Head Lice....Nits.....and Advice On Helping A Teen That Is INFESTED... HIS MUM is NOT trying to help???

[MsF]

Long story- Ds's friend is 15 and has shoulder length hair...and we discovered 6 weeks ago that we were all catching headlice from him.

We had no contact for 3 weeks...and we were all 'clear' - then the first day he came round- ds1 had 7 large lice on his head.

so....DH spoke to this lad's mum...who promised to treat him.

So that night- she combed his dry matted/knotted hair with a nitcomb- and belitteld him about how disgusting he was.

he was in agony- she was rough- and he was heartbroken...he was chatting to my son on msn all night and DS was upset cos he felt so gutted for him too.

so....his friend then asked ME if i would help him rid the headlice.

And that is what i have been doing... but am just not sure if its possible for me to ever clear his hair as it really is covered in dead eggs-making it so hard to comb (even with conditioner)

I have used Hedrin twice, and spent 1 hour combing yesterday....the comb was thick with dead tiny lice and though i wasted to carry on...had to stop as he had to go home.

so...whereas with my own family- i can condition and comb (tea tree conditioner) every night if needed...i feel i am fighting a losing battle for this poor lad...as at best i could probaby do 2 combings a week...but easier/more practicle to do just 1 combing...

so...would that be enough...

If not... should i raise this with school nurse? Is this a 'welfare issue' that I should take 'further' as i have 'other concerns' too.

oh dear
briefly, yes i would speak to school nurse, she/he will know best course of action

He is 15? He can comb his own hair fgs! He needs a nitty gritty comb to get rid of the dead eggs.

How nice that a teenage boy can come to his friends mum with an embarassing problem! That says a lot for you that you are willing to do that for him too.

Do you think other members of his family have them if so it will be pointless treating him as he will get reinfested if they are not treated too.

I would talk to the school nurse but not before I had talked it over with him explaining that maybe the nurse would have a more effective remedy. It would be awful if he felt he could not come to you again.

What a nice person you are

yes it is so sad...he's feeling worse now as he feels I care about him more than his own mum...and he thinks he's done something wrong for her not to care etc.

and though i am furious that she has not helped him...i cannot be seen to be negative in front of him- so i am citing reasons such as she works full time etc etc...but deep down i am so upset too...as he had an untreated infestation for at least 6 weeks...

poor lad, i know he will probably be mortified at the idea, but if he is infested so badly, best thing for him to do is cut his hair short. at least then it would be really easy to comb and be rid once and for all. he can always grow it again. could you suggest cutting to him?

It's really hard to nitty gritty comb your own long hair though, especially if its knotty.

I'd have a word with the school nurse, and support him by doing his hair when he is round. A good chance to make him feel a bit cared for too

ps, well done for helping him so much with this!

It's pretty much impossible to nit comb your own hair properly - you can't see well enough to do it, but a combination of you doing it well(and that's a really nice thing to do, not sure if I could do it, my DCs are bad enough!) and him giving it a go in between might help control it?

thanks newpup/slarty.

and bibbity...he's got a form of Autism (Aspergers) ...as do all my 3 boys...this does make it harder for him.

I gave him a small bottle of tea tree conditioner yesterday...and have suggested he wash and use that every other day...and nitcomb for 5 minutes each time....

It is hard treating his hair- as though mine have all had odd bouts of headlice over the years...I've always cleared them within days of finding them...and kept them clear for months...so this is a completely new experience to me....

if there are other concerns then yes raise them.
and yes constant untreated headlice infestations are considered a cause for concern on their own