How Long Can Lice Live Without a Host? Unraveling the Mystery
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Dear WTB and Chante’ – After volunteering at a thrift store near San Diego for over two years I started noticing bugs or bug-like things and symptons similar to yours. My doctor was stumped as well, treating me repeatedly with external lotions and oral perscriptions for parasites. My family thought I was crazy telling me I was seeing things or what I was seeing was just fluff or fuzz and certainly wasnt alive. After listening to my symptons, a good friend and neighbor told me she had seen a segment on a local news channel about a woman in southern California who described the same thing and got no help or answers from several physicians. The segment was titled “Disease or Delusion?” on channel 8 here in San Diego. At the end of the segment there is a quick blurb about a study being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. I quickly registered for information about the study and in January of this year 2010 the CDC released and sent a letter to the AMA and liscensed dermatologists across the United States and officially classified this as “UNEXPLAINED DERMOPATHY”. If you go to the CDC website and read the letter you might find some comfort in knowing you are not alone. In fact. the study that the CDC has funded is being done in northern California. I hope you find this information to be helpful. Take Care
P.S – The CDC has acknowledged a large and increasing number of these cases in the lower areas of California, Arizona and Texas so I wont be surprised if WTB gets more than a few inquiries. Thanks again. Love this site!
Head lice are not known to spread disease. Head lice can be an annoyance because their presence may cause itching and loss of sleep. Sometimes the itching can lead to excessive scratching that can sometimes increase the chance of a secondary skin infection.
There are non-toxic ways to deal with lice that also may be more effective as lice are growing more and more resistant to the pesticides in the commercial treatments.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2010/06/treating_lice_doesnt_have_to_b.html
Perhaps the most effective measure is to comb through the hair (and scalp) repeatedly with the nit comb while bent over the bathtub to see what comes out (hopefully nothing).
Sadly, the first time someone finds a lice they have often been there for about a month because it takes that long for the body to develop an immune response of itching to them. But then… it’s very itchy I’m told.
And it has nothing to do with hygiene as lice actually prefer clean hair and skin.
If you take the vaseline method, which I do not recommend as it’s a petroleum product with its own toxic effects, then you will need mineral oil to work out the vaseline as it does not just shampoo out. Better to just go with the mineral oil to start. But best might be coconut oil as it also feeds the skin which mineral oil does not (despite the name).
There are non-toxic ways to deal with lice that also may be more effective as lice are growing more and more resistant to the pesticides in the commercial treatments.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2010/06/treating_lice_doesnt_have_to_b.html
Perhaps the most effective measure is to comb through the hair (and scalp) repeatedly with the nit comb while bent over the bathtub to see what comes out (hopefully nothing).
Sadly, the first time someone finds a lice they have often been there for about a month because it takes that long for the body to develop an immune response of itching to them. But then… it’s very itchy I’m told.
And it has nothing to do with hygiene as lice actually prefer clean hair and skin.
If you take the vaseline method, which I do not recommend as it’s a petroleum product with its own toxic effects, then you will need mineral oil to work out the vaseline as it does not just shampoo out. Better to just go with the mineral oil to start. But best might be coconut oil as it also feeds the skin which mineral oil does not (despite the name).
When my kids were little, we fought head lice for 2 yrs. We’d use pesticide shampoo, scrape their hair with nit combs, send them back to school, only to be re-infested.
Once, I had to excuse our family from an event because we were dealing with them AGAIN. My Mexican sister-in-law wouldn’t take no for an answer. She came over to help. She looked at their scalps and said, Ha! You call those head lice? They’re nothing!
Her solution is so effective and so affordable!
Smear lard or shortening on your head, work it all in. Put on a plastic shower cap. Go to bed for a good night’s sleep .
In the morning, wash out the oil. All the bugs are dead, adults and nits alike. The nits slip easily off the hair.
When my kids were little, we fought head lice for 2 yrs. We’d use pesticide shampoo, scrape their hair with nit combs, send them back to school, only to be re-infested.
Once, I had to excuse our family from an event because we were dealing with them AGAIN. My Mexican sister-in-law wouldn’t take no for an answer. She came over to help. She looked at their scalps and said, Ha! You call those head lice? They’re nothing!
Her solution is so effective and so affordable!
Smear lard or shortening on your head, work it all in. Put on a plastic shower cap. Go to bed for a good night’s sleep .
In the morning, wash out the oil. All the bugs are dead, adults and nits alike. The nits slip easily off the hair.
We love hearing about less chemically toxic methods to eliminate external parasites.