Head lice - what on earth am I looking for?

[Annner]

We've just been turfed out of the hairdressers, as eggs were found in DD's (aged 2.3) hair. Her hair is very fine, and they were obvious once pointed out to me: eggy shaped things stuck to her hair shaft.

However, the hairdresser had a quick look at my hair and said that I had them too.

Well, I have just spent an hour with a Nittygritty comb and an application of nice'nclear, but I cannot for the life of me see anything, and neither could DH. The blobs on the comb all turned out to be lumps of the lotion as it dried on my head. I've sectioned the hair carefully, looked along the shaft and every parting, behind my ears... nothing.

From my reading of archived posts, shouldn't it be the case that there shouldn't be any doubt?

Nice'nclear seems to be used as part of a wet comb approach, so it isn't that I'm using the wrong sort of gloop. Or am I?

I'm supposed to be getting my hair cut on Saturday, and I don't want the humiliation of being sent packing - but equally, I don't want to cancel the appointment unless I have to!

Many thanks,
Annner

i imagine you'd have found some if you have wet combed it, i bet she didn't look properly

The egg casings stick to the hair and just stay there until they grow out. The nittygitty comb is the only comb that removes the eggs. It could be that you had nits at one point and now you don't but still have the egg casings IYKWIM. I believe that nit eggs are white but when they are hatched they are brown.

they look like miniature brown/black crawling things (like pin prick and bigger)

or if you get them like we do, they can look almost the size of ants but brownish

That's what I thought! I really got the impression that you would be able to see the little blighters on the comb shafts, but there is nothing at all.

So should I still wet comb myself anyway, to be on the safe side?

Arghhh. DS is four months and v hairy. Oh deep joy.

Annner

def get the nitty gritty comb - it gets so much more out

I have to say that when I know DTDs have head lice I don't actually see them with the NittyGritty as I think it is tooo coarse and teh wrong colour.

I actually comb each section with a plastic bugbusting comb for detection - they stand out like a sore thumb then.

When we have an attack I comb each section with the plastic bugbuster comb - so I can see what I am pulling out. Then comb each section with the NittyGritty to ensure there are no tiny ones left/remove destroy as many eggs as I can. I rinse the Nitty gritty in a jug full of water between each section and usually find the few lice that come out with the Nitty gritty sink to the bottom and can be seen.

Was the egg that was shown to you white or dark. IIRC white ones are harmless empty egg shells whilst the dull, dark ones (can't usually be seen unless hair is very fine/fair) are the eggs that have yet too hatch.