Head Lice

[Wispy68]

My two children have head lice yet again and it's driving us all crazy. We often have to use Lyclear and other lotions, but they soon catch it again. Can anyone recommend a preventative shampoo and conditioner, please?

[bluedolphin]

As well as the shampoo there are other measures that you can take to stop the lice returning. Wash all bedding, place a towel over the pillows and wash it regularly, wash combs brushes...just before they go out to school use one of the anti-lice sprays on their hair, this will protect them from picking up any lice from other kids. Usually a lot of the outbreaks occur in school. Have you had a letter from the school regarding an outbreak? Good luck.

[paulz]

Try Bug Busting @ www.chc.org/bugbusting. The electornic combs didn't work on our daughter - they seem to clog up too quick with egg cases & the like. Tea tree oil conditioner seems to work - Sainsbury's one is good, use loads of it & comb through while conditioner still on [using a nit comb] - It doesn't stink like the chemical products you pay a fortune for. Asda do a special product - Head Lice repellent, that you spray onto wet hair . There is also a mousse which is pretty good, but not cheap. All I can recommend is patience, a good pair of glasses, strong light source - sunlight is best and rinse the comb out in a sink of water - you can see how many of the litle f****rs you can catch! We made it into a game to keep it light hearted [and relatively stress free] My Daughter wanted to keep hers and start a farm {ugh!] I'd recommend you do this at least 2-3 times a week with the conditioner [this was the most effective] as they can't cling onto the hair then. Do let the school know and tie the hair up in pony tails/plaits. Good hunting!!

[Tizzy]

hiya, I work in a pharmacy and head lice seem to be an ongoing epidemic!!The awkward thing is that you may treat your children only for them to catch it off kids at school who's parents dont bother! Lyclear is an ok creme rinse i guess, parents prefer it cos it stays on 10 mins, altho i have to admit we tend to recommend the longer applications like derback m and suleo m etc which tend to contain alcohol and ammonia which a really smelly which nits hate! altho things like that arent suitable for kids who suffer from eczema and asthma. As a preventative we recomend that u wash your childrens hair in tea tree shampoo and conditioner which again has a pungent smell which basically nits dislike! It is also an astringent and doesnt taste very nice so they dont like to feed because of the taste. Also we do have customers who believe that taking garlic capsules means that nits wont want to feed off you because it is in ure blood stream etc. Try brushing with a hard brush as this will kill the few that are left too ..... just some ideas?! T x

[evolution]

Contrary to popular opinion lice like clean hair. So your children should only wash their hair once or twice weekly. Once weekly completely saturate their hair in conditioner and leave in for a short time, then wash out. Simple, yet my aunt swears it works on her kids!

[mizfiesta]

Using conditioner in your kids hair, then bonecombing, maybe two or three times a week, is the most effective way to treat headlice. The pharmacy treatments of headlice are too irritating on the scalp and should only be used rarely. But as this problem, (healice), occurs frequently, it really is better to go with the hair conditioner, and get your kids into the habit of using it when they bathe. They don't have to use a shampoo beforehand.Most young kids are put off by shampooing as it gets in their eyes, so this can be limited to a once weekly useage.

[parkhead]

If your children are under 16 you can write to your doctor for a prescription to kill the lice and because they are under 16 it is free. Also loads of tea tree conditioner on the hair will make the hair soft and so harder for them to grip and as said the lice don't like the smell. Boots make a leave in tea tree conditioner which comes with a metal lice comb which I have found better than the plastic ones.