I know this has been done to death, but please can you tell me the patented MN method for getting rid of headlice?

[heritagewarrior]

DtSs have just gone into Y1. We have never been infested before, but last week, I noticed DtS2 scratching his head a lot. Investigation revealed lice, and also a few on DtS1. I treated that night (Tuesday) with Hedrin, and have been conditioning and combing every night since. My comb is a cheap Boots one, but I have a Nitty Gritty on order from Amazon.

As it the weekend, I had a check in full midday sunlight today, and there now seem to be more than before, although they are smaller and I am having trouble picking them up with the comb. Feeling pretty depressed that they seem to be getting worse rather than better! DtSs hair is fine and thick, and blond, so the little buggers are easy-ish to see.

So, wise Mumsnetters, can you advise me, in step-by-step terms, what I should be doing from now on to get rid of them (wet or dry hair before conditioner, how long to leave on, is Hedrin worth it etc etc), and what I should be doing for maintenance once our current infestation is clear?

TIA

I shall watch this with interest because we've had them loads this year.

I personally find head lice treatment a complete waste of time. May aswell put a tenner in the bin! We use the nitty gritty comb and go through dry hair several times a day for about 3 days and that usually sees them off. Until next time....

Anxious bump....

Oooh, x-post!

Loads of cheap conditioner and a NittyGritty comb.

Honestly, that's it.
Effective, simple, non-toxic and the kids don't mind it too much.
Repeat as needed.

you will now be getting the hatched babies out of any eggs that were in their hair - thats why they are small. Lotions are not effective at killing eggs as well as lice so that is why you need to keep combing and then retreat after 1 week.

I would continue combing every couple of days to get the baby ones out before they are old enough to breed/lay eggs and then retreat with the hedrin on Tuesday. I would then comb every 2 days for 1 week after that treatkment in case any have slipped through the net.

I agree and that is also the advice the school gave us. No chemicals. Just conditioner and a nit comb. We have by some miracle been nit free but we are now using the anti nit shampoo.

The active ingredient in Hedrin is what it is conditioner.
NittyGritty comb is so much better than any other comb IME.

Paranix really works.

www.chc.org/homedir/parent_info.cfm - gives useful info on the life cycle

I'm using pound shop Anovia leave-in conditioner & a Nitty Gritty on dd1.

Tried a couple of the treatments & they definitely don't seem to kill them all, besides which one of them (can't remember which) left her fine, mousey hair greasy & dull for days.

My kids are Very Hairy. So combing is no fun at all.

We use Hedrin Once (which does kill eggs purportedly) but we use it Twice. ; ) in combo with conditioner and combing with bribes. It is greasy horrible weird stuff and I am not surprised it kills things. But it does seem to be effective, and seem to be the only one that is.

Yellow listerine soak head, cover with shower cap leave on for two hours and wash. Repeat in seven days. Kills everything!

paranix is also Lyclear

We have just starts using nit prevention shampoo, as there are lice as da2's nursery.

Vosene, I think it is. Anyone know it it actually works?

And the thing about the conditioner is that it suffocates the lice, yes?

I am just mid-giving DtS2 a bath, and I had a brainwave. I use argan oil on my thick, dry, prone to the frizzy hair, before styling, so it applied and not washed out. Presumably oil would have a similar suffocating effect to conditioner?

I have just washed DtSs hair and applied same oil, and combed through with current cheapo lice comb (Nitty Gritty comes on Monday). Loads of the little buggers came out and I kept combing til I wasn't getting anymore. If I now leave it on, do you think it will do a good hatchet job on the infestation? It was easy to apply, and I know it will dry OK.....

no the conditioner just immobilises them to help you remove them as they are really fast otherwise

My two had them in April.

I used Lyclear shampoo (needed three applications about 5 days apart) and a normal cheap white plastic nit comb.

I combed through their hair with conditioner every day for about two weeks and we haven't had anymore since.

I just check once a week now with the nit comb.

well maybe the conditioner helps a little to kill them but I wouldnt rely on it.

We also all use Vosene anti lice shampoo - me and DH every day and the Dcs every other day.

Not sure how effective it is, but we haven't been re infested since April so I'm going to keep using it.

My dd is older now but I read a long time ago that tea tree is a good preventative .

When she was in school she had thick almost waist length hair , we only ever used Original source Tea tree & Mint shampoo & conditioner , I also sprayed a detangler in her hair every morning .

I used to comb through her hair twice a week & the whole of her time at school she never had nits .

Could be they just didn't like her but I do think the shampoo must've had something to do with it !

I think some people are more prone to them but dont know why

So should I ditch the oil and go back to conditioner? Or would the sticky gloopy properties of oil have much the same immobilising effect?

Just carried out the same exercise on DtS1, he doesn't appear to have anything (to be fair I only found one in his when we first discovered them).

I found this interesting:

Head lice will feed on any blood type, but some blood types are more attractive than others. Once they begin feeding on a certain type, they need the same blood type to survive. Studies conducted by Terry Meiking, research assistant professor, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami, found that head lice intentionally avoid an incompatible blood type (especially where the Rh factor is different) unless they were starving. When a louse consumes another blood type, its intestinal tract explodes. But if the louse laid nits prior to feeding, those nits are able to feed on the new blood type.

(I am Rh- and the rest of the family are Rh+ so I can just imagine exploding headlice in my hair if they ever passed headlice on to me!)

whatever is easiest for you. The important bit is the combing them out.

When dd1 got them earlier this year I used lyclear and then say with her all evening combing her conditioned hair. Spent hours on it. Combed every night for about a week, never saw another one.