Ewwwwww - is this what I.think it is?

[Teaandcrisps]

My daughter has just washed her hair and the bottom of the shower is covered- do lice actually come out like this? Grossed out and scratches scalp.

Eeeeeeeeewwww
Thanks for the advice much appreciated one and all for MN wisdom.
Thanks goodness there is somewhere that I can find the info I need
Love y'all

OP
Ordinary shampooing the hair does not remove nits. You need a nit comb and conditioner and keep combing. I would also use a chemical treatment as well- either Full Marks or Hedrin. Repeat in 7 days ( I think check the instructions) If they are really bad , everyone in the house needs to be treated.
Lots of people swear by tea tree shampoo and conditioner to keep them at bay. I used to condition and comb weekly when my DC were young, DC2 got them well into senior school.

It really doesn't look like nits. I thought nits were tiny and hard to see!

Are you sure they are headline and not mud/dirt grime?
Because to have them like that and in such numbers they have been there for months and months and you surely would have noticed scratching/itching yourself?
Parents in our school have had ss called for major infestations.
None of the medicated shampoos works 100% in my experience, the only way is to use a nutty gritty comb, every day, then second day the every few days until there is nothing left.
Neem oil works really well, rinsed out with vinegar, but it stinks, it does impede their growth and reproduction though.
Takes a few washes to get the burnt garlic smell out, but it's very effective, I'm scratching now 😱

If they really are headlice, then there will be many more in her hair and hundreds if not thousands of nits.
Cleanliness is what they like, no point chastising your DD it's not her fault. You have to be extremely thorough to get them all out, OP.

To all those making the OP feel bad, it really isn't normal to check a 12 year old's hair for nits unless they are scratching it a lot, it's not like when they were younger and you washed them. And not all 12 year olds like to cuddle up with you (which is when I often used to check over my DC's hair!) My 12 year old regularly suffers from itchy scalp (although we do now seem to have found a shampoo that helps) yet has only once in his life had nits. Equally, as I understand it, some people just aren't as allergic to the lice as others so perfectly possible for some people to have them and not itch so not realise.

Personally, we always used comb and conditioner rather than the chemicals - but that's just my preference as my skin is quite sensitive. Took some effort (particularly with DD's very thick curly hair) but always got there in the end.

We’ve just had them for the first time. We used a treatment and brushed through but 2 days later I still had a live fucker.
So we then did the whole conditioner/nit comb thing and that seems to have gotten it.
I keep checking and am going to do another brush through at the weekend.
Worst thing ever. I had to cancel hairdressers appointment and I can’t go again for bloody ages!

Are they actually alive?

Tbh looking at your picture and taking out the fact you suspected nits I would have assumed it was loosened bits of dirt/mould from around your plug hole. You can see some dark around it but gaps where it's been disturbed.

OP that is an incredibly bad infestation and quite worrying that you hadn't noticed u til now. An infestation this bad is classed as neglect.
You will need to get special treatment shampoo like Hedrin and do the whole family. Wash all bedding and hair brushes roo. Keep checking every evening for a few weeks. The eggs are like small grey/clear sacs that stick to the hair.

Apologies for all of my typos!

Hope all goes well with the de-lousing process OP. What is her hair like. If it’s 4b you have my total sympathy. 1 child x 3 hours with the bloody nit comb = both of us losing the will to live. It’s nothing to do with having clean or dirty hair btw. Nits just seems to make a beeline (or nitline) for certain heads for no apparent reason.

To all those making the OP feel bad, it really isn't normal to check a 12 year old's hair for nits unless they are scratching it a lot, it's not like when they were younger and you washed them.

Agreed, but with that many just falling out in the shower I think you'd be able to see many lice crawling around just by looking at the child!

There have been a couple of school years where it's been damn nigh impossible to keep my long-haired DDs free from nits, and yes I've got long hair and have had them too.

Get a nitty gritty comb and in a very short space of time you'll be able to get the majority of them out, causing practically instantaneous relief from the worst of the itching. Lots of conditioner after a shampoo, then comb, comb comb - I wipe off using kitchen towel (several pieces if needed). It might take longer to get rid - bedding, soft toys all need washing or quarantining until the cycle is broken. Go for the wet-comb option of eradication for a couple of weeks or so (it took over a month for us once) and if that's not getting on top of it consider the chemical options.

