Nitty Gritty comb ravaged hair!

[karmela]

Hi everyone and anyone...

Please can anybody offer me some tips on how to restore hair and give it some tender loving care to nurse it back to health. I will get it trimmed.

Unfortunately since I work with children to my horror I found I was plagued with little beasties and couldn't get rid. Lyclear didn't work. So I slathered my hair in organic mayo ( no eggs, mainly sunflower oil and flax with a bit of guar gum ) for five hours. Then I put more conditioner on and combed thru with a metal comb.

Felt like half my hair was ripped and stretched out. Well I shedded a lot. It feels in nice condition now and soft but I'm worried about how thin and fine it looks.

Please any kind souls, any help?

Thanks!
x

[DragonLady]

I battled beasties every year when my kids were small.

First, buy some Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner. You'll need about two bottles of the condish, a wide mouth jar with a lid, a fine tooth comb (NOT a metal nit comb) and paper towels.

Slather on the conditioner, and comb the nits out. The Coconut stuff knocks 'em out -they look like they're dead, but they're not. Wipe 'em off the comb into the jar. You'll have to do this every night for a couple of weeks to get rid of them all. Then wait 10 days, and do it again.

Sorry 'bout the thinning and loss so far. :( I know what you're going through. My family tried everything before we discovered this method.

[karmela]

Thank you Dragon Lady...please tell me though - was your hair at least conditioned after slathering on the conditioner every night and I assume you rinsed your hair afterwards?

The metal comb cost ten pounds but I feel like it was far too tough on my hair to use again.

By using the coconut conditioner whilst vanquishing the beasties will I be in effect nursing my hair back to health at the same time?

This is terrible! Thank you Dragon Lady for your kind words and understanding...x

[toodramatik]

Any conditioner should work. It paralyzes them for 20 minutes. Then you just have to baby your hair back to health.

Nits suck. Hope you get rid of 'em soon!

[karmela]

Thank you Toodramatik...

I was just wondering though - is it necessary in all cases to do it every night for two weeks. Seems a devastating and daunting prospect but I'll do anything to get rid of the blighters...

[NurseMama]

Doesn't henna kill them? Or am I remembering wrong?

[karmela]

I have heard too that henna kills them...

Might be a kindly method to use on my hair to eradicate them.

Thanks NurseMama I will look into it...

I hope that you are never afflicted with this!

Karmela x

[NurseMama]

I have heard too that henna kills them...

Might be a kindly method to use on my hair to eradicate them.

Thanks NurseMama I will look into it...

I hope that you are never afflicted with this!

Karmela x

I'm the mother of 2 and a nurse. It has happened and will happen again!

I wonder if cassia has the same effect? I might try cassia on my kiddos the next time that they bring the buggers home since it doesn't change the color too much.

[karmela]

I was thinking of cassia too...

I hope that you and the kiddies don't attract the monsters anytime soon...x

[karmela]

I don't think that cassia changes the colour at all...it just conditions.
You have a beautiful bun in your picture by the way and thank you for your help...

[karmela]

I read something pretty funny actually about these pesky lice...

A mother became so tired of dealing with it all that she stopped washing her hair and I guess that she was WO/NW...anyhow it turned out that the little critters jumped ship after this when she was going through the manky stage and she inadvertently solved the problem.

Hmmm...I was thinking of trying out WO again since it was in beautiful condition last time after six weeks. But I don't want the problem to get even worse. I guess it is kinda not an option really....

[winter_star]

You should try Tea Tree Oil or Eucalyptus oil. Headlice hate it. The oils have a high solvent action that attacks the lice and dislodges them from the scalp. It works even better if you use it for a few weeks after getting rid of the lice as it is also used as a repelant. The oils are gentle on hair and you can add them to your conditioner to help comb them out.

[karmela]

Thank you Winter Star...that sounds like a fantastic idea. I think I'll buy some today...x

[Juanita]

tea tree and eucalyptus oils are very popular lice treatments here.

[karmela]

Thanks...I will try that with the comb and it should condition my hair hopefully.

It's the metal comb that worries me the most, it has grooves to pull out the eggs and stuff and seemed very harsh though the reviewers who write about it say it is gentle because it has rounded ends.

Maybe I just lost a lot of hair because I did a deep treatment or something....lots of water to rinse etc...?

Thank you so much EVERYONE x

[karmela]

On reflection I think it might just look fine and be hanging in limp strands because I over-conditioned it rather than because of the comb.

I don't know...I am so inexperienced in these matters!

[Shanarana]

Oh dear, what a nightmare......so sorry you are going through this. Those darn metal combs are horrid. I had lice when I was a kid and remember my mother ripping through my hair with that....YIKES.

I don't have much to offer that hasn't already been mentioned.....I hope you get through this without your hair having to suffer much.

[karmela]

Thank you Shanarana...I hope your poor hair never has to be ravaged by those metal teeth again...

I got some eucalyptus oil and leave in tea tree conditioner and tea tree shampoo...I'll comb it with the metal comb aferwards and see how it goes.

Your tips have really helped...thanks x

[vidgrl007]

I would like to second tt and eucalyptus oil.my dd came home with the little critters and I contribute not getting them with tt oil.I use a poo and condish with them.

[DragonLady]

It's the metal comb that worries me the most, it has grooves to pull out the eggs and stuff and seemed very harsh though the reviewers who write about it say it is gentle because it has rounded ends.

Yes; I've purchased three of those in my life, the last two times against all of my better judgement. :( They're expensive, and they've done nothing but damage. They didn't work any better at removing the lice, they didn't detangle any better than a regular comb, and they weren't worth the pain or the purchase price.

OTOH, if you have a dog or other animal with a really tough coat, s/he may love it. Our dog absolutely loves being groomed with our old metal nit comb. She'll lie still for hours while we comb and scritch her with it from head to tail.

[Ursula]

There was a very nice article in the archives here: http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=49550 - I'm not sure if it's been reposted on the new boards - about olive oil treatments for lice. It involved long (hours/overnight) soaks with olive oil on the hair, repeated on a schedule over a month or so. The oil killed the lice, and it may provide better lubrication than conditioner, to allow the comb to move through your hair without damage.

[spidermom]

My doctor advised me to use pure, undiluted vinegar poured slowly through hair before nit-combing, as the vinegar dissolves the glue that holds the nits to the hair shaft. She assured me that it would not harm hair, and it didn't.

You don't necessarily need the metal comb, but you do need a comb with very close teeth (mine was plastic and came with the Rid shampoo). Those nits are tiny!

[AnneAdeline]

My doctor advised me to use pure, undiluted vinegar poured slowly through hair before nit-combing, as the vinegar dissolves the glue that holds the nits to the hair shaft. She assured me that it would not harm hair, and it didn't.

When I was in elementary school, I kept getting lice. We tried everything, and vinegar was what finally worked.
Good luck with the battle!

[karmela]

Hi there everyone...this board is just wonderful.
I used tea tree shampoo first then I used leave in tea tree conditioner with a liberal amount of eucalyptus oil added. I then combed through with the metal comb and it seemed a lot gentler today ( I'm thinking the problem may have been the mayo)
Then I spritzed some undiluted white vinegar on and spritzed some more.

My scalp certainly feels refreshed though hair feels dryish, limp and flat, not the greatest.

Now I am going to trawl for some other stuff on frequency of combing and babying the hair.

Thank you all! x

[misstwist]

This thread makes my head itch. :)

Good luck!