Returning Home from the Hospital

As of this morning, Brooke will have now been in the Hospital for three days.

After countless times trying to get Callen to breast feed and was unsuccessful, and as a parent not wanting to nurse their new baby on formula, Brooke started using a breast pump. This kept her on a very rough schedule. Brooke was informed that she had to pump milk every 2 to 3 hours so that she would not become engorged as well as so that the milk would not dry up. After a couple of weeks she became very sore in the chest and found out that she had an infection in her breast that had been caused apparently by breast feeding. She was admitted into the hospital where the doctor removed more than 100 cc's of fluid from her breast.

It is now Sunday and we are all patiently awaiting her discharge today. If you would like to send Brooke a "Get Well Card", send me an E-Mail and I will reply with her address.

Mike

Head Lice Remedy

Listerine for Lice
Home Remedies

"The best way to prevent head lice is old-fashioned Listerine Antiseptic Mouthrinse. We were in the Army 33 years and moved a lot, but my kids never got lice.
"Teachers asked me why my children didn't get lice when all the others did. I used to put Listerine on their hair and scalp a week before school started and also put a tablespoon of Listerine in the rinse water when I washed the clothes and sheets. You have to be careful to keep the mouthwash out of eyes."
Another reader writes:
“My quick remedy to prevent this problem is Listerine. I have tried it and am convinced that it works. Put Listerine mouthwash in a spray bottle and spray it all over a child's head. It will smell strong until it dries and then there is no smell. Do not rinse the hair. My child even slept in the same bed with another youngster who was later discovered to have lice. My child was unaffected. I spray their hair every Sunday night before the school week starts on Monday. I think you will find that it helps.�?
Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash contains essential oils including thymol, eucalyptol, menthol and methyl salicylate. It also has 26.9 percent alcohol, which may kill lice. An expert in lice treatment confided to us that alcohol does seem to be toxic to lice, so that may partially explain your success. Breathing in the mist may not be safe, so anyone who tries this technique should be extra cautious to protect a child's face from the aerosol spray.

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Here are some Testimonials:

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Reader Comments
The comments below are provided by the users of this site and not by The Peoples Pharmacy or the Graedons. Please also remember that nothing contained in this site is intended as a substitute for medical advice.

Both of my boys were sent home from school earlier this week with head lice. The checklist given to me by the school nurse said that in order for them to return to school, I must treat their scalps with an insecticide.
I used a head lice treatment containing permethrin and it was completely ineffective, both children were refused readmission to school and I was instructed to reapply the insecticide that day in direct opposition to the package instructions which state that treatments should be spaced at least 7 days apart.
I took them home and washed their hair, towel-dried it, then saturated it with Listerine and covered their heads with shower caps. I left the shower caps on for 2 hours, then we removed them and I combed with a lice comb.
The next day they washed their hair, toweled it dry and I sprayed their hair with Listerine and combed.
The lice are gone, and the infestation was severe, prior to the Listerine I combed hundreds of lice from their hair.
MUCH more effective than the insecticide for us.
Posted by: Kathy Bell May 19, 2007 10:48 PM

Be sure and use Original Listerine and not one of the flavored varieties. The flavored varieties contain sugar which makes a sticky mess after the treatment!
Posted by: Carolyn June 19, 2007 6:52 PM

I have lice. I have tried everything I could think of to get rid of them! Non-Toxic, insecticides, and permethrin treatments do not work! I recently tried listerin and voila! They are mostly gone! I do, however, still need to comb through it more to fully get rid of the nits, but ALL bugs are dead!
Posted by: Alexis Wilkie June 25, 2007 7:50 PM

After getting headlice on several occasions from some neighbor children and spending alot of money to remove it I was advised to wash my hair with "Newkirks Castille Oil Soap" it worked perfectly for me and the children who had it.Saturating the hair with mayonaise or other similar sandwich spread putting on a cap or grocerystore plastic bag and sleeping in t also works. To get the oiliness out wash hair in dishsoap
Posted by: Cinda June 27, 2007 6:42 PM

my daughter continued to get headlice over and over. i would spend 100.00's of dollars just to try and get rid of them, but nothing seem to work. i saw your article in the paper and thouht i am going to try this. what can i lose, $5.00? look at what i had been spending! so i did and it was great they are all gone and she is very happy.
thank u she says
Posted by: jenny August 12, 2007 5:54 PM

Another lice treatment an elderly woman told me at our school. She said that in her day, her mom would have her walk to the store and get a plug of chewing tobacco. They would make a rinse out of it, and although it dyed the hair auburn, they got rid of the lice!
Posted by: VJL August 17, 2007 2:07 AM

I too have had my children endure countless treatments with over-the-counter shampoos that were supposed to kill lice to NO avail. I spent hours on the internet to find out what others are using and successfully rid my daughter's hair of ALL lice AND nits using this protocol:
1) Washed hair with generous amount of therapeutic denorex (previously called "extra strength"). You want to use the one that contains "coal tar". Allow the denorex to remain on the hair for 30 minutes and rinse. Comb out using a lice/nit comb.
2) Saturate the hair in Listerine and wrap head several times around in plastic wrap to form an air-tight seal. Cover in shower cap over night. Wash Listerine out with denorex and again, comb out. You should see little or no lice and/or nits.
3) At night, saturate hair in olive oil and again wrap hair several times around with plastic wrap. Do not rinse out till morning. Use Dawn dishwashing soap to remove olive oil the next morning. May take several washings.
This should be the end of the lice. Two days total. I poured some Listerine into a spray bottle and continued to lightly spray the hair to prevent any possible re-infestation.
**Meticulous combing is a MUST. Every nit must be manually removed or the process will begin all over again. Good luck!
Posted by: mom in new jersey August 20, 2007 9:06 PM

I wish I would have had this information when my kids, now adults, were going to school. One method that I used which was very effective was white vinegar. Maybe they didn't like the smell, I don't know, but it worked and kept the lice away. The products that are out there to treat lice have very scary ingredients in them so it is nice to know that a 'safe' method is available. I'm going to pass on this information to the local health dept as school has started again so I'm sure the lice will make their rounds.
Posted by: Brenda September 8, 2007 2:27 PM

I tried everything I could. Here I am 29 yrs old and I caught head lice! Embarrassing as it was I couldn't take the scratching from my head any longer. I saturated my head with vinegar (it does smell pretty awful, I warn) and covered my head with saran wrap, then put a tight shower cap on my head and slept with it on overnight. The next morning, I found all the bugs dead right on the saran wrap! It works, you may want to try one or two more treatments to kill any newly hatched lice. Also try Red Wine Vinegar, or Listerine. Good Luck!
Posted by: Jacci September 26, 2007 1:23 PM


Mike