up in many US school systems. We have tried this at my house and it REALLY works...much better than using any of the anti-lice products, but it is kind of of messy.. If I remember correctly you coat the hair with copious amounts of olive oil before bedtime, cover the head with a plastic shower cap and go to sleep. Next morning comb the hair out with a lice comb and wash with Prell shampoo. We did this three nights with a night off in between. Do a search on Olive Oil Treatments Lice and it will tell you the exact scheduele for doing this. This of course has to be paired with all of the clean up as in the above posts - washing of all linens, stuffed animals, clothes - pretty much anything! <BR>Good Luck! <BR> <BR>

Just reading this is making me itch all over!