Lice Problems

concernedublin

Hi all,

After some travel and staying in hostels, I returned home to find some bloody annoying hitch hikers; lice. I've used lice treatments and have been washing everything at a high temperature.

The problem is reinfection, which I think is due to the mattress. I'm looking for a spray or treatment for my soft furnishings in Dublin.

Having tried a local pharmacy or two, one had no idea the other had no idea (and was a bit insulting).

Does anyone have any advice, this is becoming really annoying?

Well lice can't survive for long ( I don't know how long ) without someone to live on. I don't know what treatments for furnishings are out there, but if you're going to spray chemicals all over everything, you probably wont be able to sleep on them for a while. So would it not make sense to just not sleep or lean your head on the usual places for a couple weeks since you'll have to do it anyway with a treatment?

I've had head lice a few times and got rid of them every time within 2 weeks. I know you probably already know most of this but the main thing to get rid of them is time. Repeat whatever treatment you've used 3 times in 5 day intervals. Be super super thorough. After the first one, you'll kill the lice but not the eggs. After the second one, anything that's hatched in the meantime will be killed, and after the third one, a total of 10 days after the first one, you'll have killed the ones that were only laid on the first day. Change your pillowcase every night. Personally, I wore a plastic shower cap to bed as well as changing the bedsheets, but that was just for extra insurance. If you're absolutely convinced it's your bed, use a sleeping bag for the two weeks you're treating them, with a different towel, covered in a different pillowcase, as a pillow each night. They're not going to survive on your furnishings if you're not using them. They die without a host.
(Again, sorry if you already know all this)

tiny_penguin

If they are bed bugs and not lice then they can survive in the mattress and clothing. These are the type commonly caught from hostels and backpacker accommodation.

I know there are treatment available in Australia so maybe do a google search on that. A lot of the hostels i stayed in there would just leave the mattresses out in the sun for a few days as high temperatures kill them (as you said before boil wash all clothes and bed sheets that may have come in contact with them) but obv we dont have the high temperatures as australia does for that. Maybe email a backpacker hostel to see what they recommend (but dont suggest you caught them from there) as far as i know they can be a common enough problem in hostels

Choc Affair

sounds like bed bugs.. and getting rid of bed bugs is not an easy process!!! you should give mattress a good deep clean with a good disinfectant and the bed frame and sheets. if that does not work you may have to discard infested mattress. best option would be to call a pest-control expert!!!:)

Morag

Buy/rent/borrow a steamer and steam and matteress and pillows and the rest of the soft furnishing in your room.