Labrat,
Just to clarify, I also used the water, but only to wash out the treatments I had put in. I used a lice or fine tooth comb w something slippery so it would go thru my hair and combed out the "things."
But the important part if yours are like mine were, I DID NOT let them touch my skin when I could help it. I still dont. What I do is stand to the side of the water, run the comb thru, and then rinse of the handfuls of "hair" that come out. If I let it go on my skin, or was not careful to make sure I rinsed off every last speck, it would burrow into teh tissue and start a little bump or sore.
So, just something you might want to watch for.
Good luck and let us know how you do.
Oh, if you have Milk of Magnesia there, someone said that might work too. I was going to try leaving it in my hair overnight.