We’ve used the special shampoo everyday.  We used the hair oil a couple of times at the beginning.  And I used the hair tonic when we were in a bit of a hurry and needed to get the combing done rather quickly.  I just spritzed it on the hair so that it was wet and easier to comb through.  The good thing about the tonic is that it can be left in, since it’s just water and the essential oil mix.  I’m hoping it will serve as a deterrent if we come into contact with others who have critters.

We’ve been pretty clean each time we’ve combed during this last week of craziness.  I would say that we probably had the infestation pretty much under control by the end of the 4th day.  But we still wanted to be sure.  The second week, we went to a once a day combing, even though all the advice out there says you should comb twice a day for two weeks.

This is going to be my protocol if we should be visited by these critters again:

  1. use the above-mentioned hair oil twice in the first 24 hours
  2. wash that oil out with the above-mentioned shampoo
  3. comb (if you leave conditioner in, or at least use a conditioner after the shampoo it makes this easier)
  4. each morning of the first week, spritz with the above-mentioned hair tonic and comb
  5. each evening, wash with the shampoo and comb
  6. comb twice per day the first week
  7. comb once per day the second week, using the shampoo each day
  8. I don’t honestly know if I think all the laundering was worth it.  But we did have a houseful of clean bedding and clothing, so maybe just for that it was a good thing.

So, 60% of people who have lice don’t know it.  Lice are only itchy and bothersome, not really a disease.  Many of the treatments out there are quite toxic and can have devastating consequences.  To me, buying a pesticide containing shampoo is about the equivalent of using nuclear weapons when a bit of diplomacy will do.  I’m not going to go so far as to say I’m grateful that we had lice, but it’s really been an eye-opening and educational experience.  And we did have a lot of family together time–talking and reading books–while we were doing all that combing.