Can I take dc to doctors to diagnose nits?

[mummmsy]

I mean obviously I can physically take her, but will they look at me like i'm mental? I have never had them, so neither my mum or I know what they look like. Can't see any actual walkers but think I can see the eggs - the 'nit' part?

head's itchy just thinking about it!

The look like tiny flies, in the teeth of a very fine comb, the egg shell is white and the live eggs are tiny & brown, quite near the skin.

Would be a waste of NHS resources, imho, but I can see why you might feel you must. Can you try looking online, first?

They look like...

Could you Google Image and then compare?

of course you can

The eggs are a fairly distinctive shape - one end is noticeably thinner than the other end (sort of like a drop of water).

yes, googled, googled and googled but am still none the wiser...i think she will need treated for something - there's like a fine dust there as well? i have psoriasis on my scalp so thought it may be that...

I'd try a pharmacist before the doctor tbh.

I'd try the pharmacist first too. If they can't help ask at your surgery for a nurse appointment. They should be able to provide confirmation and guidance as to treatment and prevention.

Have you bought a nitty gritty comb and used it yet? You need a nit comb anyway to check every couple of weeks once they start nursery/school

hmmm will call into pharmacy. that's just it, whenever i've nit combed her hair there's nothing on the comb - it's just these things on the shaft of her hair that have me perplexed...

I doubt my GP would know a nit if he saw one. He asked if my 2 yo was on solids yet...

Do you wet the hair with conditioner first and is it a nitty gritty comb, not a cheap plastic thing? Does it lift off the things on the hair shaft if you find them then comb them?
Tbh I wouldn't worry if nothing's showing up on the comb and you are using it properly - they would be hatching if they were nits

Do you wet the hair with conditioner first and is it a nitty gritty comb, not a cheap plastic thing? Does it lift off the things on the hair shaft if you find them then comb them?
Tbh I wouldn't worry if nothing's showing up on the comb and you are using it properly - they would be hatching if they were nits

I was often unsure about whether my dcs had nits, but when they finally descended, I was in absolutely no doubt what they were. It was very, very obvious.

Oh yes, if you have them and give a good comb with conditioner in the hair, then it is pretty obvious...

Yeah take her, not many people are aware of this, but if you take a child to the doctors and they have nits, the doctor will give you a prescription for a nit comb/effective lotion etc. that you would otherwise have to pay for. When DS had nits and so did everyone at nursery, the nursery told every parent to take their child to the doctors, we got a prescription for a knit comb, a lotion (from behind the counter, and actually works.)

riiight so i wouldn't have to look and hoke and poke as much as I am doing now then? they'd be obvious - ugh! grim...

will bear that in mind welovesausagedogs

Yes.

wet hair
apply copious amounts of cheap conditioner
use nit comb to systematically comb all of the hair thoroughly
after each sweep use a tissue or piece of kitchen roll to clean the comb
if you have nits you will see either the mid brown eggs or the live nits
after each sweep rinse the comb in water

If you have nits repeat every other night for two weeks. Nts gone.

I wondered this for years (ds1 is 9 now) and we first got nits last October and believe me - you WILL know they are nits! Just horrible creepy crawlys on the comb!

btw if you can see "white" eggs then you have def got walkers - unhatched eggs are brown, empty hatched ones are white.

Take DC with nits on head, or a nit sellotaped to some paper (without child) to the pharmacist & you'll get free nit killing treatment. At least you do here.

Only found this out AFTER my DS had them. So far, only that one time.

I asked my GP for nit treatment on prescription (appt was for something else but same child so I just did an 'Oh, by the way...'). She gave me enough stuff to sink a battleship!

this stuff is fantastic- the nits practically jump onto the comb...and off into the bath, and onto the towels, and the sheets, and the pillow cases...make sure you've got a clear laundry run before you start is my advice

I also agree with the advice to use a nitty gritty comb. It finds nits/lice where those cheap white plastic ones would have you believe there are none.

took a magnifying glass to her, comb etc no nits must be some kind of dermatitis

Believe me, if she has nits you will know as others have said! TBH I'm not convinced the treatments work - I just wash the hair and comb through really carefully, tiny sections at a time. I have just a cheap white plastic nit comb, I bought the nitty gritty one but actually prefer the white one as they are easier to see. Comb through the section from scalp to end then wipe on kitchen towel. If there are live ones, do the head more than once, I find they move about a bit!! . They apparently like to live behind the ears but I found with my DCs they preferred the crown. The eggs when hatched do look a bit like dandruff, but they don't brush out - they are quite strongly attached to the hair and I found I had to actually gently pull them off using my finger nails like tweezers IYSWIM. Not easy with wriggly DCs!

Feel all itchy now just thinking about it - I'm off to give my head a good scratch