Now what - I (Mummy) have caught children's nits on very long hair

[goingbacktowork]

Ok not funny as mummy has now got nit issue. I get it every time the kids do - so not funny as I have very long hair and it is impossible for me to comb it through myself. Any suggestions? I have used full marks lotion but head still itching and I need to wait a week to reapply lotion again apparently. Someone suggested going to hairdresser and having hair coloured early as I think that this may zap them (anyone know if this will also deal with the eggs or whether they are so strong they can withstand this sort of thing)? i.e. does the nit lotion deal with the eggs or do you actually have to comb every last one out or they will hatch in which case I an a goner. Do you think hair dye alone or so I have to use peroxide. Honestly this is serious - I may have to have hair cut off otherwise. Thanks in advance for any replies - am also going to post this in "general health".

[bedmonster]

I would recommend a haircut as short as you can bear, and then condition and comb twice a day if possible, but definitely every day. Its the only way to beat the cycle and the least harmful to your hair.
Generally people using the lotions use them once or twice then don't keep up the combing which is when the odd unhatched uggs you have missed will hatch.
Also, you would probably find it useful to have someone to comb it out for you. Much more thorough and it's easier to section it off precisely (unless your a hairdresser or are just better at hair than me!)

[twilight81]

Is there nobody you can ask to help? The hairdresser won't do your hair if they come across eggs or lice so that's not going to be much help.
Just keep combing as much as you can manage. Full marks kills the lice but I don't think it does the eggs.. Ask in the pharmacy as I'm sure I saw a new one in there that does both.

[incywincyspideragain]

you need to get some one who will help you condition and comb through your hair in sections - I caught them from ds, dh combed my hair each night for a bout 4 days and then a week later.
We don't use pesticides, combing works for us - could you be itching from lotion?

[goingbacktowork]

possibly. yes. I found I am very sensitive to the lotion.
Definitely need to find the name of the lotion that kills both nits and eggs!

[NosFarlotu]

I use my wet to straight straighteners every day if I catch them, that, the nitty gritty and hedrin once seems to shift them quickly for me.

[er1507]

Use the full marks then buy a cheap cheap conditioner slap it aaaaalll over and then give your hair a thorough comb through.

All hair dye has peroxide in it as this is hat is used to make the colour oxidise.

[MrsHoarder]

Straighten it every day for a couple of weeks. The heat will kill the live lice so the cycle will end.

[NaughtyDolly]

Had exactly this problem with my very thick waist length hair. It was awful and they just wouldn't go for months and months. Cost me a fortune in nit treatments for me and DS.

In the end I had to have it cut and it was the only way to make it manageable enough to get rid of. Still devastated, loved my hair :(

[OhEmGee25]

Have a proper cut

[squeaver]

Do you live in London? These guys are expensive but they will sort you out: The Hairforce

[FerrisBueller1972]

Try Hedrin Once, its pricey (about £18) but it worked on me after I got them from my DS recently - even typing it out makes me itch. You HAVE to get someone else to comb your hair or do it upside down whilst holding head over the bath perhaps? I just section it all and stand in front of the mirror and do it and my hair is long too.

However I have had to treat my ds 3 times since Friday and comb with the Nitty Gritty comb twice a day and he is still scratching, he is getting very upset by it and getting him to go to school today was not much fun!

[JuliaFlyte]

Don't cut your hair! This happened to us when dd got nits in reception. I faffed around with Full Marks, Hedrin, obsessively combing conditioner with a Nitty Gritty, etc. nothing worked so I asked the chemist for the most heavy duty chemicals they had. One dose and it was gone. it was called Derbac M.

Try it, and buy a jar of intensive conditioning mask for your hair to use afterwards. A few of these treatments and you will have beautiful, nit free hair again.

[goingbacktowork]

Thanks so much. I am goign to get the Derbac M and see where we get to. The Hedrin did nothing for nits the first time we got them and I have tried one Full Marks and 5 days later still itching and it says not to reuse for another 2 days (ie 7 days after first treatment).

[Betty5313]

I suffered the same, only chin length hair but so thick it was taking dh an hour to nitty gritty comb it for me. My hairdresser gave me a thorough thinning out and layers underneath with long top layer - far less hair so quicker but looks just the same :) cheap conditioner and nitty gritty were the only thing that worked.

