Head Lice - please explain

[ItchyMad]

I know this is a dumb arse question but I can’t find the answer online.

DD has itchy head. Fine, fair hair. I have looked and looked but only seen what I’m assuming are two love lice. Reddy brownish.

No eggs.

And lady at pharmacy said only treat those on family with visible symptoms. But my mum always used to treat all of us.

She’s got lice, yeah?

And how do I check myself? I feel itchy but only since seeing DDs!!!

Love lice? Did you mean little lice?
Have they legs? I wouldn’t treat with chemicals until I found a live one

Get a nifty gritty comb. It’s the only way to know for sure. Apparently some people don’t even itch!

Sorry yes little lice.

One looked as if it was embedded in her scalp as looked like a little red piece of dirt but then it moved and yes had legs.

The other was clinging to her hair.

Will do some combing

Yes. Sounds like lice, sorry. Don't waste your time ot money with the poison stuff, the only thing that really works is manually removing each and every egg over a period of several days. It's a pain in the ass but it's the only way to get rid.

You need a nitty gritty comb and a big vat of cheap conditioner. Slather her head in conditioner, pop on a film and just keep coming through. Even if you can't see the eggs you'll feel them catch on the fine teeth of the comb. After a while you'll see what you're looking for

Repeat every other day. Check yourself using the same method, or enlist a helper. My dh has become an expert lice comber!

It's just on of those childhood things, happens to us all but you'll get rid of them if you're diligenet

I couldn't see them in dd's hair but she was v itchy. I used a nitty gritty comb and there were lots of the little buggers

It is parents treating everyone when they don’t need to that has made nits harder to get rid of. You only treat the people that have them. The beat way to check yourself is to get a bit comb (get a nutty gritty) and comb in small sections through your hair. Even when you treat your dd comb and conditioner and do her hair as well in small sections.

Mine had them recently I treated the kids with Hedrin and then combed all 4 of us every few days for a few weeks.

Hedrin Once. Suffocates the little blighters. Saturate her whole head, leave for recommended time or longer. It's super oily and you'll need probably a whole bottle of cheap shampoo - pour straight on, do NOT wet the hair first. This will save you days/ weeks of misery as it turns out you just missed a couple of eggs with the nitty gritty and you're back to square one. Not to mention all the distress/squealing during the daily comb.

It is parents treating everyone when they don’t need to that has made nits harder to get rid of.

That doesn’t actually make any sense. It’s not like bacteria and not finishing a full course of antibiotics (and thus leaving the strongest ones to reproduce). If you treat people who don’t have lice, then you are wasting time and money, and exposing them to unnecessary chemicals etc. But you’re not actually having an effect on the head lice population, because they were not even there!

I’ve never treated myself or dh when the dc have had headlice. In fact I’ve never used any treatment other than nitty gritty combing. One good go through, then every other day for a week then once more a week later. And yes once you start combing you might be surprised how many lice there are - they seem to blend in totally with ds hair colour (which is dark blonde).

Lice have become resistant to some of the pesticide type treatments. Treatments that suffocate lice are better. I didn't like the nitty gritty tbh.

Treat those affected and check for eggs regularly using a comb.

Cheap conditioner and a comb. Every other night for two weeks. When mine got them I did both dcs for the two weeks whether I had found lice on all or not. Me and dh would have one comb through to check. I only got them once. As a precautionary measure I combed with conditioner EVERY Sunday and would catch an infestation early. Cannot recommend that enough.

Hedrin Once + comb = you only have to do this once. None of this doing it again two days later.
I also felt itchy when I discovered the buggers in my dd's head but as soon as I sorted her, my itching stopped.

So I advise Hedrin once - can you get someone to check your head? I've checked a friend and her son in the past as she wasn't sure and of course she did have lice and then went home and treated her and her son.

Then found her daughter had them! So she did indeed treat the whole family.

So anyone I use Hedrin once - this isn't an insecticide it literally coats the louse and suffocates it - you then need to get the eggs out.

Buy a nitty gritty comb - you can get egg removal cream which dislodges the eggs or conditioner works the same and section by section comb out - each comb wipe on a tissue OR to be full proof (and it takes a while) rinse under a running tap!!!

Then you must repeat a week later and in between torch on head and physically pull out those eggs and squish them between two nails until you hear them pop! I've successfully got rid of lice twice in this house with this method and I have had them too!

Everyone in the family should be checked and combed or treated. DS had them over and over again when he was about 3 (he had longish hair at the time and I regularly checked his hair but another kid who he seen a lot was riddled and the parents did nothing). I bought treatments (Hedrin etc) but they didn’t seem very good!

Buy a nitty gritty comb and some conditioner. The combs are great!! It’s the cheapest way to treat them in the long run!

When DS had them, I did too. I had no one to check me hair. My hair was pretty long and I ended up chopping it off so it would take less time to comb but I would just sit in front of the mirror (often sat in the bath) and combed it in sections, to get them out and then again every day for 2 weeks as a precaution.

fortunately they haven’t come back... yet. dd has just started pre school so I’m sure she will catch them at some point!

I generally straighten my or the DC hair too lol

I once saw a live one literally running around eldest DD head omg I had to call my husband it was huge he caught it honestly more the size of an ant than tiny! Kids thought it was hilarious