It's just lice. A buggerance for sure, but nothing terrible.

Are you sure they’re lice?

Mine are grown up now. DS had loads at 6 but nothing like that. He had a scratch, I saw a hop and combed put a few doz of the little buggers. Then a daily nitcomb and condition and over three weeks they got smaller and smaller as we caught newly hatched ones. It was quite fascinating and we got to understand the whole cycle from big fat juicies about to lay to teeny tiny ones. When he had been clear for three weeks we went to the barbers and he had a no 4 back n sides.

From then dd had her long locks conditioned and not combed every time her hair was washed. Occasionally I combed out a big fat juicy that must have just hopped on and a week later there were sometimes some teeny ones. This was prevalent in Y2 when she sat on ahem's table who must have been running alive.

I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of but I do think you should have sorted it sooner if your dd does have nits.

When I was working on a paediatric ward, there was a teen coming in for an op and her pillow was smothered in lice so they can drop out the hair.

To all those making the OP feel bad, it really isn't normal to check a 12 year old's hair for nits unless they are scratching it a lot,

Is it not?

I didn't make the OP feel bad but I do think you are incorrect. I haven't stop checking my kids hair and my eldest is 18 - DH has a look at mine once a fortnight or so: we still have primary ages DC so it's quite normal for all the family to ensure they are clear.

Here's my tuppence worth. We've had one unfortunate incident of nits with my daughter, who was in Montessori at the time. We had regular notes home advising of outbreaks, which are very common throughout school years. We went from her to complaining of an itchy head ( where I then did a good look through her hair and couldn't see anything) to very visible crawlies within 24 hours. I kid you not. Maybe as it was my first time I didn't see the eggs as I didn't fully know what I was looking for? Anyway, they are fully alive, awful crawlies that will try to get away from you when combing through the hair with a nit comb, so you don't have any doubt that this is what they are. Did a Lyclear treatment from chemist, then loads of conditioner and endless combing saw all the buggers off. Thankfully we got them in time so they didn't spread but, to this day, she has never worn her hair down at school again. It wasn't her fault, and if that's what your daughter has it's not hers either. It happens. Good luck.x

@Teaandcrisps have you actually found headlice or just the bits?

Like everyone else has said, are you 100% sure. I used my phone on 8x mag to see what I was getting out of my daughters hair. It's very obvious if its lice.
I've got some impressive pictures, I won't post them as we will all be itching more.
Hedrin once was good, but also just regular combing for a few days initially then weekly with the hair loaded up with cheap conditioner so they slide out. And spray with tea tree spray after to repel future ones.
Its unusual for secondary age kids to get them though as they don't tend to get their heads as close together as primary kids.

We used full marks, when removing apply the shampoo straight on and lather before you add water or else she will have a grease ball . Repeat with lotion every 2 days until no more lice come out. It's the only way to make sure there gone

Yep they are lice, my bath looks exactly the same after I comb them. And depending on hair colour and if they are not scratching sometimes you just don't know. Had them here for years sick to death of it. As soon as they are cleared yet another break out in after school or school. I comb every second day now, conditioner to grab the eggs. It's exhausting but routine. I have been known to look in the mirror at work and see one waving at me too

My DD was like this all the way through primary. It was an utter nightmare. Would bath her and they'd be floating, I'd wash and comb and use treatments, it was a daily occurrence. I literally can't remember a day when I wasn't nit combing her hair and washing the bastards down the plughole. Unfortunately we had a "natural" type mother of child in the class who "didn't believe" in treating nits as they were a "natural phenomenon" and would "go by themselves". Child eventually got excluded and nit nurse got involved. My poor DD felt like she was the infected, they loved her! Stopped when she moved to Year 7.

I left this on the nitty one for half an hour and then combed through (as I said upthread, for 3.Long.Hours) with nit comb and it really helped me get the comb through 4b hair. Took a lot of work afterwards to get hair back into its usual state though and I became very vigilant in checking heads after that.

DD1 had a bad infestation once. She has really thick hair, and doesn't get particularly itchy when she has nits ( I think some people are much more allergic than others), so by the time we realised she had loads. We got rid of them by combing twice a week with full marks and a nitty gritty. There were fewer each time, but it took about 3 weeks.