[goingbacktowork]

oh dear... nits still here and dermac m no longer sold. Did not help by the chemist teling me that when she and her kids had them they used to race then across the table! OMG I feel sick

[EdsRedeemingQualities]

I have long hair too and combing through isn't fun, well I just lather on the conditioner and get on with it. But it hurts!

I use full marks or hedrin, it doesn't kill the eggs but then they hatch in about a week and you use it again, and that kills the baby hatchlings before they are old enough to lay eggs..that's the point, it's how it works.

You should be Ok not combing. Don't cut your hair.

DO tie up your children's hair though when they go to school. The shorter mine have theirs, the better!

btw you will still itch for a while, it doesn't mean they are still alive/biting you, but your skin will have a reaction to the bites for a week or so.

[GrimmaTheNome]

btw you will still itch for a while, it doesn't mean they are still alive/biting you, but your skin will have a reaction to the bites for a week or so.

I was just about to say that - DD brought some lice home this term (only the second time, but she's in yr9 FGS, thought I'd be safe). I stayed itchy for a week or so after the first Full Marks treatment, but a week later my hair was free of the little buggers. Its a reaction to their saliva, apparently.

Can you really not comb your hair? - start with wide comb and work down to the nit comb. DDs is long and thick but she's managing it herself now (I did her initial treatment). It does take quite a long time though. Mine is long and fine - need Fairy liquid to get the Full Marks out. Urgh.

[goingbacktowork]

Know what you mean - hair is so greasy after using full marks.

I have left it 10 days since first application hence itching again - my fault. Will do it again tomorrow and then religiously a week later. I just hate the thought of it.

[FerrisBueller1972]

I am going demented with these bloody nits! Ds is treated and combed with the nitty gritty comb every day, goes to school and comes home with them again! I've spoken to school but what can I do? Hedrin is breaking my bank! I've bought the last known bottle if Derbac in the county, my head hurts from using that nitty gritty comb, hair us ruined.

So fed up with it all!

[JessePinkman]

Google Paranix and see if you can get it. We only had to use it once, after about three years it was like a miracle.

[TapselteerieO]

I just used conditioner after the using hedrin as instructed then followed the advice here.

When my dc get lice and when I got them I had fairly long hair, I could easily spend an hour combing out my hair, rinsing the comb between each stroke, checking for lice. Dd has very long hair and it is a nightmare. Even thinking about the lice makes my head itch. I think you have to be very patient and spend a lot of time combing. I would rinse the comb in a clear jug and count the nits and live lice afterwards, they can live for days off the head btw - I had one on a piece of cotton wool in the jug, just to see how long it would go on for.

Dd has her hair tied back every day, but this thread has made me want to do a nit check. I use a faith in nature shampoo neem and propolis, the neem is supposed to deter the lice. I would also rinse my hair in cider vinegar, 1/3 vinegar to water, leave it on my hair for 5 mins then rinse, then condition comb. I do the vinegar rinse because I think the acid in it would kill or harm the lice - just an idea, no scientific knowledge if it works, but it helps get the grease off your hair too, from the hedrin etc.

My ds had a girl in his class who had them all the time, she moved away and my ds stopped getting lice, pretty for the girl, because she was lovely.

[goingbacktowork]

the full marks is very oily - like a massage oil so that might be good to try.

[goingbacktowork]

Hi TapselteerieO - I have a few questions about your post:

" I use a faith in nature shampoo neem and propolis, the neem is supposed to deter the lice" is this an actual product? " I would also rinse my hair in cider vinegar, 1/3 vinegar to water, leave it on my hair for 5 mins then rinse, then condition comb. I do the vinegar rinse because I think the acid in it would kill or harm the lice - just an idea, no scientific knowledge if it works, but it helps get the grease off your hair too, from the hedrin etc." so yopu buy coder vinegar and mix? does it not make your hair smelly? where can you get cider vinegar from?

Thanks very much. Goingbacktowork.

[TapselteerieO]

Neem & Propolis shampoo - amazon, health shops and oxfam sell some of their shampoos.