Headlice (merged)

tawnyowls

I'd back up the use of conditioner, the nitty gritty comb and the tea-tree oil as well. Also, when I was looking this up some time ago, I found that American sites recommended removing the bedding, vacuuming the mattress, and washing bedding and nightwear at 60 degrees. Waterproof mattress protectors (like these: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1036970.htm) were also recommended. Their reasoning was that as lice can live for up to 48 hours after leaving the human head, you could douse the kid with a lice treatment or spend time clearing their hair with a nit comb, only for them to go back to bed and have the chaps waiting on the bedding ready to go back onto nice clean hair. Oddly, the European sites mention nothing about this, but as it seems to be a relatively simple thing to do, perhaps worth trying as well?

bootman

Just wanted to say thank you again for all the advice.
We are all de loused. The nitty gritty comb worked a treat. I have done myself as well with it just to be sure. All the towels and bedding have been washed but unfortunately still on the line, it poured down here so its all got soaked:rolleyes:

I did have to find a Lloyds chemist some way away to get my comb. None of the independants that were local sold them. I was so pleased to be able to get it for free with the letter. It should have cost £9.99.

I looked in Tesco for tea tree shampoo but they did not seem to sell any, so I will have to wait till we are out and about to find an Asda.

kizatt

thanks to reading this thread by chance months ago, when i discovered my son's head was literally crawling with headlice yesterday (yep, i know, bad mother - feeling pretty rotten that i didn't notice sooner!!), i remembered all the mentions of the nitty gritty comb, got on the phone to the nurse at my gp & got one on prescription. it was a bit of a pain to get hold of because nowhere had it in stock, but the last chemist i tried at 6pm last night ordered it in for me & had it by 9 this morning. have since nitty gritty-ed everyone & feeling much better about the apparent hopelessness of it all

thanks again

black-saturn

Yet another breakout with my 2 daughters has lead me on another trip to the pharmacy.

There is a new headlice treatment out called Hedrin. It works by shrinkwrapping the lice or suffocating them instead of killing them with insecticides. It can be used repeatedly every time you child gets lice. You have to apply it to dry hair, it has no smell at all and it feels like smothering cooking oil on their hair. It has to stay on for 8 hours or overnight. You wash it off with regular shampoo and then comb. Then you have to repeat the treatment again 7 days later. So far we are still waiting for the 8 hours to be up so I will let you know in the morning if there has been any success. It costs £11 per bottle and I've had to buy 2 today because my daughters have long hair. If you have short hair you could get away with half a bottle.

Theres a website on it here:

http://www.thorntonross.com/hedrin/

chatta

I tried so many different things on my kids, and the best was using loads of conditioner and the nit comb. Sounds like a good idea and hope you get results, always hated the chemical stuff.

black-saturn

I've tried the conditioner and nit comb but DD1 has hair right down to her bum and it's very thick and it was like fighting a losing battle.

abbecer

My son recently started nursery and soon after we had our first outbreak at home. My hair is fairly long and very thick and no lotions and potions seemed to work. Researching on the internet i came across the Nitty Gritty Comb. I thought i was a bit pricy just for a comb but bought it out of desperation. I have to say i was amazed. Even though i had been treated several times and hours of combing with a conventional comb i still got loads of nits and lice out. It is a really brill design with really long teeth made of metal. Each tooth is shaped like a corkscrew so that it drags any nasties out and they can't slip through. Would work out much cheaper in the long run to use this and cheap conditioner. Also ahs the benefit of no harsh nasty chemicals.

Hope this helps someone

Rebecca x :rotfl:

Enjoy

The Nitty Gritty combs are available on prescription which is free for children.

abbecer

Wish i'd have known sooner that they were free on prescription. But i don't mind really as i think they are brilliant. I bought mine off eBay which worked out slightly cheaper but still more expensive than FREE!!!

Rebecca x :rotfl:

black-saturn

Well I've washed the solution out of their hair this morning and I am happy to say it worked. I saw loads of dead lice going down the drain and I've combed their hair out and a few more came out dead. It's pricey but at least it's worked. I wouldnt hesitate to use it again.