Lice is a pain in the butt, plain and simple. The little critters are resistant to over the counter treatments, and every year they get harder and harder to get rid of. In 2006 I reconnected with an old friend that I hadn't seen in years, and we were both thrilled to know that we had little girls only 8 months apart. The moment we introduced our girls, they hit it off, and to this day they are best friends. Well, the downside to this friendship is that my friend failed to tell me that her youngest DD had been battling chronic lice since she first entered the public school system. Every time my friend treated her DD, they came back. Well, my kids were spending the night at her place, and her kids were spending the night at mine, and it wasn't long before I found lice on both my kids. I tried every brand on the market, but I couldn't get rid of them completely. I was so frustrated. The last time they got them (after battling it for 2 years straight), my mom got upset because both she and I got them too. So she chopped both my girls hair short. I was upset, they both had such pretty hair, but we felt that the long hair was harder to treat than short hair. I came across a product online that claimed to kill all sorts of critters, including head lice, so I figured what the hay? Why not try it? I had already spent hundreds on over the counter products, and so I ordered the new stuff. As soon as it arrived in the mail, I opened the bottle, grabbed a kid, and sprayed her head good. I got to stand there and watch the lice die right before my eyes. Every single louse, nit, egg sack, it was all dead. In less than 30 seconds, my DD was bug free. I grabbed the next kid and sprayed her head too, and again, instant death. I used the same stuff and sprayed all the bedding, toys, clothes, furniture, you name it, and that was it, no more lice. When we moved out here that friend allowed two of her daughters to come out here to spend a weekend, and guess what they brought again? Well, I was prepared that time. I sprayed my kids down and everything that they, and their friends had sat on, and that was it, no more lice. We use a cedar oil spray by cedarcide. It's expensive, but soooooo worth it. A gallon goes a long way. If I'd read your post earlier, I would have recommended it. You wouldn't have had to cut your hair or your DD's. You might want to recommend it to your sister. I finally got my friend to break down and buy a bottle, and now her daughter is FINALLY lice free. She went so far as to completely shave her daughter, in the middle of the school year. Yes, the poor child went through a lot of teasing and tormenting, and she was miserable because the kids in school KNEW why she had been shaved bald. But she's bug free now like my kids. Ugh, I HATE lice, but they don't stress me out anymore because I can get rid of them fast.
To those battling poison ivy, have you heard of a product called Technu? It's sold in
WalMart and other pharmacies, and it's suppose to be excellent for getting the oil from poison ivy, oak, and sumac off the skin and clothes. My older daughter brushed against some poison ivy the summer we moved her, but she put the Technu on and didn't break out in a bad rash. In fact, she wasn't in any pain at all, so I guess it works good. My daughter didn't touch very much of it though. Good luck with that. I've seen the bad effects of it on my neighbor's son twice already. Poor kid gets a BAD rash, all over. I feel for him. He's almost over his latest batch of it now.
) and the dr. said length of time of exposure + thickness of the skin will determine the severity of the reaction and when it shows up - which is why sometimes it takes a couple of days.
