Aibu to expect school teachers to use head lice treatment?

[Everywhereilookaround]

We've got them AGAIN, itchy nasty little blighters. Got my shampoo ready to use this morning, before DS goes back to school Monday.

It's a common occurrence, we've had them repeatedly over last year at school, as have other families.

I know it's just one of those things, but what's irking me is that a Friend told me DS's teacher publically refuses to use treatment on herself or her own kids, because...toxins... chemicals.... environment....etc.

So instead she combs them out weekly with nit comb and tea tree rince.

So she doesn't get rid of them, just reduces their number every week.

I've seen her itching, (right now we all are!)

I respect that we all have a right to lead our own lives our way...but why must we all suffer for it?!!

If the teacher won't take the treatment, and keeps reinfecting us, there's just no hope.

Or AIBU to feel annoyed by this?

Except it’s not really a pesticide. The active ingredient in the nit treatments is dimethicone. The same ingredient is in most high street conditioners. So you may not be paying the price but you’re using exactly the same chemical. So it’s pretty moronic to claim you aren’t using chemicals to get rid of the nits, isn’t it?

Dimethicone suffocates the live nits and smooths the hair aiding removal of the eggs via combing. It’s chemical treatment in every sense of the word!

I’ve never used chemical treatments either. My daughter had lice ONCE I used the conditioner and comb method.

See above.

TheFirstMrsDV - Was at school late 60s/early 70s. It was a girls' boarding / day school. Never heard of any girl having them.

When I'm in and out of schools I keep a nit comb in the shower and go through hair every time I'm in there conditioning basically as a screening check. I'm very lucky though that I seem to have hair that nits do not like (DD1 is similar to me... DD2 unfortunately seems to have the Alton Towers of heads where nits are concerned) and rarely get them (once in about 10 years of teaching... twice after that since I had my own kids).

Yes I’m not stupid I know that nearly everything is chemicals including good old H2O but I think most intelligent people use the term in a more generic fashion .... you know, like when people “hoover” their carpets with a vacuum cleaner!

Constantly pointing it out (and trying to make people look stupid) just makes you look a bit silly..... as if you don’t realise that we are talking about toxic chemicals/pesticides when it is totally clear that that is what is being said.

Op it sounds to me like the reason your Dc's nits keep returning is because you aren't actually getting rid of them!!! You need to comb every few days otherwise you won't catch all the eggs which in turn means that they all hatch by the time you next comb (a week later)
Please stop judging this teacher. She probably doesn't have nits. She may have caught them once or twice and got rid of them and discussed with your friend about her method. To be honest your friend shouldn't have discussed this with you.
Stop jumping to conclusions and just treat your child properly.

I think most intelligent people use the term in a more generic fashion

We may have different understanding of the word intelligent.

It’s in the same category as people using “England” when they mean “Britain”, and “should/could/would of” instead of “should/could/would have”. I.E. wrong.

as if you don’t realise that we are talking about toxic chemicals/pesticides when it is totally clear that that is what is being said.

So the dimethicone in not treatment is somehow different to the dimethicone in conditioner? How is one toxic and not the other?

*nit

Pyrethrins are the insecticide used in treatments. Dimethicone is a silicone to smooth hair; aids combing.

As pp have said, combing works but only if you do it thoroughly and regularly (last time I bought a nit comb the recommendation was every three days to clear an infestation). The silicone stuff seems to work for us too, although it's a bugger to wash out.

Could you talk to the teacher about a class-wide (or even school-wide) campaign? Everybody treating at once is the only way to have a real chance of getting rid of them.

The active ingredient in Hedrin is dimethicone, which suffocates the lice, and makes combing out the nits and eggs much easier. There are no insecticides in Hedrin or most modern nit/lice treatments.

So just a money spinner then? Even more reason to get a cheap conditioner

But she’s not ‘not treating the lice’.
My kids have had lice 3/4 times. I only ever used conditioner and a nutty gritty comb - never the chemical treatments. I always cleared the lice and nits within 2 treatments and haven’t had lice for 3 years now.
There is no need to use chemicals if you’re prepared to put the time in with conditioner and a comb (it’s a 2 hour job for me).

So the dimethicone in not treatment is somehow different to the dimethicone in conditioner? How is one toxic and not the other?

It isn’t. The dimethicone treatment aka Hedrin was not a known option when my DCs has nits. I was referring to pesticide treatments .... and I’m sorry that your clearly superior intelligence made it hard for you to see that.

My clearly limited (in your opinion) intelligence indicates to me that ANY substance that states not to be used when pregnant (which I actually was the only time my DD had nits) is probably best avoided when there are other ways of dealing with a problem.

Do you honestly think that people who say “my garden is organic, I don’t use chemicals on it” should be referred to as “wrong” and “unintelligent” because they use water? Perhaps you really are that much of a pedant...

Even my DS who is a bit of a pedant due to his autism, wouldn’t actually say he uses chemicals when he washes himself.....

www.practicalparenting.com.au/chemical-free-head-lice-treatment

How to treat head lice without using harsh chemicals

What is actually in head lice treatments?

Many of these readily available products contain neurotoxins called pyrethrin and permethrin, which kill lice by attacking their central nervous system. These chemicals are often found in house and garden pesticides. This can spell bad news for head lice, but also potentially bad news for your children.

TittyGolightly I think this is what ppers are referring to when they say they prefer not to use chemicals.

If she combs everyday or every couple of days for two/three weeks, wouldn't that get rid if them completely?

Chocolate
That’s an infomercial for nitwits isn’t it?

There are also two types of hedrin. One had insecticide aka "chemical treatment". One has dimethicone.

Stop being an arse about this
.

I always used olive oil and combing on my kids' hair and they worked a treat. We only had a couple of outbreaks; we even escaped a major infestation in primary school. I couldn't use the chemicals, as the DC had eczema.

www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/feature/head-lice-treatment-nit-treatment

If she combs everyday or every couple of days for two/three weeks, wouldn't that get rid if them completely?

Yes. But if she combs them once a week as OP's friend thinks she said, then she wouldn't get rid of them and hasn't really "treated" them as such. Question is does she know that?

Ease of use is another factor, and can affect success rates. Mr Burgess says: “When we do a clinical trial, we do thousands of treatments and we get reasonably good at it. [But] the average mum with the first case of headlice – she’s never done it before and it does take a reasonable amount of skill.”

Staff are key to success

It’s important that counter assistants are able to answer questions about headlice treatments, as well as pharmacists, Mr Brash says. “Mums often come in in a very embarrassed manner and discreetly ask for advice, so the pharmacist may not be consulted.”

FFS. Mums. Not parents. Mums.

Mummyoflittledragon it's an article from a parenting magazine and yes it did plug the nitwits brand. It also alternatively recommended the conditioner and comb method that pp have said they do. It was the info about harsh chemicals, the health implications and how lice have developed a tolerance to those chemicals which makes these types of lice treatments ineffective. Pps have said all this so I thought it might be relevant.