Head lice, help!

My daughter is 13 and she has a lot of white stuff in her hair,she's always scratching above her ears and above the back of her neck. She says if it is head lice, she doesn't want me to buy the shampoo at the local store because of all her friends that "hang out" there. I understand how she feels, I respect that, so whatever I do, I won't buy it there.but, I don't know when I'm ever going to go to town.How can I tell if they are head lice, and what are some other ways to get rid of them besides shaving her head, which is totally out of the question, and buying the shampoo?

Head lice are hard to get rid of if not treated properly. My 6 year old got them at school this year. If it is lice, you will see bugs crawling on her hair when you separate out parts. The "white stuff" is probably the eggs. They are like little sesame seeds stuck on to individual strands of hair...like glue! You need to use a lice-killing shampoo, which you can get at a drug store, walmart, or grocery store. You will need to do this treatment twice. There are also websites that give detailed instructions (which come in the shampoo, too) that are GREAT. Look up "head lice" on a search engine. The pediculosis foundation has the best page.After shampooing, you'll have to comb through her hair with a special comb to remove the eggs. This is a tedious and long process. After two treatments, we ended up cutting six inches off my daughters hair. I'm talking a one-one& one half hour combout on an impatient child. Good luck and I hope you have no recurrences. They are a devil to get rid of.