What am I doing wrong - Nitty Noras part 2

[mystery]

I have lathered child in conditioner 3 times in the last week and spent 45 minutes each time combing with the fantastic N**** G**** comb. Each time I find 2 or 3 adult lice and more eggs than the previous time. This must mean (cos of the time it takes the newly hatched nymphs to reach adulthood) that I am missing live lice each time I comb. The lice I have caught each time look pretty paralysed by the conditioner but their legs get moving again about half an hour later if I haven't squashed them to death and they have washed up on to the edge of the bowl in which I rinse the comb each time.

Do you think there is something wrong with my technique, or does the conditioner idea really not work unless you comb the child head all day ever day for a month or so?!

I am thinking of giving up and using the chemicals again. My small town has run out of the simple conditioner I use.

If everyone else is combing with the same lack of success as me each child is remaining nitty for a long time so there's a great chance of it continuing to spread further.

HELP!!

[hermanmunster]

It is incredibly difficult to get ALL the lice when you comb hair -that is why there are some left...

Also demonstrates why the "if everyone combed their kids at the same time with head lice combs for 2 weeks the lice would disappear" is flawed

A fair few of the lice are resistant to the chemicals - so before you head down that route again try the Olive Oil +/- a touch of tea tree concoction. loads of the stuff applied, wrap up head in towel for 20mins and then comb - washing afterwards is the fun..

[mystery]

Thanks Herman. It sounds great! Do you know why it might work better than conditioner?

[pist]

Always found Hedrin brilliant. It is not a pesticide, so doesn't have the toxic effects of other chemical solutions and the lice can't become resistant. It is a silicone like substance that sort of smothers the critters to death (maybe the olive oil has same sort of effect) and is supposed to be hypoallergenic, I think. Found 3 treatments with approx 11 days intervals just right to eliminate any chance of eggs/nymphs surviving. You don't need to comb with this treament (although I do tend to do so at least on the morning before washing the solution out -) so not so timeconsuming.

Best to treat whole family at the same time to reduce risk of cross contamination.

Also at school make sure long hair is tied up to reduce risk of it touching other children's hair (your problem could be lice moving from one child to the other at school - not your treatment being ineffective) I tend to use neem shampoo/conditioner on the children when we get notification from school and haven't had any problems for years - touch wood (this could of course just be luck )

[mystery]

Going to try out all these options! I don't want to go back to the one that is an organophosphate as I ended up using it three times in a row last time and children smelt of it for months, so worried they will have nervous system damage!!

The head contact thing at school has always baffled me. DD must clearly be making prolonged head contact with another child, but she says not.

Do you think once I've sorted it I could send her in wearing a headscarf every day?

I always tie her hair back, but of course you still have bunches, pony tail, or plaits dangling around.

But as the lice live in the warmth on the scalp does it in reality make any difference whether hair is fastened back or not?

Also I have got them from DD and so far as I am aware we do not make head contact, so I find it all a bit of a mystery!!

[Warks mum]

We eventually splashed out on an electronic comb from Boots, mainly because the family's skin doesn't react well to strong chemicals. The comb was quite pricey but you could hear the bugs dying and it saved so much time. And I found it much easier to use on myself on one occasion than the conditioner method

[Marylou]

you could hear the bugs dying

...sounds gruesome!

(Must get one of those next time we have a problem with the critters! )

[khanj010]

hi mystery, why dont you buy teatree conditioner, i feel it works better then all the products that i have tried, apparently they dont like the smell and they will suffocate. do this 3 times a week , for 4 weeks this should help! also like me my girl had long hair so i trimmed it to her shoulder length, this makes it easier to get them out and do each section at a time. and if its a boy just give them a short cut, and dab on the tea tree every time ,they will disappear hopefully.

[First-timer]

It would probably surprise you how often younger children make head contact with each other. The older they get, the less likely they are to catch the critters. I think they play differently or develop the notion of personal space as they develop.

I bought one of those zapper combs which is really good at killing off the walkers. A thorough going over with that followed by nightly combing and conditioning usually does the trick. I was like a woman possessed, but I'd rather spend an hour a night dealing with it than have it drag on and on. Mine haven't been troubled by the creepy crawlies since they were in Y2 but I still get the zapper out every so often for the one still in Primary School just in case.

Crossed with a couple of posts above but looks like it might be time to invest in a zapper!

[mystery]

Will look at that too, but I don't think I can nightly comb and condition cos it takes 45 mins on one head alone. We are a hairy family.