This blog used to be for me to update about my tattoo removal process. However, it has come to a stop since I no longer go for the removal. Over time, I also had some new experiences in life that I would like to share.
LICE ON SCALP/HAIR
[NOTE: This post is meant for me to share my experience of removing lice and not an official medical advise]
I had lice in January this year and it was a really terrible experience. Visited GP but they are of no help and I got to google on solutions to remove the lice from my scalp. After going through this, I realise many people who faced the same challenge as me probably also not able to find the right solution to solve the issue. The process of removing lice is also quite a long and tedious process and I also almost run out of patience. So if you have lice and unsure what to do, feel free to read on to find out what I did to remove lice within 2 weeks.
How I found out about the Lice
My scalp started to feel really itchy after I went on an overseas trip and rented a bike with helmet. It was a bad decision because rented helmets are shared with A LOT OF PEOPLE. It started to get so itchy that I scratched and felt like as if I was tearing my scalp. There's a lot a few areas that are obviously more itchy/painful than the rest. I honestly thought it was just an itchy scalp and never thought of lice. So I bought a scalp cleaning package on Fave app and went for consultation before treatment.
During the consultation, I shared my concerns on itchy scalp and they proceed to do the the zoomed in scans. I TOTALLY FREAKED OUT WHEN I WAS THE LICE. Pictures below.
*GRAPHIC WARNING*
Your scalp may feel itchy after seeing the pictures
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| Lice found on my top right side of the scalp. One of the most itchy part. |
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| Lice found on my bottom right side of the scalp. Another itchy area. |
The treatment place, Trichokare, rejected me for scalp treatment as they do not want their customer to be infected with lice too. I was not angry and I was extremely thankful that they helped me find out the reason why my scalp was so itchy. Their advise was for me to see a doctor (GP) and Raffles Medical clinic was right beside their center. So I went immediately.
SEEING A GP
For my personal experience, seeing a GP is totally useless as whatever he said can be found online. I guess I visited as I thought the GP might be able to provide me proper proven advise rather than reading online unproven sources. But well, it was disappointing.
I went him and told him I had lice. He wore a pair of glove, flip flip my hair and told me to get this particular lotion from pharmacy as they do not carry it. He gave me the direction of using the lotion. That's all. At that point of time, I really thought that using that lotion will solve everything and was thankful for the advise. But well, that advise can be found online and online has even more information.
So, if you would like to see GP, probably see to get MC so you don't need to go to work and infect others with lice.
MALATHION LOTION
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| Malathion Lotion - can be found in Guardian or Watson pharmacy. |
This is the lotion that the GP asked me to purchase.
Direction from the doctor: After washing and drying your hair, put the lotion on your scalp and leave it for at least 12 hours before washing. If there's still lice, you can only use the lotion 1 week later as if may harm your scalp.
What I read online (summarised):
1. As per doctor advise.
2. It does not kill lice eggs that's stucked on the hair and those extremely strong lice that has been on scalp for long.
And the second advise I found online is extremely important!! If I never knew about that and only rely on the lotion to get rid of lice, it will be IMPOSSIBLE for me to remove lice within such a short time.
After researching, I also found the BEST WAY to remove lice totally.
LICE COMB
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| Lice comb - can be found in Guardian or Watson too. It comes in different design but the comb teeth should be metal. |
This is the most effective way yet the most tedious way to remove lice. Basically use it to comb your hair and the lice and eggs will get combed out by the metal teeth. Yup, this is the summary of how this comb work but it's not that straight forward. Below is what I did:
Go in the toilet and prepare the following items:
a. Lice Comb
b. Conditioner (any brand)
c. A bowl of hot water
d. Normal hair brush
Directions
- Wet your hair as per normal. You can also choose to shampoo your hair first so it will be easier for you to comb later.
- With the wet hair, use your normal hair bruch to comb your hair until it is not tangled.
- Use your conditioner and put it ALL OVER your scalp. Don't bother saving your conditoner at all. Try to let the conditioner reach your scalp, especially those extremely itchy area. The purpose of the conditioner is to let the live lice and lice eggs "slip" of your scalp and your hair.
- Similar to how salon cut your hair when you request for layer hair cut, you will need to part your hair a little by a little. With the first parted hair, use your lice comb to comb your hair, starting from scalp area. See below for better illustration with online google pictures.
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| Parting hair. Feel free to get more accessories to help. Otherwise, with the amount of conditioner on your hair, it will just slap the heavy weight on your head when you part. Try to part a little by a little to be more effective. |
- Comb in one direction. After you comb once, take your lice comb and soak in the hot water until the comb is clearn again. You should see a lot of white lotion on your comb because of the conditioner. Chances are, some live lice and lice eggs were caught by the lice comb and being removed together with the conditioner. Below google picture for illustration.
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| Conditoner on lice comb |
- Once you are done with combing with partings, feel free to comb over again, especially those extremely itchy parts Below is a picture of the lice that was caught on my lice comb. (it's extremely huge!!)
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| The two other small black dots are actually lice as well. |
- Once your hair is dried, you can use the malathion lotion on your scalp and leave it on for 12 hours. (this part only happens once a week, depending on the itchiness level)
- Rinse your hair with shampoo 12 hours later. During the shampoo session, repeat the lice combing process again.
2 WEEKS OF COMBING
There's no standard answer to how much you should comb because it really depends on how you comb and how infested is your scalp. My personal experience felt like the lice are gone after my first combing session but I wasnt sure if there might be some eggs left over. Those eggs will eventually become lice if I don't comb away.
Therefore, I use lice comb EVERYTIME when I bath before I go to work and/or go to bed. During the process, I only used the malathion lotion ONCE and did not use anymore as I felt that the itchiness start to be lesser.
I never stopped combing until I am very sure that my scalp does not itch anymore as I do not want to take the risk of having eggs turning into live lice.
TEA TREE OIL SHAMPOO
The process of removing lice actually harms your scalp. The continued itchiness might be due to harmed scalp and not lice anymore. Therefore, it is recommended to use tea tree oil shampoo to help soothen the harm you have created on your scalp due to the lotion and the combing.
I can't find them in watson or guardian. Instead, It was easy to find in those shampoo specialised shop that sells non-common brands. I don't have a brand to recommend but I used Paul Mitchell brand and it was good.
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| Bought at at about $16.00 a bottle. |
I managed to get my scalp treatment from my Fave coupon but I only went to go about 1month plus later as I want to ensure I was totally lice free before using their services.
REMOVING ALL FABRICS THAT WAS IN CONTACT WITH MY SCALP
During the process, I also took a lot of my regularly used fabric (clothes, bed sheet) and soak them in hot water over night. I also took this opportunity to dispose my old pillow and bolster and purchased new ones. In fact, I have not removed the plastic cover yet was I was so afraid that lice might go on it.
During this period, there were people who were very negative about me having lice and spoke bad about it. It was terrible and kind of affected my emotions a bit because they felt like I'm bringing harm to them. Lice DO NOT pass that easily unless you have very close contact with the lice infected person (eg. touching head to head regularly, using the same clothing/bed). But there were also nice souls who tell me things like "it's okay if I get it, it will be a lesson for me to learn how to manage it."
I actually had a summarised post on my carousell and a lot of people has read and even asked me for advise. I'm really happy to be able to share my experience with people and help them overcome this.
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