It took five days til I was itching and another five days before I realised what it might be. My sister confirmed that they had also found a louse or two. Then the assault began.
Convinced these critters drown easily, a bath was drawn. Eight drops of essential oils mixed with a little milk (to help disperse the oil) were added and swished well. Lay back, relax, enjoy and submerge the head, are my directions. Make sure all possible air bubbles are released from the hair. Shampoo and submerge again, keeping hair under water for as long as possible. A detailed search of the bath water revealed one tiny young louse. They are so tiny, just a speck of dirt until the magnifying glass reveals the legs! So a few may have carried on down the plug hole unnoticed. To my horror within a couple of hours this little mite was beginning to wiggle it's legs again. I squashed it with a satisfying 'pop'.
A 'google' search revealed that head lice are able to close off their air holes for a few hours unharmed, saving them from baths and swims.
Hot air from the hair dryer kills the nits, apparently, but not the lice. Hair straighteners could therefore also be a tool of attack. So I made good use of mine the following day.
Each day I am using the nit comb and catching nothing. There is still an itch! Certainly less of an itch but an itch means a louse. A louse means nits, which means more lice. All have to be removed.
Next attack involved olive oil or hair gel smeared all over the hair, paying particular attention that every hair shaft is covered, scalp to end. This clogs the air holes of the lice and after several hours they should be dead. It is advised to do this overnight and use a shower cap.
Olive oil must be horrendous to remove so I decided on a hair product (will be easy to shampoo out, or so I thought) that I mistakenly bought and never use. Four heaped teaspoons of the 'curl creme' were mixed with essential oils of lavender, thyme and eucalyptus, three drops of each. Hair was sectioned, starting at the neck, combed through with the nit comb then smothered in the gunk. Working slowly and meticulously up to the crown until all is covered. Five hours I waited before performing the aforementioned submerging hair wash.
Success, four bodies washed up in the bath water. Here with my nit comb to give an idea of the size. Definitely dead.
The hair product wasn't as easily washed out as hoped, my hair had lots of 'body' to it that evening.Horror of horrors, overnight there was still an itch.
So the next day the process was repeated with shampoo this time. Essential oils added were rosemary and lavender three drops each. Left on for three hours. I only found one washed up body, also dead. But the itching was no more.
However, in a few days I will need to attack again to catch those nits that have survived the onslaught of hot hair drying and straightening irons.
