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!

I didn't mean to sound like I KNEW that they're easy to kill. As I said, I've had no personal experience with lice. However, I HEARD from teachers and parents that getting rid of them is not the hardest part, but that they're very easy to get again from the same shared items. The children I knew in Princeton, NJ, who had lice seemed very clean. <BR> <BR>I'm so happy to hear about olive oil as a home remedy and would love to share one of the other ways olive oil can save your hair and scalp from a horrible fate. A few months ago I polyurethaned the computer desk that I'm using at this moment. In my zeal to cover every corner, I crawled under the desk, stuck my head into the printer compartment, etc. When I was finished, I found that I must have repeatedly brushed my head against the wet surfaces because I'd thoroughly polyurethaned my hair. It had dried to a crisp, and I could not get a comb through it. Since polyurethane is an oil-based varnish, and since the thought of putting turpentine on my head did not appeal to me, I decided to try pouring olive oil (good quality Sicilian extra-virgin, by the way) all over my hair and rub it in. After letting it soak a while, I washed out the mess with Dawn dish detergent. It worked!!! Of course, I reeked of olive oil for a whole day, carrying the wearing-your-heritage thing a little too far.

This is a serious posting even though I've given a ficticious name. WARNING: I contracted "crabs" (not the kind you eat) at a B&B in Vermont! Anytime you sleep in a bed that is sold to lots of other people you run the risk of "sharing" something like a parasite. <BR> <BR>It was not a pleasant experience.

OK. Now that we're on to crabs, I have a question. I figured if I wore my underwear to bed at a hotel, I would decrease my risk of getting crabs from hotel beds. <BR> <BR>True or false?

Crabs, also known as pubic lice, absolutely can be "caught" despite wearing underwear in bed. Direct person-to-person contact (with underwear off) is probably an important route of infestation, but by no means the only way. <BR>

OK, I'm considering booking a stay in Vermont, and I'd really like to know the name of the place with the crabs (or at very least, what town this was in/near )! <BR> <BR>I realize you can get these nasty infections anywhere, so the name of the place is perhaps beside the point, but it would set my mind at ease to know where it was. <BR> <BR>(Sorry for veering into stateside travel, folks!) <BR> <BR>Mail me privately if you prefer. <BR> <BR>Thanks so much, <BR> <BR> - Quicksilver -

OK, then. Will I be safe if I wear tight jeans to bed?

No. They crawl. They even jump. You can catch them from a toilet seat. Happened to me twice. First time was when I was using a dormitory bathroom while at school in Castleton, VERMONT in 1974.

I've heard Olive oil is good, also. You might also look into Tea Tree Oil. I've heard they don't like the smell of Tea Tree Oil. You could give yourself a scalp massage nightly with TTO. It might keep lice away, AND improve circulation to your scalp thus promoting hair growth (as well as helping with dandriff, etc.) <BR> <BR>Good luck!

Thanks to the poster who alerted me to the possibility that this could happen. I looked up an article on about.com (search on lice) and one came up under early childhood education that is worth reading, for those who are interested. <BR> <BR>The article claims that the jury is still out on olive oil treatments. It also posts a link to a Government web site that will confirm there is no surefire commercial treatment for lice. At one time a chemical shampoo did seem to work, but the little beasties have become resistant to it. They are also very democratic and are no respecter of economic class or of cleanliness. <BR> <BR>Best method, apparently, is tedious and labor-intensive. Comb and pick, yup, nit-pick. <BR> <BR>Now to do a search on crabs (oh, joy...) <BR> <BR>

Hi <BR>I symapathise with the nits problem. My daughter has caught nits a number of times so I am an expert in treatment. Yes nits do like clean hair. We tend to do a weekly hair wash using conditioner and combing with a nit comb. This is the only way to slow the nits down, then they come out on the comb. However this does not get rid of the eggs which you have to pull off the hair by hand. They tend to be located behind the ears or back of the neck. It really is an itchy problem and we find using a chemical from the pharmacy is best for a severe outbreak and keep on top of it after that if it should recurr by using the conditioner. It isn't really a big deal. As others have said - if you have long hair tie it up and if you go on holiday maybe take a nit comb and conditioner. I have never heard of washing clothing although I do change the pillowcase on my daughters bed. Nits are getting to be resistant to the chemicals so in the UK the chemist will rotate the product on sale so as to sell you a product that will hopefully do the trick.

I think Iva Itch's partner was playing away from home, and looking for a good excuse to explain Iva's itch.

One of my kids brought them home from school many years ago. The entire family got them except me and the teenager. She washed and blew dry and curling ironed her hair daily. I had a perm and colored my hair. So the way I finally got them out of my youngest daughters hair was to have it cut and permed. Ouila! No more nits! The chemicals work to a degree but they are hard to use alone(combing with those tiny teeth is tedious). Maybe if you just put a temporary dye on your hair before you go that will do the trick. I leave for Paris/Florence tomorrow, so was glad I had just colored my hair after reading about this problem. Hopefully, this will not be a problem for either of us! Good Luck

To the original poster... <BR>What makes you think you got the head lice at the hotel Villa Malpensa? (I understand there is a lull between exposure and onset of symptoms). When was this? What was their response? <BR> The Hotel Villa Malpensa is very well regarded on this forum, and a place I've stayed several times, with the utmost satisfaction. I'll be there again for 2 separate nights this coming June and would love to hear more details of this most curious story.

Slather your head with margerine, cover with a plastic bag, heat with a hair dryer, wash with a dish detergent and pick, pick, pick.

Is it true that lice prefer straight hair? I'm Black American and growing up I was always told that lice won't attach to the extremely, tightly curled hair that most Black people have. In fact, I've never heard of a "lice outbreak" among Black people. Is this an old wives tale or what???

Erin, I have read the same thing from several sources. No one can explain it, but it seems to be accepted by the "experts".

Could it be that a lot of parents use hair dressings on the hair of black children with very curly hair and maybe the lice or the eggs can't cling to the oil-covered hair? That would be consistent with the stories of olive oil being a rememdy.

Louse is singular. <BR>Lice is the plural form.

Dear xxx, <BR>No one has yet written about one single louse. If you have a louse, you generally have lice, I think. Must be social little buggers. <BR> Sincerely, <BR> xxx