Headlice (merged)

tiff

It must be awful when you dont have full control of the situation. Hope the wounds heal up quickly x

clarice_2

Hope the doctor has a solution. I was wondering if using hair straighteners would kill the lice and eggs?

stefejb

Ah Headlice - my sworn enemies - I have been fighting them for 18 years - since the eldest went to school - youngest is going to high school this year so that might be the end of them but as dgs also starts nursery in sept we could just be starting a new round. The nitty gritty is brilliant and well worth the money - I'm told that you can get it on prescription so for those on free prescriptions it's worth a try. My middle daughter had dermatitis on her scalp so chemicals were out. If you take her to one of those pharmacists that have a consulting room they may be able to help. The condition-combing did work but you have to keep it up. That girl is 19 now and the only one of us who never gets them. I think that's because her hair is so full of products and then straightened every day that the lice just don't stand a chance. I check hair on a sunday and if there are nits or eggs do it every other day until clear. For those with girls with long lovely hair I got this tip from a hairdresser who discovered our first unwelcome visitors. Wash hair on Friday night so that it's nice for the weekend and then don't wash it all week if the head is free from nits - lice find it harder to get a grip on greasy hair. For school days wind into a tight bun and secure with a scrunchy.
I remember years ago helping out in the school uniform shop and seeing this little girl with a crawly head as I helped her try on jumpers. I sort of pointed them out to the Welfare lady and was told that I couldn't mention them as it would be regarded as an assault!

stefejb

clarice wrote: »

Hope the doctor has a solution. I was wondering if using hair straighteners would kill the lice and eggs?

cross posted - I think it wouldn't do live lice much good but I'm not sure that it would help with killing eggs as they're pretty close to the scalp. dd(11)'s hair gets straightened a couple of times a week but I still find live lice

blue_monkey_2

Hi, my DD had a friend come to stay who was always riddled with nits, when I first found them I was absolutely manic like you - washing and cleaning everything she had been near or touched, I laugh I think about it now. However, the nits fall out when they are dying and they cannot go onto animals so although you should wash everything there is no need to be so manic about it like I was, once they start losing their grip they will not be able to stay on the hair - and they stay on the hair to reproduce.

I would suggest that you deal with this tactfully in that you already know both girls have nits, but you should call the mum/dad and say 'I am so sorry but it looks like (my) DD has nits and I found then while you DD was here, I tried to check xx hair but she did not want me to. we have all treated and combed but I could not do your DD so maybe you could have a check and see if my DD has passed them on'. Apologise again and leave it at that. then he can check and maybe he will realise his DD has the problem and it needs dealing with. If not - well then this is why there is a nit problem in the first place.

If she comes to stay again and you want to 'help out' then you could suggest a 'hairdressing night' where you can give it a good comb through and get rid of as many little blighters as poss. Make it discreet and while combing if you have some boiling water you can dip the comb in to kill them instead of making a fuss. At the same time get some Tea Tree conditioning spray to use on her hair too. Also, get some TT shampoo conditioner for the washing bit of the 'hairdressing night'. it is so hard to know the right thing to do isn't it.

For the little girl with the problem with her eczema and her hair, it is possible you could get some tea tree conditioner and leave it on all night with some sort of hat on her head and just rinse it through in the morning. Something for sensitive scalps that can be left on of the little blighters lose their grip and then the hair is coated, you'll just need to rinse it through in the morning and because it is so deep conditioned then it should not need combing. I hope that helps. Poor mite.

Some parents just do not seem to get a grip on this - why can't they be bothered unless they are not taking 5 minutes to wash their own kids hair in the evenings!! I got banned from Playgroup because I found 6 nits on DD and I mentioned it, I had combed them out and I never saw anymore so I clearly got them early. The one who had the nits never got banned, they continued to pass them around. Made me so cross!!

Savvy_Sue

I've merged this into our existing thread on uninvited visitors!

Charlie, how old is your sd? I'm just wondering if she's of an age when she could reasonably be expected to make her own decisions about her hair? I know you'd be blamed - but surely you will whatever you do?

aliasojo

I'm positive I've got them too now, but I cant find them!

I had one which I saw walking across the top of my hair (got when giving daughter's friend a cheer up cuddle in the hall in front of the mirror as luck would have it, lol) so I got it off immediately before it went anywhere and I couldn't find anything else nor could OH who was MADE to sit and examine me for about an hour. :rotfl:

I've combed with n ordinry plastic nit comb twice and the nitty gritty comb/tee tree conditioner twice so far and found nothing but I feel like they're walking on me. It's different areas that itch which suits my theory ( of them walking I mean ).

I'm almost 45 for goodness sake, I've never had nits in my life and I dont want them now! :eek:

*sits in corner pretending all is well so daughter doesn't develop some sort of emotionl hang up because her Mother is quietly freaking out over the thought of things taking over her body* :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

aliasojo, we're ALL itching just reading this! :rotfl:

Keep using the nit comb, keep checking your DD's hair (and everyone else's, just in case!) but I swear a lot of the itching is in the mind ...

aliasojo

I've just found another one! How the hell could it have escaped detection up till now! My hair has been combed to within an inch of it's life! I didn't even find eggs! Aaaargghhh! I want to shave my head!

My daughter having nits is ok, I can deal with that........but not me. :rolleyes:

:rotfl:

Anyway, got daughter's friend's Dad on phone and he knew about them and had bought stuff to treat her hair this afternoon. I got the impression they had known all along she had nits (that would explain the girl's upset reaction earlier).

I'm slightly upset that a) nothing was mentioned to me and b) she was allowed to stay over given that she was pretty infested with the things. Not the end of the world I suppose but we wouldn't be sitting here with lousy heads now if we'd known.

myrnahaz

My niece, Emma is 14 and has had nits almost constantly since she first started school. I think she is probably the one who gives them to other schoolkids (apologies to the other kids and their mums!!) as she seems to be catching them off her mum.
Her social life was absolutely zero and she has no friends, so she has now gone to live with her Dad and his new wife. Emma's stepmum found that the only way she could get rid of the nits on a long-term basis was to dye her hair; she uses a colour that's very close to Emma's natural colour so she doesn't get into trouble at school. It seems to keep her nit-free for weeks, but it's not a chemical-free method so it's not suitable for everyone (saying that, it's probably less neuro-toxic than the chemical nit lotion).