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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to be driven mad by itchy head?!

56 replies

wordywitch · 17/09/2022 14:36

My DD (16) and I went on a trip abroad together two weeks ago, for 3 nights. On the last day of the trip and ever since we got back, we’ve both had itchy heads. My first thought of horror is that we’d somehow got nits but we’ve checked each other’s heads and there are no signs at all that that’s the case, plus we’ve both had nits before and this doesn’t feel like that kind of itch, where it’s a creepy crawly feeling or intensely itchy like a bite. The itch isn’t super intense but it seems to be aggravated when I wash my hair, I suppose because I’m irritating the area with my fingers. Mostly it just feels like my scalp is very dry and irritated.

Initially, we thought it must have been the cheap travel sized shampoo we bought at the airport and that once we’d washed our hair a couple times with our usual shampoo it would be gone but it’s still persisted. My hair also feels a bit greasier than normal, needing a wash every two days instead of every three, though that could be because I’m touching it more while scratching.

Could it somehow be that we were allergic to something on the hotel pillows, or that god forbid it’s some other kind of infestation besides nits (bedbugs maybe??). If that was the case surely we’d be itchy on the rest of our bodies too, not just our heads though.

I’ve done an apple cider vinegar rinse on my hair plus a deep conditioning mask to try to help strip out whatever is in there and help moisturise my head but nothing has changed.

AIBU to be driven mad by both the itch and not knowing why? Open to any and all suggestions!

OP posts:
LadyLaSnack · 25/09/2022 22:33

Also - be aware that antihistamines would probably relieve the scratch of nits (as well as more obvious allergy symptoms)

BusyLondonMother · 25/09/2022 22:50

Nit scatching usually starts very gradually around the ears then increases to wider areas. Yes it can be hard to find them - but go somewhere warm and humid like a butterfly house and they will visibly crawl to the surface fairly quickly.

Allergy to a chemical in shampoo can start very suddenly when shampoo is changed and will be over a much wider area of the head immediately - not just behind the ears

Thelnebriati · 25/09/2022 22:53

Jungle rot is just athletes foot, and it glows under UV light so its really easy to check for it.

hopsalong · 25/09/2022 23:10

It's nits, mate.

Whenever I have had a weirdly inexplicably itchy head for more than a day or so, even with no reason for nits (eg as a single 20-something who knew no children) it has always been nits. They're sneaky buggers. Hard to detect to begin with. I would treat it as nits and see how you go.

As someone with eczema, a propensity to hives, and allergies to almost every insect bite known, as well as various detergents, I don't think anything else can account for your shared symptoms. Other than bed bugs, just possibly, but it wouldn't be restricted to your heads.

BusyLondonMother · 04/10/2022 13:29

@wordywitch any luck figuring it out yet? Or are antihistamines helping yet?

fleurdelee · 06/10/2022 07:52

TeeBee · 23/09/2022 00:21

Did you hotel room have ants? I once got bitten to crap in a dodgy hotel that was overrun with them.
Or have you been to bed with wet hair and developed a fungal infection.

Is this a thing from going to bed with wet hair?

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