Posted: 1/9/2014 2:18:48 PM EDT
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My family brought in the New Year with lice. I forgot the joy of washing 1,000 lbs of laundry, combing, bombing, steaming, vacuuming, etc. It also made me lament owning a 5 bedroom house. In fairness to my wife, she did most of the heavy lifting. We keep tea tree oil in the house and apple cider vinegar. The oil was effective in the hair, although I later made the trip to Walgreens for a lice package. The vinegar apparently works as a wipe-down on surfaces. Oh – she ironed the furniture too. I wouldn't have thought of that. Without the bug bombs, it would probably be a lengthy war. Without power, it may well be a losing battle. Guess which one was a better sport about the ordeal? 
Anyway, it got me thinking about the other lovelies that are out there. Tape, round, hook and ring worms. Lice’s cousin the crab. Mites. Naegleria fowleri (brain eating parasite). Bed bugs. Bed bugs scare the hell out of me. I’ve represented several victims and if I couldn't effectively treat bed bugs, I’d want to suck start a shotgun. Nature’s douchbag, the mosquito probably carries a number of nasties. Most of us are likely prepared for common problems. Decent medical kit, antibiotics to keep our fish healthy and various degrees of training. I would like a discussion on a common sense approach to dealing with parasites. I understand that transmission often turns on hygiene, proper clothing, etc., but am not sure what other steps I should be taking. For the purpose of this thread, think prolonged period without the availability of traditional health care. Can you share any natural remedies for common parasites? Are there other (non med) remedies? An old cowboy told me that intestinal worms can be vanquished by swallowing a couple cigarette butts, etc. Crushing pumpkin seeds is supposed to evict certain worms. Hot peppers? Is there a parasite shopping list? I did some googling over the weekend, but the results were a little daunting. I have very little medical background and would appreciate practical, straight-forward resources if you have them. Thanks in advance. |
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Countermeasures : Move to Alaska ? You were saying? From AK Fish & Game: Abscesses (Pus pockets) Alveolar hydatid disease Avian Influenza Besnoitiosis (Cornmeal or Sandpaper disease) Brucellosis Chronic Wasting Disease Contagious ecthyma, Orf, Scabby face Cystic hydatid disease (Lung cysts) Exertional myopathy Hairloss Hock worm Hoofrot Injuries Lice Liver tapeworm cysts Lumpy Jaw Lungworms Moose fly, hock sores Muscle tapeworm cysts Nose bots Papillomas (Warts) Rabies Rice breast (Sarcocystosis or Sarcocystis) Starvation/Malnutrition Ticks or things that look like ticks Toxoplasmosis Trichinosis or Trichinellosis Tularemia Warbles West Nile Virus Worms, seen and unseen |
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| OP, I’m sorry for your ordeal. But, I never understood the big deal about lice. They grip your hair. Per Wikipedia: Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host. No hair, no lice. One pack of Gillett disposable razors would take care of the entire family. Just be careful around the naughty bits. |
| I used to work with an old codger. He was telling me how he had intestinal worms when he was a kid. The old country doctor mixed up a cup of turpentine and arsenic (not sure of the ratio, not sure the doctor knew the ratio). Made him drink it and said "that'll take care of the worms, they'll come out one end or the other". |
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Forgot to mention the obvious, cook all food, make sure what you drink is clean and wash those hands frequently. Follow that and you will prevent a lot of internal parasites. Additionally, don't go barefoot. For parasites, prevention is key. It's a lot easier than treating them, and our parasites in the US are wimpy compared to some of the rest of the world (malaria, African trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, Chagas' disease, leishmaniasis, etc.) |
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Way cute picture! Thanks for sharing.
About the hardest parasite we had to deal with as my son grew up is he brought home scabies from school. They infect everything and anything. About the best home remedy thing we used was plastic garbage bags which you put everything cloth exposed in for 30 days They say two weeks but I'm here to tell you scabies isn't something you want to go through twice because you were in a hurry. The 5% permethen baths burn like heck. The permeathen powders and vacuum works pretty well on furniture etc, but that too better off vacating the room for two weeks or more if you can. The problem isn't just getting rid of them, its reinfection. I can't even imagine the old school method of kerosene and fire. Its no wonder in my grandfathers day, scabies was avoided like it was bubonic plague. Lice, no biggie. What advice I can give you is stay on top of the lice combing. Its the reinfection thing again. Those suckers are laying eggs up to the second they die. Make sure to use the news paper to collect the eggs when you comb. Just be thankful you are in FL. Sending your kid to school in Appalachia is a hell of a lot more infections. Bubba isn't too careful about this stuff. Tj |
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BTW, On internal parasites, there was an interesting study a couple years back. Drinking alcohol greatly reduces your chance of infection. Even beer was like 50% while liqueur was as high as 80% reduction.
