Why do all head lice treatments make kids’ hair so greasy (and smell awful)?

[Loli1991]

Just having a little rant because I’m at my wits’ end 😅

Every time my kids get head lice, I dread the treatments more than the lice. They always leave the hair so greasy like I’ve poured chip oil on it and it takes two or three washes before it looks normal again.

Even the so-called “natural” ones are a pain. The tea tree smell is so strong it makes my eyes water, and I swear it irritates my child’s scalp more than it helps.

Conditioner and combing is gentler, but it’s such a long, miserable process. I just wish there was something that actually worked but didn’t leave the hair coated or the bathroom smelling like a herbal sauna.

Has anyone ever found a treatment that’s easy to rinse out and kind to sensitive scalps? Or are we all just doomed to greasy, stinky hair every time? 🙈

Haven't found a product that matches those requests, but a plastic eyeshield and using Vosene before the first rinse works wonders.

Fully agree. And they don’t even really work that well. I miss the 80s with the terrible dangerous but effective chemicals we aren’t allowed to use any more.
And why do they have to touch heads at school? I go months at a time without my head ever touching someone else’s. What are they DOING at school for the crawling little gets to infest them in the first place? Make it stop 😫

Ahh that’s interesting! I’ve never tried Vosene for that! I feel like everything I’ve used either burns their scalp or turns their hair into an oil slick 😂 I just wish there was something that rinsed clean and didn’t smell like a spa gone wrong.

Looking at the same book/piece of equipment, comparing pens/pencils/rubbers/latest craze, nosing at each others lunches. Just randomly bashing into each other playing football, crazy pike on games, tag. Kids just seem to like being on top of each other.

Yep! They’ve gone from “burns your eyes off but works” to “smells nice but does nothing.” There’s got to be a middle ground somewhere surely 😩! The head-touching is wild, isn’t it? They’re meant to be doing maths and somehow end up with their heads practically glued together. No wonder nothing works long-term!

I also found that using a cheap intensive conditioner and combing from wide toothed combs all the way down to the nitty gritty combs worked well too, but it needed to be done most days. They ate rife in schools and when my children left primary school it was a relief. At the time my older child was 18 and refused to comb their hair out and wouldn't let me do it. It was a vicious circle and they aren't days I would like to repeat.

It's literally lousy OP and you have my full support.

Do you put the shampoo on first before wetting? That gets rid of the oil.

I like the smell of nitty gritty oil
Just put shampoo before water and wash twice op.

Full Marks and washed with Vosene and hair always looks nice and clean afterwards.

Get a nitty gritty comb! It worked for me and I never used any chemical treatments.

Nitty Gritty combs are excellent,they are the ones I used at the last stage. They are also very good for removing dandruff, although that often needs other treatments too.

I always used Vosene on the hair without actually wetting it. There wasn't much lather but it seemed to grip on to the grease. I rinsed it and then repeated washing with the Vosene. I then put a thick, inexpensive conditioner on and started the combing process with the widest toothed comb first.
It is also challenging if you have more than one child, but committing to doing it for the whole household over the course of a week gets results.

It is a dirty job, but you will feel so much better when it's done. It is incredibly frustrating when other people aren't as vigilant, I have been there many times.

A handy tip is to have a good audiobook to listen to whilst you're in the combing stage helps too!

I have heard that prior to the advent of screens they were only really a problem at primary school but now older kids put their heads together while watching the same video on a phone or iPad, so they are now more of a thing at secondary than they used to be.

Eugh! You may well be right...I am so glad to have left that stage behind. It can be incredibly difficult to persuade teenagers to sit and have headlice combed out. I really feel for anyone coping with that.

Weirdly, my greasy haired 7 year olds hair was really dry for a few days after using Hedrin shampoo

Bug buster kit is the only thing that worked for us. Lotions, shampoos, nitty gritty - all a waste of money. You have to be determined though as it's quite a long process and I imagine on long hair it could be awful.

Yep - wash hair, rinse, bung on handfuls of cheap conditioner and sit and comb with the nit comb.

Every night till they're gone and then a couple more to be safe.

Then hair in tight plaits at school always.

I have 4 DDs.
All had long hair, one had waist length hair.
We got through A LOT of cheap conditioner !

But their hair was v shiney 😊

We’ve had to avoid the conditioner route because my little one’s got a really sensitive scalp and mild eczema. Most conditioners seem to make it flare up or leave her scratching for days 😩. It’s such a shame because it’s the one method everyone swears by, but I just can’t risk it anymore.

No I haven’t tried this before! Even when you think you’ve rinsed properly, the hair still feels heavy and waxy afterwards. Drives me mad, especially on fine hair it just sticks together for days!

I’ve used Full Marks before but found it really drying and a bit chemical-y 😩. My daughter’s scalp flared up straight after! It definitely works, but it feels so harsh.

weve just recently used Lyclear and it done the trick for us.
the lotion smells abit when putting it on but no smell afterwards.
hair isn't left greasy.

previously used hedrin and that was terrible for washing out and leaving hair greasy.

You sound way more organised than me 😅 I’ve heard loads of people swear by Vosene, but it’s so harsh on my little one’s scalp it flares up straight away. Same with most conditioners, sadly. The audiobook tip is genius though, might have to steal that one! I’ve heard loads of people talking about the nitty gritty comb and how they rave about it! I thought all combs were pretty much the same 🙈

This really made my daughters scalp flare. When I researched the ingredients they weren’t really great for sensitive skin or eczema prone skin like she has 🫠! I can’t seem to find anything that’s gentle on the scalp yet effective in getting rid of them… for good!

I’ve not heard of bug buster before what does that consist of? Does it still leave that greasy oily texture in the hair even after a few washes? What makes it lengthy? My daughter has quite long hair 😓

I wish I could use conditioner as that seems popular and cheap 🥹 but my little one suffers with really sensitive skin and scalp so we avoid conditioners as a lot of them irritate her. But u can’t stand the really chemical products that stink and leave the hair greasy 🥲

Yes hedrin was awful for us when we used that! I might try Lyclear as I cant stand the greasy hair and my little one gets so aggravated having to do multiple washes to try and get the hair back to normal!