Tips on removing head lice?

I've had a similar problem in the past, and gone through everything you are going through right now. The best way to battle lice is with knowledge. Please visit this web site http://www.headlice.org/news/2002/hoffman.htm

The information on this site has helped me to win the battle against lice with both my daughters who are 3 and 5. There is usefull information about LICE SHAMPOOS and why they are ineffective, as well as ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS which produce better results.

It also helped me to understand the life cycle of lice and the most important issue "NITS".

The best tool for pulling out nits is the LiceMeister. The comb is made from highly polished stainless steel; it has longer, more tightly spaced teeth and goes through more hair with each pass. The only thing it don't pull out is "hair".

Edit:

There have been claims that "cider vinegar" collapses the nits, however I did not try it on my daughters based on the information below.

Deborah Altschuler, executive director of the National Pediculosis Association (NPA), has had products tested by experts on animal adhesives, and has yet to find one that's unlocked the secrets of nit glue.

Richard Pollack, entomologist Harvard School of Public Health said: "I've performed some limited work to evaluate the claims that certain products dissolve or degrade the (nit) glue; I remain unimpressed."

God sake NO are you all mad? Do you realise what chemicals are in all of these solutions that you are pouring all over your children scalps. If you must us one of them they are only intended to be used three times a year at the most, they contain chemicals which can cause cancer in later life.

a simple solution:

1. wash child's hair in TEA TREE shampoo

2. Then lashings of TEA TREE conditioner

3. Leave the conditioner in while using the NIT comb

4. Then rinse in clean water (not the water they are sat in)

5. Dry the hair.

6. Section hair into small sections

7. Use straightening irons

ALL DONE

This will kill any remaining head lice

eggs may remain but they are dead you will notice the day after that they are further down the hair strand because the heat from the straightening irons has stopped them from sticking to the hair, within a week they'll be gone completely.

Ok straightening irons aren't good for the hair, but what once in a blue moon going to hurt, nothing a trim won't fix. I would muh prefer my child to run around with a few dead eggs in her hair and a few split ends, than either cancer or live nits and eggs.

GO ON GIVE IT A TRY.

After 6 months you have lost the battle the head lice are immune to the insecticides, you or your daughter are probably being reinfected from another source that requires investigation??.

In the mean time the best thing to do is smother both of you with any cheap hair conditioner 2 or 3 times a week for a fortnight or so leave, this on for half to one hour, then comb through, this should release the eggs from the hair

The only way i have managed to keep them out of my daughters hair is by combing every 2 days at the least with the nitty gritty comb ensuring you cover all of the scalp as often the eggs will be laid close to the scalp at the back of then neck, behind ears etc. Also i never allow her to school with hair down, it is always tied back or plaited. If i ever get slack she will get them again very quickly as far too many people just wont/dont do it.

First of all i would put a lot of conditioner on your daughters hair and comb it through with a nit comb, it will remove the eggs and the lice.

Keep doing this every other day for about a week, as well as treating it. If the treatment you use isn't working, try another one. Full marks mousse is good.

Tea tree oil (or any kind of oil but tea tree is best). It's VERY good. Just put it on your daughter's hair neat, the headlice will literally fall out, they really hate it. Unfortunately it's more difficult to get rid of the eggs and I can't really suggest anything except to keep using a fine toothed comb and maybe to go through her hair and use your fingernails to pull them out (although this is a very slow process you at least know you're getting them out). Remember that the white ones are dead, so although they don't look nice if she only has white ones it means none of them are about to hatch into headlice. It's harder to stop her picking them up again, especially when she's at nursery but tie her hair back if it's long, or clip back the longer bits and tell her to try not to cuddle up to the other children too much (although I realise she's not likely to remember that but no harm in telling her).

You are doing the right things, make sure you inform her nursery too. I found with my daughter using tea tree conditioner helped but found the combs were pretty much useless, its a bit of a laborious task but as you go through your daughters hair, each time you see an egg pinch it between your fingers and slide it off the hair. Its the only thing I found that helped with the eggs.

Good luck x

I had a similar problem, couldn't get any solutions to work for my sons either. In the end I just kept combing their hair through with tea tree conditioner and a nit comb. It took about two weeks but eventually they were clear.

Have you had a word with her nursery, you are doing all the right things but if the other mums are doing nothing you are fighting a losing battle. They need to send a letter to all the parents asking politely for them to check their child's head and treat them if needed.

Edit; You need the nursery to be firmer with the parents of the children that are coming in that obviously haven't been treated. By asking permission for them to do head checks, they have done this at my daughters school, they will be able to narrow down the offenders and if necessary tell them their child will not be allowed back until they have been treated and the problem cleared.

Buy a nitty gritty head lice comb to use when using conditioner.The combs are quite expensive but they do remove eggs.