If your child has
started to go to playgroup or school, you can't escape the rite of passage of
head lice. Even in this day and age it's still controversial for some and it
makes you scratch only thinking about it. We all know that everybody can get it
and it doesn't matter if your house could pass Aggie's test, but deep down we
are marking unkempt, "dirty" children as culprits.
"Don't play again
with those children, they live in the dirt," my mum told me after she got
rid of my nits. And yes, I'm keeping a beady eye on children with uncombed hair
in my daughter's school and monitor scratching every time I am there. Trouble
is children scratch their heads a lot, for a multiple of reasons...
Head lice treatments
I will be brave and
admit I got nits from my daughter twice. When I mentioned this to some mums,
they moved a mile away from me - why? Nits don’t have wings, so unless they got
close and personal, which you don’t as an adult... - while others shrugged their
shoulders, saying everybody goes through it, just try
XZY shampoo. Well I did try two shampoos and to be honest I wasted my money.
It was deeply satisfying seeing nits drop from the comb into my sink, but these
shampoos don’t kill all the eggs, so unsurprisingly, around ten days later I had baby
nits scurrying on my head.
So it was off on the
internet to find out the wisdom of the afflicted masses. If you are a nit novice, I
recommend visiting the NHS site, where you get really good information. If you
want to try alternative remedies, you can try hair gel (suffocates the nits),
mayonnaise (ditto), olive oil (ditto) or tea tree oil (preventative too). Trouble is you get a greasy scalp and
your hair will look sticky so you will have to wash it, and then the nits will
come back next time you are reading a story to your child and her/his head
touches yours. Nits walk from head to head...
In our case there was also the slight complication that we both suffer from dandruff, so it’s hard
to say if it’s an egg you are looking at or dandruff, unless you squash it, of
course - don't do this if you are squeamish.
Best treatment for head
lice
I finally got rid of our head lice and I have to thank the NHS leaflet my daughter’s school passed on. I did try a tea tree
shampoo and gel too, but although effective they didn't give me total reassurance (and my hair looked awful gelled up).
The way I did it
was through combing my hair and my daughter’s regularly, twice a week. I did my
daughter’s hair while she was in the bath playing with a dolly that pees if you
put water in her mouth - this way there was no complaining of being
uncomfortable or bored as she was sitting down and occupied. I used the fine
combs I got from the unreliable (and full of nasty chemicals to boot) shampoos I tried. By
the second week there were just tiny hatchings, but regular combing got rid of
those. I really got good at it, stopped cringing and just concentrated on
combing all over and getting rid of the critters. I became the Rambo of the nit world.
Say no to chemical warfare (on your head)
Trouble is that all this
combing and the residue from the two nasty shampoos I tried made my scalp very
itchy. It was a vicious circle situation as I wasn’t sure I had nits left, but the
comb kept "saying no". So it was very providential that the lovely PR at GreenPeople sent me a Lavender shampoo and conditioner to test. I also got a natural
deodorant (perspirants contain aluminium, which is not that good for you).
So in my chemical-busting mission, I tried the shampoo and the deodorant and found them both
excellent. The shampoo got rid of the itching and reassured me as nits don’t walk
on heads with strong scents as they can’t smell us - some nit busters advise using
tea tree oil and lavender scented shampoos. Think of the ogre in a fairy tale,
if he can’t smell humans, he won’t attack. The nit is interested in sucking
human blood and like mosquitoes they detect us through our smell. ARRRR, it
doesn’t bear thinking about it, but if you look at some of the pictures of
crusty scalps online you get my drift.
So if you are thinking
of buying a nit shampoo, think again. They can’t guarantee 100% success and the
only useful thing in the box is the comb. Yes, they will kill the nits and some
eggs but part of the next generation will be cruising your scalp a week later. Regular
combing might be boring but it works. If your head is badly infested, try three
times a week, so you are working against their reproductive cycle. Female lay a
huge amount of eggs every day.
And the natural
deodorant? It’s slightly bigger than other roll-ons and it worked really well,
even after a session at the gym. It has a medicinal, herby smell but it’s not
overpowering and it doesn’t stain clothes.
I do love natural,
organic products, I just wish more of us buy them so the prices can come down a
bit. But as with everything you get what you pay for. And the truth is that chemicals are cheap while natural ingredients are costly because they are harvested and carefully processed for a long time to ensure they keep their goodness.
Green People Lavender Shampoo and Conditioner are £7.75 each for 200ml. The Natural Deodorant is £7.95 for a 75ml roll-on. Green People products are available online at www.greenpeople.co.uk. Selected products are on sale through Ocado and independent stockists across the UK.
Green People Lavender Shampoo and Conditioner are £7.75 each for 200ml. The Natural Deodorant is £7.95 for a 75ml roll-on. Green People products are available online at www.greenpeople.co.uk. Selected products are on sale through Ocado and independent stockists across the UK.
