Question about nits!

[marialuisa]

DD has come home with her first case of nits. I'm a bit confused as I thought the most effective treatment was wet-combing after applying tea-tree conditioner and repeating this ad infinitum. The leaflet the school sent back says that you should go to the pharmacist and get a specialist treatment and that wet-combing was not enough. I thought lice were pretty much immune to the lyclear/full marks stuff now?

Anyway, was an interesting family bonding experience last night....

[Momof2]

When DD got nits the chemist said that conditioner combed through the hair was as good as anything - but I still went ahead and got some nit shampoo. It did get rid of them - stank though. We also always put DDs hair up now when she goes to school - chemist recommended plaiting for school days.

HTH

[Janh]

Hi, marialuisa! We discovered ds2 had nits last month - I was going to go with tea-tree conditioner + nitcomb for the same reasons as you until I spoke to our hairdresser who said that wasn't enough (and she wouldn't cut his hair if that was all I did!)

Full Marks is a mousse - £10 for 4 heads from Boots. You cover their hair with it and leave it on 30mins, then shampoo and comb the buggers out. Twice in 2 weeks. It did work!

[marialuisa]

OK, looks as if we'll be stopping at the pharmacist on the way home tonight. DH insista I was clear but my head has been burning all day!
Feel very silly actually as I religiously tie her hair up for school....to avoid her getting paint in it! It didn't cross my mind that she'd catch nits, think i thought they only liked Reception age up, duh!

[berries]

If you do the wet combing properly it is enough, and no chance of any bad reactions to the nasty chemicals. I think the problem is it is quite labout intensive (first go through on my dds lovely long thick wavy hair always takes an hour) so I suspect some people aren't taking enough time. DD1 has had them twice, no one else in the family has had them so you may be lucky.
If you want any more info on wet combing, I can post, or you can look for 'nitty gritty' website. They were really helpful when dd1 got them the first time.

[dinosaur]

Has anyone ever tried one of those electronic combs that are supposed to kill the headlice? I am wondering about whether to invest in one (I do the comb and conditioner thing on DS1, and last week I found one louse, then three days later another two).

[Jaybee]

Our kids school also recommends going to the pharmacist - we don't, we only ever use the wet comb technique and our hairdresser recommends that too. I have recently been using a spray in repellent which has been working well - haven't had any visitors since starting to use it last September - I can't remember it's name but I bought it in Tesco - small green bottle and contains lavender and tea-tree.

[Janh]

I think you can use the teatree wetcombing as a preventive measure, can't you? If you do it at every wash it stops them getting hold?

[marialuisa]

Have had a search round and I'm now thoroughly confused. I think maybe I will hold off the chemicals and try intensive wet combing. DD is going through a very girly phase so doesn't mind playing hairdressers, so we shall see. I think i've managed to "grease up" my own hair nicely today as I've been sat in my office with the door shut trying to check myself for nits. I'm just not convinced DH wet-combed properly. honestly, over the past week we've had letters about, threadworms, impetigo, nits and ringworm. YUCK! Just hope that nits is the worst we get! Parasites obviously like DD, she's got one in her leg from holidays.

[oliveoil]

There was an article in the times a couple of weeks ago about a potion called NittyGritty (??) that got rave reviews and apparently it is so good it is going on a list so docs can prescribe it.

All natural oils, no chemicals, some mums invented it and then it took off and now they have a thriving business going.

Maybe someone who knows how to do links () can help out..........

[Janh]

NITTY GRITTY!!!

[Janh]

Mind you Full Marks doesn't smell bad and isn't strong or stinging. It doesn't have malathion in it - it's phenothrin.

[oliveoil]

Thank you JanH, I must learn to do links, I am rubbish.

I don't know anything about nits myself, just remembered the article and filed it for future ref. Not that MY children will ever have nits....

[Janh]

Of course they won't, OO!

[steppemum]

OK from what I remember from teaching in the east End (and believe me, we had lots of nits) the reasoning behind the different solutions goes something like this.
Chemicals do work, but nits can be impervious to them. Local pharmacists tend tt work together so that which chemical they are using in an area is all the same, and then gets changed. That way they try to combat resistance.

Nits are actually the eggs. The eggs stick to the hair, and can only be got off with a nit comb (no ordinary comb will do). If they are not removed they will hatch, and then lay more eggs (nits). When you first have them, the eggs are very close to the scalp, and harder to remove. You have to comb very carefully, and it is hard to do on long, thick hair.

The adults are called lice, you have to have lice to get nits. Lice are quiet easy to get rid of, wet combing carefully will do it. It is easier if they are dead (from chemical stuff) but not necessary.
If anyone in the family has them, you need to treat evryrone, because they walk fomr head to head.

Our hairdresser said that if you condition your hair (doesn't need to be teatree) and you comb it very well (and that is the hard part) then there is no reason why you shouldn't get eggs and lice off. The eggs are very, very stuck to the hair though, so you have to be good.

If you use the chemical and don't comb properly, the eggs may be dead, but they will still be there. As your hair grows out, you can see them more easily, like bits of dandruff stuck to the hair, but you can't pull it off with your fingers.

Well, dont know if any of that helps, amazing what useless information you accumulate as a teacher. Probably more than you neede to know!!Hope something works for you.

OH, and you need to strip off pillowcases and was them at 90 degrees or more to kill and lice/nits wandering around!

[SofiaAmes]

From my experience with my stepkids and LOTS of nits, wet combing really thoroughly with a nit comb is enough. The conditioner is only to help get the comb through long curly hair (ie for short straight hair, you don't need it). You should comb every day for a week or so (until no eggs or bugs are coming out). And then every 3 days or so until the outbreak in the class is over and then every week or two after that (in case there is another outbreak so you can catch it early). The chemicals are really overkill and if you are dilligent about the combing (can take 30 min. a day for long wavy hair) it WILL work. good luck.
ps Guaranteed your head will itch just thinking about nits whether or not you have them.

[Ailsa]

Johnsons Baby Oil, the little buggers start dropping out almost immediately. The down side is having to wash hair at least 3 times to get the stuff out.

Followed by a good combing with this

[Lisa78]

head itching
why did I read this