Though not much of a factoid if you are at home. Its a neat thing to know when traveling in third world countries. Tj |
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Rich - good response. I have been treating my ranch clothes with permethrin for years. I was surprised it was the active ingredient in the lice shampoo though.
Mebendazole/Albendazole - Awesome. Never heard of it. Reliable source? And yes - pure water/cooked food, shoes, etc. have always been part of the plan. Thanks! |
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OP, I’m sorry for your ordeal. But, I never understood the big deal about lice. They grip your hair. Per Wikipedia: Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host. No hair, no lice. One pack of Gillett disposable razors would take care of the entire family. Just be careful around the naughty bits. You're right - Lice isn't the big deal. However, a light bulb went off in my head concerning apparent deficiencies in my plan. Lice is nuisance category, but I hadn't really considered the other bugaboos out there. As TJ said though, lice are prolific. 7-10 days between hatchings. You can't simply bic your dome and voila! |
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Quoted:
My family brought in the New Year with lice. I forgot the joy of washing 1,000 lbs of laundry, combing, bombing, steaming, vacuuming, etc. It also made me lament owning a 5 bedroom house. In fairness to my wife, she did most of the heavy lifting. We keep tea tree oil in the house and apple cider vinegar. The oil was effective in the hair, although I later made the trip to Walgreens for a lice package. The vinegar apparently works as a wipe-down on surfaces. Oh – she ironed the furniture too. I wouldn't have thought of that. Without the bug bombs, it would probably be a lengthy war. Without power, it may well be a losing battle. Guess which one was a better sport about the ordeal? http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad124/michael_sfl2002/yaylice.jpg Anyway, it got me thinking about the other lovelies that are out there. Tape, round, hook and ring worms. Lice’s cousin the crab. Mites. Naegleria fowleri (brain eating parasite). Bed bugs. Bed bugs scare the hell out of me. I’ve represented several victims and if I couldn't effectively treat bed bugs, I’d want to suck start a shotgun. Nature’s douchbag, the mosquito probably carries a number of nasties. Most of us are likely prepared for common problems. Decent medical kit, antibiotics to keep our fish healthy and various degrees of training. I would like a discussion on a common sense approach to dealing with parasites. I understand that transmission often turns on hygiene, proper clothing, etc., but am not sure what other steps I should be taking. For the purpose of this thread, think prolonged period without the availability of traditional health care. Can you share any natural remedies for common parasites? Are there other (non med) remedies? An old cowboy told me that intestinal worms can be vanquished by swallowing a couple cigarette butts, etc. Crushing pumpkin seeds is supposed to evict certain worms. Hot peppers? Is there a parasite shopping list? I did some googling over the weekend, but the results were a little daunting. I have very little medical background and would appreciate practical, straight-forward resources if you have them. Thanks in advance. |
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Good info Rich... Parasites really creep me out. If you want to get a good taste for what is out there watch Monsters Inside Me |
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Holidays - no school - movie theaters - childrens' museum - who knows! Quoted:
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Kids get it at school here and take it home...... Holidays - no school - movie theaters - childrens' museum - who knows! It was likely generations between when your kids got it and when you noticed it. Figure up to four or six weeks. School is the likely culprit, but it could have been anywhere 
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OP, I’m sorry for your ordeal. But, I never understood the big deal about lice. They grip your hair. Per Wikipedia: Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host. No hair, no lice. One pack of Gillett disposable razors would take care of the entire family. Just be careful around the naughty bits. Try telling your wife that she needs to shave her head. Good luck with that! I'm guessing you aren't married!
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biggest parasite concern is the welfare loving, druggie, niece. 100lbs of useless, feeding on anyone that will let her.
The local school district changed policy this year and no longer sends kids home with lice. Treating as a social, not medical, condition. They don't want any kids stigmatized by being kept out of class. For the life of me, I don't get it. 
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BTW, On internal parasites, there was an interesting study a couple years back. Drinking alcohol greatly reduces your chance of infection. Even beer was like 50% while liqueur was as high as 80% reduction. Though not much of a factoid if you are at home. Its a neat thing to know when traveling in third world countries. Tj Bilharzia and Malaria BTDT twice on both of them.
While lice might not be caused by this, look for bodies of still standing water (pockets of tree's, etc) and put a layer of oil on it. Don't swim in ponds, etc...yes, less of an issue here in the US - but still rules I live by. |