Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Full marks or Hedrin for head lice?

57 replies

NitHater · 09/09/2007 15:55

Which one is best? I have shortlisted it down to these 2 treatments as I know the others are crap.

DD is infested yet again. Ihave caught them too oh the joy.

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 09/09/2007 16:06

You don't need either, you can comb through every night with conditioner

ArcticRoll · 09/09/2007 16:08

Have used Full Marks and wasn't impressed.

Lots of friends have recommended Hedrin but I'm with www; using leave-in conditioner and nitty gritty comb.

Neverenoughhandbags · 09/09/2007 16:09

I have to say that I avoid them and just use the old nit comb, gallons of conditioner and daily combing til you don't get anymore out-you have to persevere for a week or so but it works.
To answer your question, which one works better depends on whether the headlice are resistant to one or other in your area-ask your pharmacist.

Mars · 09/09/2007 16:10

conditioner and nit comb. Only thing that works!

tissy · 09/09/2007 16:11

neither

scienceteacher · 09/09/2007 16:11

I prefer Full Marks - it is so much cheaper than Hedrin (from Costco).

SlightlyMadSweden · 09/09/2007 16:11

Neither.....you need a Nitty Gritty comb and a gallon of conditioner.......MUCH better than topical treatments. It actually gets the eggs out as well as the adults.

scienceteacher · 09/09/2007 16:16

Conditioner is not a great thing to use lots of, or to leave on the hair for a while. It is designed to be something that is rinsed off within a couple of minutes of applying.

It contains quite a lot of relatively harsh chemicals - put a blob on your forearm and leave for 10 minutes or so, and you are likely to have quite a red patch on your skin. The silicone in Hedrin/Full Marks is altogether much kinder to the skin.

jalopy · 09/09/2007 16:28

I used to be an ardent fan of conditioner/comb until my dd had the 'infestation from hell' this summer.
We religiously spent weeks trying to get rid of the eggs to no avail. Finally resorted to using Full marks and it did the trick.
Everyone has a different story to tell

SlightlyMadSweden · 09/09/2007 16:33

Jalopy - did you try the Nitty Gritty? Cos I have found that it does get rid of the eggs so long as you are very thorough?

lou33 · 09/09/2007 16:35

with 4 kids i dont have time to comb through every night with conditioner so i perfer hedrin

Blandmum · 09/09/2007 16:36

for me, nit comb and conditioner.

Never tried the others so I can't help, sorry.

Blandmum · 09/09/2007 16:37

I always wash the conditioner off at the end BTW, unless it is a special 'leave in' one.

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 16:37

clean/condition/comb leave the nit without a home DD1 had a more or less constant infestation when at school, her hair is really thick and a nightmare to get rid of. You can use a tea tree based shampoo to deter the little blighters.

There is a certain flea preparation that i know people have used and it works really well, of course i wouldnt dream of advocating that.

I dont think you need leave the conditioner in for any length of time and you could go for a childs conditioner so it is mild, i would try this over pesticides first. Or maybe the approach could be, one dose of full marks, i have used this and found it ok and then religeous combing out at least twice a week.

jalopy · 09/09/2007 16:38

SMS, I'm the proud owner of 4 different types of combs including nitty gritty. Even got a double edged nit comb....oh and a battery operated one that is supposed to electrocute the lice.

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 16:40

lou33, i know what you mean about the constant combing though, and i only had one DD to deal with, in the end, i taught her to do it herself. She would do it every other night. I have it all to face again with DD2 woohooo

scienceteacher · 09/09/2007 16:42

I don't think products get rid of eggs (nits) - you can only do that with combing (apparently, the cement the lice use to attach the eggs to the hair shaft is amazingly similar to keratin, according to a website I came across). The products are used to kill the live lice.

I've definitely found the silicone-based products far more effective and easier to use than conditioner. I've tried everything over the last 4 years - electic comb, traditional lice treatments, conditioner, mayonnaise, and silicone. Until recently, nothing we tried never cracked the problem 100%. Since discovering Full Marks, we've been lice free, and that must be over 6 months now.

Original poster
NitHater · 09/09/2007 18:46

Thanks. How much is Hedrin bTW? I know full marks cost me nearly £11 .

OP posts:
Original poster
NitHater · 09/09/2007 18:50

sciencetecher - agree about the products not getting rid of the nits - only thorough combing will do the trick and even then I am sure there are still some nits still in there. My DD has very fine hair which makes the buggers harder to get out .

OP posts:
Copper · 09/09/2007 18:50

Hedrin - best ever. £18 for 2 bottles at Boots at the moment. It does get rid of them, but they do catch them again ....

Blandmum · 09/09/2007 18:51

what you can do with the nits (egg sacs) is get the hair nice and slippery, and slide them along the whole lenth of the hair shaft. A pain, but you can shift them

southeastastra · 09/09/2007 19:04

hedrin is incredibly oily to put on and wash off. it's really expensive too.

Original poster
NitHater · 09/09/2007 19:25

Does it kill the eggs though (Hedrin)?

OP posts:
Pinkchampagne · 09/09/2007 19:32

Hedrin is better than Full Marks, and it doesn't make their hair smell awful for weeks after either!

Bounder · 09/09/2007 19:33

No it smothers them apparently. Used it recently with great success during summer hols after combing had obviously missed one or two (or they were re-infected at school more likely) and I was really fed up. You have to do two treatments a week apart to get the new lice though

Swipe left for the next trending thread