Is The £10 Nit Comb Worth It? (Nitty Gritty Comb)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Nitty Gritty Comb
Date:	30/07/08 (216 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works so much better than other combs

Disadvantages: Expensive, difficult to clean

My daughter first became infested with the dreaded headlice when she was just two and started attending nursery. Over the years I have probably used every lotion, potion and comb on the market to keep the bugs at bay with varying degrees of success. The problem is that I manage to get her clear but she gets reinfested at school again. One day I went to my local chemist and asked for some advice and the assistant advised me to buy the nitty gritty comb. I nearly passed out when she told me that it cost £9.99 but luckily in my area of Scotland pharmacists are available to prescribe for minor ailments so I got the comb free.

Head lice are a major problem in British schools these days. I remember when I was a kid the school nurse would periodically check our hair and any kid who was infected was sent home until they were treated to stop them passing them on to the rest of the school. This situation has changed however and there is no nit nurses and even if a teacher knows a kid is infected they do not intervene and so the lice are allowed to run rampant. It just takes one untreated kid to constantly reinfect a whole class. The teachers know who is constantly scratching and it must be frustrating to not be able to do something about it.

The best method of treating head lice infestation is wet combing. This means that you coat the hair in conditioner as it means the lice are not able to grip onto the hair shaft as easily and use a very fine toothed comb to remove all of the live lice from the hair. This needs to be repeated every 2-3 days for at least a fortnight in order to break the life cycle of the louse. A louse can lay eggs when it is a week old and so by getting rid of all the adults during the first combing and all newly hatched lice before they reach maturity you end up with a clear head.

As i said before I have used many nit combs before from the basic plastic combs selling for a mere 50p to metal pronged combs costing up to a fiver as well as a useless battery powered comb so I'm something of a reluctant expert on this subject so how did the nitty gritty measure up against the rest?

I've got to say that I'm seriously impressed with this comb. Its rounded top is sturdy and easy to use and the rubber mounted grips means that it doesnt slip out of your hands during use. It boasts longer prongs than other combs with a unique spiral design which really is more effective at removing lice than other combs. It has 33 prongs, far more than many other combs on the market and the spacing means that even a newly hatched nit will be removed from the head. It is much quicker and easier to use this comb than any other I have removed before and it removes the need to repeatedly go over the head again and again just to make sure the hair is clear.

What particularly impressed me about this comb was that is removed the nits as well as the lice and eggs. These are the white casings which the nit has hatched from. They do not do any harm and often remain after all live nits and eggs are removed as they are glued to the hair shaft. but they are unsightly and I have often spent time trying to pick and slide them from the hair by hand.

The one problem I have encountered with this comb is that it is difficult to clean. The spiral design of the teeth means that it removes all the debris from the hair but that it doesnt slide easily off. I have resorted to using kitchen roll and a jug of clean water to clean the comb between each stroke which is fiddly and time consuming.

This comb is also long lasting. The cheapo plastic combs soon bend and buckle and need frequent replacing and a metal toothed comb I had in the past ended up rusting but because this comb is stainless steel it is strong and can cope with getting wet repeatedly. The fact that nitty gritty offer a lifetime guarantee on the comb is also reassuring.

I wish that I had found this product years ago. I've lost count of the money and time I've wasted using inferior products in the past. The nitty gritty has been easy to use even on my girls long, thick curls and we have now had the longest nit free period since she started nursery. Unlike other combs it strips the hair of live lice, eggs and the nits left behind. The initial outlay of £9.99 may seem high for a comb but it is worth buying one good product than many inferior products as I have now found out. A must for any parent who is battling the dreaded head lice.

Summary: It's worth every penny