Nit combs and damage!!!

[diddiedaisy]

Hi all, my son has brought nits home :(

Ive found no live lice and not that many nits. I combed my own hair last night and found about six nits. My question is how much damage will nit combing do to hair as obviously I'm going to have to repeat this?

thanks :)

[antler_tines]

I think it would depend on whether you are encountering a lot of tangles. If you are somewhat able to smoothly comb your hair it may not be terribly bad. Maybe you could use some conditioner to make the comb glide more smoothly. Although I don't know if that would be contradictive to getting rid of the nits.

[meteor]

I'd highly recommend neem oil: it kills lice and eggs, disrupts their reproduction cycle, and it's a really moisturizing, excellent oil (though it stinks to high heaven!). Apply neem oil or tea tree oil (diluted in a carrier oil) a few times and then, after completely getting rid of nits, keep adding a couple drops to shampoo (in a separate bottle) for a while, just in case, to prevent them from coming back.
About the comb, I really don't know. I would imagine some mechanical damage would be inevitable though :( , especially if the hair is long and hard to comb with such a fine-tooth comb. The oil should help with slip/glide.

[lapushka]

Go through with a wide-tooth comb first, then with a fine tooth one, then with the nit comb (because that is even finer than a fine tooth comb).

[diddiedaisy]

Thanks. I smothered my hair in conditioner first so didn't really get the tangles, although I expected lots of them. I do have fragile hair though and was worried about the stretching wet hair bit. I'll try and neem oil tomorrow or failing that I'll get tea tree. I wonder if dying will kill the eggs lol

[meteor]

Thanks. I smothered my hair in conditioner first so didn't really get the tangles, although I expected lots of them. I do have fragile hair though and was worried about the stretching wet hair bit. I'll try and neem oil tomorrow or failing that I'll get tea tree.

Cool! :thumbsup: By the way, until you can get neem oil or tea tree, slather your hair thoroughly in some/any oil (e.g. olive, coconut, vegetable, whatever you have in your kitchen!) Oil smothers and kills lice, it doesn't kill eggs though, but it will still be helpful for the time being.

Oh, and please ask all your household members to keep their pillows, combs, tools... protected and to add a drop or two of neem/tea tree to their hair washes for the time being. :flower: This will help ensure that the lice don't spread to their scalps.

Best of luck! :D And I really hope your hair will survive this ordeal in top shape! :pray: :cheer:

[diddiedaisy]

Hehe, yes I'm sat here now looking very attractive soaked in a mixture of coconut and olive oil. It's going to fun in the morning getting the olive oil out.

[meteor]

Hehe, yes I'm sat here now looking very attractive soaked in a mixture of coconut and olive oil. It's going to fun in the morning getting the olive oil out.H

He-he! :lol: No worries, diddiedaisy! It's doing double-duty :) : a nits-killer and a deep treatment, like an Ayurvedic champi! ;)

[*Stella*]

I had this problem often when my daughter was little and I worked in schools.
I found conditioner the best thing to use, you can add your own oils. Large comb to detangle then the nit comb. You have to comb several times as the lice will move away from the area you are disturbing.
I found it caused split ends, but no major damage that a small trim/S&D couldn't fix

[Anje]

Go through with a wide-tooth comb first, then with a fine tooth one, then with the nit comb (because that is even finer than a fine tooth comb).

This. There's no way you should be going through hair with a nit comb without getting all the tangles out first, but that seems to be what people do. Detangle with a widetooth comb, section hair, and nit-comb one section at a time.

[Knifegill]

Go through with a wide-tooth comb first, then with a fine tooth one, then with the nit comb (because that is even finer than a fine tooth comb).

Yuss, agree also. You've got to go in stages to make sure the hairs are lined up enough to handle the finer tines.