Can anyone offer any practical advice re the extermination of headlice as I have absoloutely had it up to here with the blighters.

[nittygritty]

please..please..please..Im desperate!!!
eldest dd is a teenager with very long hair, she has refused to have it cut and as a result has had headlice for months, shes passed them on to the whole family, inc me.
I have tried everything, full marks mouse, lyclear, full marks lotion, derbac m lotion, robi comb and wet combing, to no avail, the lotions dont work..at all, they are useless, i think we have super lice as after applying the lotion we were still combing out live lice!
dd is constantly scratching, , my scalp is red raw, im so desperate, im tempted to have all my hair shaved off, in fact im tempted to shave everyones hair, trouble is, dd just gets re infected because shes always cuddling her friends, then she hugs her brothers and sister.
im not a dirty person, ive even tried wet combing for a month, but they still had live lice in their hair.

desperate bump

Have you tried Delacet? It's the only thing that works on my girls and because it's not one of the pesticide chemical based things we can use it once a week. We also comb through with a nit comb and conditioner but the Delacet has been a lifesaver.
Also there's a new one out called Hedrin. Again not pesticide lotion so can be used frequently. We haven't used this one so can't comment on it's effectiveness.
Good luck - it's a nightmare isn't it?

juuule, great! can I get them from a chemist??

Do you do the wet combing with conditioner? Add tons of tea tree oil - they hate that! I use a massive splodge of conditioner with about 5 drops of the oil and they get out quick.

Oh and just to say - all the lotions you named haven't worked for us either. Applied as on the bottle and like you combed out live lice:( . Suleo M seemed to reduce the numbers but didn't get rid.

I feel for so you so much - DD1 was similarly infected this time last year and we tried EVERYTHING! I work in a paediatric dept and eventually braved to ask head of dept Professor and he suggested the really oily one (will run and get it out of airing cupboard) which stunk to high heaven but by god it worked! We also bought the nitty gritty comb which was marvellous and still comb it on a weekly basis "just to make sure"!

I was pregnant and kept getting infected but the all say don't use on pregnant women but in the end on advice of a doctor I did as I am sure it was me reinfecting the poor child

Right let me run and get name of it - don't shave your hair just yet - there is light at the end of the tunnel (but you're making me scratch!!!)

SL x

straightforward-ive tried heavy conditioning, but not with tea tree oil, im guessing you mean neat tea tree?

Straightforward - we tried that but you can only keep it up for so long. Cranky kids not wanting their hair combed through for an hour. 6yo screaming all the way through the combing. So you leave it a couple of days and lo and behold they are off again with the head zoo.

try mixing vinegar to final rinse water in a jug when you wash their hair (1 part vinegar, 1 part water). It neutralises the eggs and stops them fom hatching, so even if you miss any eggs when combing they shouldn't survive. I've found all the lotions useless and tea tree not much better, but vinegar seems to work!

OK - brought back hideous memories but its Prioderm lotion - alcohol based so one whiff of that little beauty and I'm not suprised they die!!!

With your name I guess you've got the nitty gritty comb? Marvellous it is too: \link{http://www.nittygritty.co.uk/ng/index.jsp?page=/productInfo.jsp&productId=3\here}

Good luck - SL x

thirtysomething, normal table vinegar(like sarsons), or white vinegar?

silverlining-theres a nit comb in every corner of this house, thanks have made a note of that lotion.
great ideas everyone

yep, any old table vinegar!

figured as much! I do feel for you - I was worried my new baby would come out covered in them too!!! Had a sweep done when overdue and the midwife said "Ooo I can feel its got lots of hair" and all I could think was "not bludy lice on it please"!!

Good luck - SL x

excellent..

Have to say, my DD's hair is the most knotty in the world but it didn't take me an hour - I added neat tea tree to a huge splodge of cheapo conditioner and combed it through with a really fine comb (not nit comb though), then rinse. Took 10 or 15 mins the first time (& lots of full-on screaming from DD), left it a night or so then repeated on and off for about 10 days (each time got easier and quicker) and it got rid. HTH

silverlining-, they are a bleddy menace arent they!

right wel, the headlice families days are numbered, thanks everyone

Did the vinegar - didn't get rid of lice but did loosen the eggs.

I've not seen Delacet in the shops but I get mine from \link{http://multipharmacy.com/shop/customer/search.php?substring=delacet\here}

Straightforward - I've got 5 girls hair to go through and 4 of them have quite thick hair. A couple of times we have done \link{http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/index.html\this}
and it has worked. But then 2 or 3 weeks later they are back and you have to start all over again. It gets soul destroying. So to have something that I can use alongside the combing which seems to work is a godsend.

After months of nothing working, all crawling with them , we wiped out the blighters with 99p (available at Tesco's etc) Alberto Balsam Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and the matching conditioner. It contains tea tree and mint I think, but is not medicated and can be used on kids with no dangers. we just washed hair with shampoo, combed masses of conditioner through with big comb and then left on for a couple of hours whilst combing out all the nits/lice could find, before rinsing out. Seemed to prevent lice replicating - after a couple of times they were no more. Also, since then have used shampoo/conditioner on regular basis as a preventative - even when all friends around going down with lice, our house was safe! Have since recommended it to friends who also said it worked for them when nothing else would. So worth a try - and it's not a harsh chemical and it is cheap and easy to get hold of. and lice seem to hate it.

hedrin is a bloody marvel imo. no smell - and for older kids they get paranoid that all their friends will "know" ( the same fking friend who gave them in first place no doubt)

and after using it - my hair felt really really - i mean really nice.

piss small bottles thoguh

where do you get hedrin from custy?
carol, will arm myself with some of that conditioner also.

Unfortunately, I've just come from the chemist with a bottle of Hedrin for dd. No idea what the other treatments cost as this is our first experience, but this stuff is dear - almost £12 per bottle!! Hope it works quickly and completely.

If (I'll say when :) ) you get rid of them, try rinsing hair with diluted vingar when you wash. I don't know if it's the smell lice hate or whether, as I was told, the acid dissolves the glue holding the eggs onto the hairs, but it works for me and mine. We have not had a reinfestation since I started religiously using the vinegar rinse. I have 2 kids at school and I work in a preschool so I have had some experience with the little feckers :)