Why Am I Still Itching?

by Lori
(New York)

QUESTION:

Hi
Can you tell me please!

Everyone here got lice - 3 kids, me, husband, and my mom. I have dried every pillowcase, hat, what touches the head item, each day since treatment.

I did a NIX treatment on my head last Friday. I itched before and after. Around Tuesday I couldn't take it any longer and poured olive oil on my head for 8 hours. Washed it out, picked my hair and found a bunch of black things in my hair. My husband and girlfriend hair dresser do not see any nits in my head, but I'm still itching like crazy.

I don't know what to do to get rid of the itching - it's not that it happens more in the daytime than night or dark. We did the comb out w/the nix treatment last week, my husband has gone through my hair w/a tweezer, and I did the comb through again - though not with a metal comb - after the olive oil. So my question is, do i still have lice even though I don't see any nits?

I don't have a problem re-treating myself. In fact tomorrow is day 7 - I am considering doing a natural remedy on my head instead of the nix. of course I'll do the comb out and will buy one of the lice combs you mention on your site.

Can you please provide some feedback based on your experience to my itchy - though no visible nits - head lice problem??????


ANSWER:

Hi, Lori. So sorry you're going through this! I assume the rest the people in your family show no continuing signs of lice?

I thought of two possibilities for what could be going on.

It's possible that a couple of live lice survived the NIX treatment, olive oil and combing you did. Some head lice have developed resistance to the active ingredient in NIX. Even if you did a great job removing all the nits, live lice can hide and run away from the comb.

If I were you I would treat now with an enzyme shampoo, and do a very, very thorough comb-out with the Terminator or LiceMeister comb.

During the comb-out, if you discover any live lice, dead lice or nits, then repeat the shampoo-and-comb process once more. (Repeat until you find nothing at all in the comb-out.)

It's so easy to miss just one or two - which is enough to start the cycle all over again.

The other thought I had as I read your story was that my head felt itchy for a while after our family was rid of head lice. In my case, the itching was mild and intermittent. I think it was simply a manifestation of my worry that the lice would come back. I kept checking the kids' heads, and my own, over and over for several days. I even used the enzyme shampoo instead of my regular shampoo a couple of times, just to be certain.

I don't think that's what's going on with you, because you say you're itching like crazy. It seems more likely that you do still have lice, though not a bad case. If so, enzymes and extremely thorough combing should knock them right out. :-)

UPDATE:
Since answering this question, I've learned that some people with an allergic reaction to head lice bites can itch for up to two weeks after the head lice have been eliminated. Similar to how chigger bites can itch for days and days.

So if you still feel itchy after successful treatment, there's no need to treat again unless you find other evidence of continuing lice ... such as nits attached to the hair. Weekly head checks are a good idea for everyone, so that any new head lice infestation can be caught early.