The last few weeks can be defined by one word - itchy. I noticed my older son having a little scratch in his hair so I had a little look expecting to find nothing. It was anything but nothing. In the crown of his hair were many many little black dots no bigger than a pin head and they were.... moving, all over the place, very quickly. I immediately sent hubby out to get some nit lotion, I have no faith in the old conditioner and comb method at all. It said on the bottle to treat the whole family at the same time, so there we all were on a Saturday night watching TV while we waited for the lotion to take effect, how very rock and roll.
I was pretty traumatised when I saw little black critters trying to escape down son 1's back desperately trying to escape the lotion. We washed them down the plug hole despite his concern about what would happen to them and worrying that we had killed them. Next up came son 2 and I was horrified to see a couple of brown nits wash out of his hair. By this time I was itching like mad but I wasn't sure whether it was psychological or not. Nothing washed out of my hair to my relief, but I decided to have a go with the nit comb too just to be sure. I pulled out the king nit, the big cheese of the nit world with a big fat tummy full of blood, mine to be precise. Cue screaming, scratching of head and general shaking of hands and feet.
Every night since then I've used the comb and conditioner on all of us, it's a pain but has to be done. So this is my introduction to the world of nits four weeks into the school term!
Arrrghhhh!!!
My worst encounter was when my son with asthma was on steroids and he caught nits - they were huge. I'm sure the steroids had an effect on them!! Ha ha! x
ReplyDeleteHa ha I like that! Super nits in doping scandal! X
DeleteWe had them this week too. I'm also going to blog about it. I do the conditioner and combing method with a metal comb called Assy 2000 - it has special grooves in the prongs that are supposed to cut trap them more. You can also use it on dry hair so I can comb us through in between hair washes. DD had a head full last night and I had some including a couple of moving big ones. This is the second time this season we've had them. No scratching today from either of us so I didn't do it tonight but I will again tomorrow night. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI keep doing the comb thing and not finding anything but I'm still pretty itchy! I am hoping that it's due to the lotion rather than there still being nits in there!
DeleteOh god I am traumatised just reading about it! I think there is a special comb that electrocutes the nits!
ReplyDeleteI saw that in Boots but I've been told its not much good, let me know if you hear otherwise!
DeleteEw, ew and more ewwwww! Nits are from the devil! What is their purpose?! I am now itching just having read your post lol!
ReplyDeleteI think they are the dirt of things that would survive a nuclear war! They are so so tiny its unimaginable though I'm pretty sure it won't take long for them to get big!
DeleteI feel for you! We had our first encounter ever with them last month...the day after we arrived at the cottage, to be precise.
ReplyDeleteI managed to avoid hysterics and hyperventilating until I was out of sight and in the car heading to buy the shampoo, but I had a good panick-stricken scratch!
I also made my poor husband check my head every day for about two weeks and I shaved my other kids' heads (the boys) just in case. Blech. [shudder]
OK - I have a wonderful treatment for nits. One that they don't get used to, is not full of chemicals, and melts the little bu**ers and their eggs, not matter how hugely enormous they are.
ReplyDeleteI was given this concoction by the pharmacist at the chemist where I lived when my daughter was young and I was at the point of taking the clippers to her hair and shaving her long golden locks off.
You need:
20 drops - olive oil
20 drops - tea tree oil
20 drops - eucalyptus oil
Mix it all up together, and apply it to your hair. This is going to make a seriously greasy mess but it is worth it.
Wait 20 to 30 minutes and then comb through hair with the nit comb.
You should get a load of black goo come out, as this stuff literally seems to melt the nits and their eggs.
Keep combing - probably for at least 20 minutes
Then wash hair with tea tree shampoo and tea tree conditioner.
Nits cannot stand tea tree and if you keep using the shampoo, they shouldn't come back.
The problem with the stuff you get off the shelf is that it is full of chemicals and the nits become resistant to it so it stops working.
The problem with just using lots of conditioner is that it really only works if you wrap your head in a truck load of cling film to block out the oxygen thereby suffocating the nits in a blanket of gooey conditioner, and it doesn't unstick the eggs, so you have to keep doing it.
Over the years I have given this recipe out to loads of people, and everyone of them has been amazed how easy it is and how well it works..
For some reason nits don't like and cannot accommodate the tea tree or the eucalyptus - probably cos it melts them! But it is really important to keep using the tea tree shampoo and conditioner afterwards to prevent them coming back. My daughter (now 22 in a few days) used tea tree shampoo for about 10 years - basically all through school and college, and even when her freinds were getting the nits, she didn't!
My sister, who has 3 young daughters, swears by it too, and is nit free....
God I sound like an advert - nuff said, I need to shut up now....lol
It does work though
Lou :-)
Nooo. Totally itching now x
ReplyDeleteLou - I was going to give the same advice! Tea Tree Oil is fab for both getting rid of them and repelling them...
ReplyDeleteYour making me itch just reading this and the comments!
ReplyDelete