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Head Lice


Teejay153

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DS 16 had the worst case of head lice I've ever seen. There was thousands of them. Anyway I have treated them over the last 3 weeks and think they are all gone however there is thousands of eggs. I have a metal comb and am slowly getting them out but DS has super thick past shoulder length hair and it is taking forever and he says the metal comb hurts. He has finally agreed to get his hair cut but I can't take him while these eggs are in there. Does anyone know a quicker way to remove them?

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Hair straightener to fry them? Not sure if that's for the eggs or the lice.

 

I’ve heard of that too , there are also gadgets out there especially for this purpose - like they emit an electrical current to kill the eggs. Google it.


DD had lice so many times in her first year of school, I lost count and I became so numb to it then I was picking lice out of her hair with my bare fingers. Have you tried chemical treatments ? I still think the combing / conditioner method is the best, but I always did this with a chemical treatment as well.

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Hair salons that treat lice will happily cut his hair in this state. They will charge more obviously ( likely for the treatment/partial treatment).

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I'm pretty sure they are all dead eggs as they are white but there's just so many and I don't think a hairdresser will cut it while they are still there. I am 99% sure all the lice are gone but I'll keep combing every few days. I used chemicals (moov) as there was just so many at the start

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Hair salons that treat lice will happily cut his hair in this state. They will charge more obviously ( likely for the treatment/partial treatment).

 

I had a quick look but I couldn't see any in Brisbane

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I do conditioner with the plastic comb first and then do the metal comb at the end for egg removal. I have tried 2 egg removal shampoos - the one from Coles in a box worked okay but the Neutralice one smells so bad I am not sure we have used enough of it to be effective. I don’t know if there is any evidence for the shampoos.


The problem with frying them with the straightener is that most are really close to the scalp. So I’ don’t think it is a great solution overall. My child will let me get the plastic comb closer to the scalp than the metal one so I always have both on hand.


We had a bad experience with our then FYOS girl where I thought we had them all out and took her to the hairdresser and they found live ones and marched us out the door. We had been battling outbreaks over and over and just wanted a haircut to have less hair to deal with.

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Guest BusbyWilkes

Hair salons that treat lice will happily cut his hair in this state. They will charge more obviously ( likely for the treatment/partial treatment).

 

I had a quick look but I couldn't see any in Brisbane

 

The lice clinic quoted up thread has outlets in Kedron and somewhere else in Brissy. Not in Qld, but my cousin had a home visiting lice remover come to their place when their teenager had a bad infestation. The money was worth not having to deal with it personally, as the teen was much less whingy with a stranger doing it rather than Mum!


Also, does he have additional needs? If not, how did it get so bad before he let you know about it? Not useful now I know, but would be worth a chat to prevent the issue being this bad again.

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I'm pretty sure they are all dead eggs as they are white but there's just so many and I don't think a hairdresser will cut it while they are still there. I am 99% sure all the lice are gone but I'll keep combing every few days. I used chemicals (moov) as there was just so many at the start

Plump whitish eggs are not necessarily dead. The dead ones are often a more tan coloured and shrunk down in appearance.

Unfortunately there is no way you can stop the cycle until all eggs are removed as it only takes one live one to hatch and reset the cycle.


When the head is so overwhelmed by lice and hair is hard to comb then a hair cut helps a lot but as the school's nit nurse of the 90s I used a gloved hand to slide each egg off the shaft of the hair and threw them into a jug of Dettol. It is time consuming :cry:

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Which comb are you using? The lice breaker one was the best I found.

Also, how much conditioner are you using? It needs to be plastered on and left for about 30 mins. With that much on, the comb usually doesnt pull on the hair as much.


There used to be a lice egg remover - it dissolves the glue. But I have heard that vinegar does the same.

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Pinkflamingo

The best thing I ever did for DS was shave his head, he had lovely shoulder length hair, but he broke his wrist after being pushed over and there was no way he was going to be able to wash it either, so off it came. Drastic, I know, but he actually has never had them again! (DS23)


DD was continuously getting them in Prep/Year 1 as they were all into hugging (no matter how many times I spoke to the school about it as DD was/is not a hugger) and I was so sick of getting rid of them for school holidays only to have them back by the end of week 1. The very last (and hopefully ever) treatment I did consisted of green mouthwash, a shower cap for 10mins, then rinsed and conditioner and comb out. I did do another conditioning treatment later that week, but she has never got them again. I wonder if that was to do with the smell or not, I'm not 100% sure, as we also did try an essential oil mix that actually burnt a small hole in DD's hair!


I was the last person in this house to get them unfortunately, and quite badly, but neither of the kids got any!!

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I find the only way to really get them out is to sit there and pick them off strand by strand. Work in small sections. It takes hours but its really the best way.


Honestly with an infestation that bad, i would be shaving his head at home.

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If he won't let you have a go with the clippers and take it all off...

I'd start with lots of conditioner and a plastic comb. The metal ones do hurt more! The plastic one will get the majority out. Then go through and pick the remaining ones by hand. It is a time consuming job.

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A good cup of white cleaning vinegar in the hair helps get the eggs off. And it doesn’t clump all over the comb like conditioner.

Mans honestly? Get a pair of clippers and shave it off.

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When people say that the metal combs hurt, are they talking about the tips of the comb hurting the scalp or it pulling the hair?

I can’t remember the brand, as fortunately my kids have only had head lice once and it was some years ago, but the tips of the combs, it was a twin pack with one being finer, are rounded.

I just did it in sections. I put the majority up, started at the base of their scalp and just moved up like 1cm each time. Both my girls have thick hair that was past their bottoms too.


I went and bought heaps of really cheap conditioner and added about 10% tea tree oil. I don’t know what the tea tree does, but it was recommended on a parenting website. I wiped the comb on paper towel each time I ran the come through their hair. There were so many eggs and live ones the first time, but not a sign when I did a follow up a few days later. I may have just been lucky, but it worked.

Oh, and I left it in their hair for probably half an hour (however long that it took me to get through 4 kid’s hair) and then gave it another quick once over before I rinsed it out.


I’ve heard the straightener works too, but didn’t know at the time, so can’t help there.


Good luck!

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Ah, so much for social distancing, DD has also had her first bout.


I have been romanticising over the days when orphanages just shaved everyone's head.


DD has very fine hair and the nit comb is simply not catching all the eggs. I wondered about using vinegar so I think that's our quality time for this afternoon sorted.

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You have all made me soo itchy with this thread!


Silly question but what age do I need to start worrying about this as DD is 2, and has long hair that she resists having tied up but cuddles everyone at daycare..

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I'm presuming it's anytime kids are in close contact. One in 4 primary school kids carrying them at any one time apparently.


As a teenager I remember screaming hysterically at my little sister every time she caught headlice and we all had to be treated. It's the fricking combing that puts you over the edge.


Maybe try cute new hair ties to encourage your DD to have her hair back TinyGiraffe?


I have resorted to plaiting, leave in conditioner and hairspray to keep flyaways from providing a ladder for new lice. I'm dreading her catching them again after I spent more hours combing than a mermaid last week.

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My youngest had just turned 3 and just started kindy/ELC. He was the first that I noticed scratching and his hair had a lot of bugs/eggs in it.


I did also follow up with a very weak tea tree and water solution for a few months. Just a light mist for the boys and I sprayed the girls hair daily as I put it up anyway.

You can smell it as you spray it, but could barely smell it when I smelt my son’s hair about 10 minutes later.

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Literally Nobody

There is a guy at Wilston that removes headlice. He has a salon under his house. He treated my Dd’s hair and is very good.

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