"kutu" mission

I'm going crazy thinking about head lice, or more commonly known as 'kutu' here.

Two nights ago, I noticed Brendan scratching vigorously in his sleep and the first thought that came to mind was that he must have been sweating and have not washed his hair. So, the next morning, I washed his hair, but noticed that he still continue scratching and scratching his head later in the afternoon.

Oh no! Must be 'kutu'. I checked his hair and I think I see nits on his head. I can't seem to find that stupid kutu. Make me so stressed the whole day yesterday thinking about that stupid kutu. He must have gotten it in school quite recently. I normally spend half hour to an hour reading books in bed, with Brendan beside me, and I didn't notice him scratching much before that, until two nights ago!

So last night, I beh tahan liao, after spending an hour trying to take out the nits and looking for any live kutu last night, I decided to drive to the pharmacy in the rain, with my two kids in the tow. I got a kutu comb (like the one on the left below) and a kutu shampoo (apparently, it kills the live kutu and nits as well). Drove back home, and immediately try to comb Brendan's hair. Stupid comb, doesn't work cos it's not that fine. Some more say, 100% guaranteed. Blah!

I checked Eryn's hair. Perfectly clear. I tried to check my hair, but seems clear also, but I can't help feeling itchy all over just thinking about the stupid..... yes! K.U.T.U.!!!

Couldn't sleep the whole night, thinking about this stupid.... K.U.T.U.!!! This morning, again, I drove to the chinese medicine shop to look for the wooden kutu comb (like the one above right), and it's equally lousy. Can't comb anything out at all. sigh! The uncle told me that it's common for school kids to have kutus and its spreads easily. He even says he used to have lots of it and have to comb it out all the time when he was small!! Eeewwww.... GELI!!

So, washed Brendan's hair with the kutu shampoo. He's scratching less now, but still scratching, and I did some reading and realise that the itch may still continue for a few days before it totally stops. The nits are still there, apparently, dead, and I can't stand the sight of it each time I checked.

I washed all bed sheets, towels, clothes, combs and took out the pillows and bags out to sun in the sun cos kutus are susceptible to high head. kah kah kah... Die! Die! You kutus!! Die!

So, again, I took out my two books, "Herbal Home Remedies" by Jude C. Tood and "Debug your home the natural way" by PAN-AP.

My good faithful books give me some tips on how to remove kutus the natural way. One of it is to pour boiling water over tobacco leaves (apparently, tobacco from cigarettes with the papers removed also helps) and strain to use the liquid to rinse over hair at least 15 times into a basin. Reuse the water. Then leave it on for a few hours before shampooing out.

Coming with a solution of one part vinegar and one part water makes it easier to comb the nits out. Other natural uses are neem oil, oil-based shampoos and hair dryer (for adults only).

One comment I read on the net states that the mother uses Listerine mouth wash and leave it over night and white vinegar for the nits later.

I'll wait for a while to see whether the scratching is still there. Otherwise, I'll drive out to get myself a pack of cigarettes for the tobacco rinse.

For more reading on head lice, you can click here, here and here. I found a home remedy suggestion too here.