So what is the current recommended way to treat nits?!

[Wills]

Everyone seems to have differing advice. I mean doctors differ to pharmacists who differ to schools who differ to friends. My ds has nits, but because I'm 7 weeks pregnant I thought I'd better check with the pharmacist as to what to use around me. He proceeded to give me a long lecture that differs completely to anything else I've been told. There are some that say that regular combing with conditioner and a comb is the only sure way. The schools round here disagree and say that chemicals - the stronger the better are the way forward. A couple of months ago a health official on Kent radio announced that the new mousses that get put in and left for 30 minutes are the way forward as they coat the lice and suffocate them. Then today the pharmacists told me that only a 24 hour lotion should be used, that no chemical on the market actually kills the eggs and that I should only treat the child with the live one found. But that I should wet comb that child's hair every night for the next 7 days. (I can't help but wonder at the point of the loition at this point - apart from costing me 14 quid!!). Also what happened to the idea of treating the whole family and cleaning all the beds, towels and hair stuff!

The reasons this is such an amazing heartache for me is that my eldest child has aspergers and NO ONE touches her hair. Hair wash days are AWFUL. She's sensitive to smells and the idea of going through her hair tonight is turning my stomach.

So what is the best way?

cheap conditioner and comb through with nitty gritty comb every few days. all professionals (schools aside I would have thought) esp pharmacists will recommend the latest product as its a sale for them.

its all opinions isnt it. My way is neem oil and a nittygritty comb

Dd1 (AS) had them a few weeks ago, we were told to just condition and comb but i chose to use chemicals (as i wanted rid ASAP) we used the 'Full Marks spray' which wasn't that strong smelling, don't use 'lyclear' as it smells really strong. The full marks one only had to be left in for 15 mins so i just put it on dd before her bath, let her play for a while and then wash out.

Another one for cheap conditioner and nitty gritty nit comb here! And you just have to have the patience to do it every couple of days til their gone. It was the only thing that worked for us!

If a child is really really infested I always say one blast of chemicals or hedrin just to eliminate the egg laying adults as soon as possible & quickly but to actually get rid of things you have to nitty gritty comb with conditioner (any will do) because that is the only way to get rid of the eggs & baby lice as they hatch to stop infesting other people who in turn will give it back to your dd.

You only need to nitty gritty every 3-4 days.

ds2 has them at the moment and I used Prioderm but he's still scratching. Ds1 doesn't seem to have caught them?
bronze do you get neem oil from ethnic shops? I might try that.

NITTY GRITTY is hte only product to treat the eggs - and is FABULOUS.

Lots of conditioner. Section the hair and work through methodically with a Nitty Gritty comb. Rinse the comb between sections in a pint glass/jug of water. At the end look in the bottom to see how many critters you have found. It shoudl take about 30-40mins to do a child with shoulder length/long hair properly.

You should comb every 3rd/4th day for at least 2 weeks (or longer if you still find goodies in teh bottom of your jug) to break the life cycle.

However all of that doesn't take into account that your child has special needs and although it is the most successful method it doesn't take into account the fact that it may not be the most appropriate for her. The lotions and potions all need a comb through after treatment though and all require 2 treatments at 7 day intervals AFAIK. It doesn't sound as though it will be easy.

I got mine online but I'm sure most health food/ethnic shop type places would stock it

BTW Nitty Gritty is available on prescription (as long as you can convince your GP). Alternaively about £10 from Tesco, Boots or independant chemists. It is not a typical Nit comb. It is hte Nitty Gritty brand that you need.

My ASD boy also hates hairwash and also had them. The combing through is just awful - it is as if you are torturing him. I used Hedrin to kill the adults, then a 24 hour dose of full marks to kill the eggs. He just can't tolerate the combing so I am leaving that alone. Good luck!

Full marks doesn't kill eggs effectively though. Manufactures claim it does but I think it is disputed. The general consensus is that the egg shell is impervious to them.

OK, so do you all treat all the family? If not then how do you go about being sure that the others don't have any live ones without having to do the full blown conditioner and wet comb...

hmmmm I always nitty gritty those who don't appear to have any just to make sure they don't. Too expensive to treat with solutions those that aren't actually infested.

I wet comb with nit comb every time I wash dc hair. They are all ds with short hair so it doesn't take long. If I find any little critters I will wet comb with loads of conditioner every day until he is clear. This works for us so I don't bother wasting money on lotions.

just to add, if I find more than one or two on a ds I will check myself over too. I have long thick hair so that is a pain and takes ages. Dh has very little hair at all so we let him off!

is there anything that kills the eggs without combing through??? They say that in the event of nuclear war (god forbid) the only creatures to survive would be cockroaches and nits. how come we can blow up the world but not kills these tiny weeny insects???!!

Oh nitty gritty is a comb? I just thought it was a cute word you were all using for a nit comb I'll get one of those then.

Thanks bronze we have 2 really good ethnic shops near to us I'll have a look there.