Head Lice .... what do they look like ???

[crystaltips]

I am trawling through all the previous posts on this topic .... and have great advice about the treatments ( thanks ) ... but I am not too sure what I am looking for.

DD's head is very itchy and all around the problem areas ( nape of neck and ears ) it's red and sore.

I have dry and wet combed and all I can find are tiny dark specks ( 2mm in length and oblong in shape ) I presume these are the eggs ... none of this "creamy full stops" that have been quoted.

What do the adults look like ? I cannot see any evidence of them ... I did see something that looked like a black fly .... but other people have quoted beetles ....

Other people have commented on removing an adult and then seeing 20 "babies" later on ... what do these look like ...

Any pointers much appreciated
Thanks

crystaltips - these dark specks you are describing sound like small lice to me - the adult only grows to up to 5 mm in length. If you are wet combing with conditioner, they will be 'shutting down', still and sort of curled up, and just look like small black blobs. The eggs are creamy, and are very hard to spot.

Keep combing - if they are not big yet, they can't be laying eggs, so you need to get them out before they do.

Make sure you tell school tomorrow - they need to know about it, and to know that you are tackling the problem.

Good luck! Is she cooperative with the combing?

Incidentally I had been regularly checking dss hair for ages, and - like you - had very little clue what I was looking for. Our school nurse did a short (30 mins) information session for parents of infants, accompanied by a video. It was very helpful. Maybe you could suggest something similar in your school. I'm sure there are loads of other people who don't know what they're looking for.

kmg1 - thanks ... DD is very good ... and after the inital shock and embarrassment did not seem too worried. Told her that the nits go for beautiful clean hair and that seemed to do the job !!
School are very good about this - but there are too many parents who feel that they are too busy to co-operate - and that "nits are a part of growning up" ?!!

Maybe I should be thankful that the "infestation" is not too gory!!

Don't look if you're squeamish! here are some pictures of headlice Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

OMG !!!
Noooo thankfully we don't have those ..... yet .....
Have just ordered the Bug Buster stuff !
THANKS!!

my son got them awhile ago and the adults are very hard to see as they are smal and fast the are mostly clear or creamy in colour and hav a dark spot near there head the beast way to get rid of them is to wet comb as they carnt swim and to put condtioner on the hair first (it stops them from being able to grip the hair)do that every othere day for 2 weeks and that should get them all.

I found that if your child has thick or wavy hair that may be a bit tangled those plastic combs that you get from chemists used to bend and then be useless as they had gaps in them. The thing I have found to be pretty good and much easier to use is a cat/dog flea comb - like this - that link takes a while to get there!!

ideal - Thanks alot

Got the bug buster pack yesterday, and last night I gave DD her first bug busting session ( as she said she was still itching ) ....
See previous posting about "OMG ... we don't have those ... yet " .... Utter crap !!! The comb was covered in them ...!!
We turned it into a game ... how many can we get this time ....
Slept really badly myself ( itchy scalp !! )

Oh poor you crystaltips - hope the bug busting is going well?

My dd had them (again) recently, she has really thick hair and lots of it, after using loads of conditioner and not getting anywhere, as a last resort (and the last thing left in the bathroom cupboard) I used baby oil. This was by far the best thing I have ever used on the little blighters, they were literally dropping out of her hair. I won't be bothering with conditioner or chemicals ever again. It's been over a month now and we haven't had one single sighting, but we still have a weekly comb just in case.

The eggs are tiny white-ish almost clear, and stick like crazy to the hair shaft. Usually close to the scalp - the warmth apparently!! The lice move quicly, so you should be able to see them. They do vary in size, from hard to see to rottweillers!! I've had kids in my class where the damn things are having a carnival and STILL no-one does anything. Poor children!!

Try a sample of Triity soap from Eelnas Nature Collection as it contains Tea tree and Lavender Essential oils. Wash hair in it once a week and it will keep nits/headlice at bay! Email:[email protected] and mention Mumsnet to obtain a free pack.