Just cried over my daughters headlice, I don't know what to do anymore.

[Nitsaremakingmylifehell]

My DD is 8 and seems to have headlice constantly for the last year she also has exczma. I've just treated both of us last night with Derbac M overnight treatment but her head is still absolutly crawling with lice you can see them on top of her head. On top of this she has a huge scabby patch of exczma on the back of her scalp which hurts when she brushes her hair or I run the nit comb through her hair is full of loose scabs.

I was just pulling out a comb full of live lice and scabs despite treating last night and I just don't know what to do anymore nothing seems to work.

I think the adult lice are the big buggers and nits are the tiny brown things that you can hardly see are alive, the just-hatched lice.

FWIW I use the white combs (have a nitty gritty but couldn't get on with it, plus I like being able to see what I have combed and exclaim aloud in satisfaction/disgust) and lots of cheap tea tree conditioner. My tip is to comb until you think you have got them all, then go through about another three times - you will get nothing. Then when you think it's time to stop, go over one more time. You will ALWAYS get one or two big bastards that you will simply not believe your thorough combing had missed. Then go through once more.

It takes AGES.

DD has very long hair, straight and fine but lots of it. I have never cut it short due to nits.

I've been looking for some scientific research about neem oil-could you point me to it please, Zhen?

I tightly plait DD's long hair (not french plait because I can't!) and spray liberally with hairspray every morning.

I read somewhere nits can't stick to hairsprayed hair/don't like the smell - she is yr one a nit free so far.

Thanks BalloonSlayer.

Ds first had nits about 18 months ago and it was a really bad infestation, I felt such a bad parent because up to the point he got them we had been quite blasé about it. It took a good 3-4 days to get rid of the blighters! We used hedrin overnight and in the morning I used the teatree oil with the nitty gritty comb.

Dh is going through ds hair now and using the headrin. I really hope it's not as bad as last time.

I was going to take ds for a haircut tomorrow before going back to school so I suppose I'm going to have to leave it until the weekend now.

Abdel-Ghaffar F, Al-Quraishy S, Al-Rasheid KA, Mehlhorn H. "Efficacy of a single treatment of head lice with a neem seed extract: an in vivo and in vitro study on nits and motile stages." Parasitol Res. 2011 Jun 11.

Mehlhorn H, Abdel-Ghaffar F, Al-Rasheid KA, Schmidt J, Semmler M. "Ovicidal effects of a neem seed extract preparation on eggs of body and head lice." Parasitol Res. 2011 Apr 12.

Abdel-Ghaffar F, Semmler M. "Efficacy of neem seed extract shampoo on head lice of naturally infected humans in Egypt." Parasitol Res. 2007 Jan;100(2):329-32.

Heukelbach J, Oliveira FA, Speare R. "A new shampoo based on neem (Azadirachta indica) is highly effective against head lice in vitro." Parasitol Res. 2006 Sep;99(4):353-6.

www.cks.nhs.uk/head_lice/evidence/references#A55790 number 19

Just to 2nd the lavender, I use a lot in the DCs bedrooms (DH calls it the "calm the fuck down spray") And only one DC has had nits.

My ds had them and pass them to us. The boys got rid of them first time. Lucky me with the long hair found it harder. First time followed instructions and reapplied 10 days later - no luck. Next time cut a couple of inches of my hair and poured the whole (bigger) bottle over me did it again 10 days later, then bought a different make 10 days after that - combed hair everyday for an hour or more. Finally worked but paranoid for about six months after!!

C&P'd:

What are head lice and nits?

Head lice are tiny grey/brown insects. They are about the size of a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns). Head lice cling to hairs, but stay close to the scalp which they feed off. Head lice lay eggs which hatch after 7-10 days. It takes about 10 days for a newly hatched louse to grow to an adult and start to lay eggs.
Nits are the empty white egg shells which are left when the lice hatch. Nits look like dandruff, but stick strongly to hair. Unlike dandruff, you cannot easily brush out nits.

That's great SSSSS - though in my experience they aren't always tiny - can be a bit like fruit flys ( but don't fly) !

I second what loads of people have said here. Use thick gloopy hair conditioner - lather it in and leave for a while to suffocate the little buggers. Ten comb through with a comb. You may need to repeat it but it does work!

We left lavender scented oil and, another night, Hedrin, overnight - they weren't happy ! - which was the idea (DCs were fine about it though )

Just to add that nothing every worked on DS except vinegar and combing. Conditioner, tea tree oil, the lot - useless, vinegar every time. Old wives tale.

All sorted now?

My ds has had nits forever and ive tried everything. I read here about hair force in primrose hill, London. I went half way across the country with ds twice and it was the best thing I've ever done .

I found some great products to help get rid of lice. I used them on my kids and the lice were killed over night and they never had another problem. I also use their products for lice prevention. When I get word of an outbreak at school I start using it.

How on earth did you find this thread, leslie?

Zombie thread