MORE Creepy Crawlies..... UGH!

[Sunbeam]

I know this is not a medical forum - but as many of you are organic in your approach to what you put into your body - I wondered whether anyone has a natural miracle remedy for HEAD LICE!! (apologies to all who are now scratching incontrollably! )

My son has been itching for a couple of days & I have found a couple of the hiddeous nasties crawling around on his head Can anyone suggest anything?? I don't put chemicals on the food I grow - I don't really want to put them on Kiran!!

(scratch, scratch, scratch.... sorry!)

[DrBill]

No miracles I'm afraid. Like you I feel unhappy about the use of insecticides. I don't like to think of them in my food so why should we put them on our children's heads. And there is some suggestion that the available treatments for lice (malathion and permethrin) may have some detrimental effects on the nervous system.

Lice that are damaged die very quickly and this is the rational behind the "bug busting" method of canditioning and combing. Don't be misled by the little white nits which seem to persist for ever - these are actually empty egg cases stuck firmly to the hair shaft - unsightly but harmless.

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069052/

[Alice]

Hello Sunbeam, if you don't want to use chemicals you can do the job by hand. Just work your way through the hair, section by section , and pick out all the boogies. It might help to know that these little boogies adapt to the colour of the hair, so if your son acquired dark ones from a dark haired child and he is fair then you have to learn to look for flat white ones close to the scalp. To remove the nits apply some vinegar. This loosens the "cement" they stick on with and makes them easy to remove. With time and patience you can clear them without the use of chemicals. As I said in another thread, check everybody in the house as they do get around. About 3 days should do the job, but keep checking incase of new hatches. And do report to the school so that other children can be treated. Maybe the poor teachers got them too.

[vicki]

there's a natural remedy that you can get caled 'chinese whispers' which is a deterrent rather than a cure but it does work - its a spray you can do daily on dry hair.
to get rid of the ones you've got already I think simple wet combing is the most efficient thing to do - comb through wet hair with conditioner every couple of days - you can see the lice when the hair is wet much better - its gross I know but you'll get there in the end!!

[bramble]

Hi sunbeam, I found tea tree oil to be very good. Wash hair as normal and then comb the oil through a couple of times. Also rinse his hair in tea tree oil.
Hope this helps.
Gabrielle.

[sewer rat]

Iona has long curly hair and whenever she gets smitten, I just comb through and remove the bast***s which takes a long long time, then we wash her hair in tea tree shampoo and condition it with tea tree conditioner which we leave on overnight - advised to do this by our local chemist and it seems to do the trick

[Sunbeam]

Many thanks to all - I will be tackling them today - combing, tea tree et al!

I know I will have to do David and myself - what about the our /pillows bedding - I have read that they cannot be removed with just water - will a hot wash with biological powder in the machine be enough?? I intend to irradicate them once and for all.. (this time)

I will obviously inform his nursery, I guess this is just the first of many nitty moments! Do they still have Nitty Nora, the Bug explorer (nit nurse) at school these days ?

[blackkitty]

I'm afraid schools no longer have nitty norahs, unfortunately, but you should notify the school. Tea tree oil is supposed to help. Some schools actually ask all parents to use it to help prevent outbreaks. As far as I'm aware you need to wash your bedding on the hottest cycle in the machine and that should do it. Don't forget to soak all your brushes in boiling water as well.
Hope this helps.

[sewer rat]

Nits can only survive on the hair itself so the bedding should be okay as far as not causing future infestations etc, but for hygeine purposes, I'd wash it as normal.

[lyndap]

When my now 16year old had nits a few years ago we were told to comb normal conditioner through his hair,then wash as normal.This worked just as well as any of the chemicals previously used on my elder children,when they were nippers and infected!(I hasten to add they were only 'lousy' about 3 times in all their school life)No doubt we will have this to look forward to again as my 3year old grandson starts nursery in september!

[nick the grief]

A no1 haircut like mine is effective as there's nowt for them to live in Failing that we used to have a nit come that had 2 AA batteries in & a little inverter & it Zapped them ( bit like the bug killers in shops only smaller) I think we got that from Argos or somewhere like that.

The trouble with the nit killers they sell at the chemists is they develope an immunity to it after a while.

[Sunbeam]

So far, I have combed tea tree oil through all our hair (on each of us, I mean!!) I found 5 little buggers on me and 3 on David - which made me smile as he insisted he NEVER had them at school! (well you do now, darlin'!) and left it in for the day, then washed our hair with normal shampoo with a couple of drops of tea tree in twice, then put in conditioner with a couple of drops of tea tree in and left it in ... all the while combing through with a nit comb.. Was going to repeat the shampoo and conditioner bit this evening, but Kiran is fast asleep on the sofa next to me - so this may not happen...

So far we haven;t seen anymore of them since yesterday,although I can see little brown things attached to the hair shaft...

The upside of having Nits - our Nitty Nora at school told us that if we had them then we came from a very loving family as the only way they can spread is through close physical contact!! (Yeh, I know she said it make us feel better...)

[bramble]

Keep it up Sunbeam, the tea tree really does work. To me its the best thing ever to be invented it has so many uses.

[lyndap]

If there is still brown eggs keep combing,they are the unhatched ones!

[Bugeyes]

If you buy a tub of coconut oil from a pharmacy you can smother your hair in it, wrap your head in a towel for as long as possible (an hour is ideal) then wash it out with normal shampoo and you will have beautifully conditioned hair and dead nits! The oil literally blocks the spiracles of the insects and if done thoroughly also kils the eggs. Worked for me!