Anon. Treating head lice. With the hair wet and full of conditioner, it is difficult to see whether any lice or nits have been removed. However, dry combing, which is easier to do, allows success of louse removal to be seen and has been successful in ten out of ten separate
Combs with flat-faced teeth spaced 0.2 to 0.3mm apart are best for removing head lice, although combs with smaller gaps can be used to remove eggs and nits (egg cases) after treatment. Detection combing can be carried out on dry or wet hair.
Continue until you can't see any more lice or nits after combing. This will probably take at least half an hour. Repeat every three or four days for at least two weeks so you remove any hatching lice before they have the chance to lay new eggs. You can't remove the eggs by combing, only the lice.
Be aware that lice will quickly move away from any disturbance in dry hair. Wet lice remain still, which is why wet combing may be more effective at detecting lice.
If you spot nits, but do not see any lice, it is possible that they are hiding and scurrying from the light as you search the hair and scalp; they can move quite quickly! Focus your search to their preferred hideouts, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck.
If your child's hair is too hard to comb – too fine or long or thick or curly to get a comb through over and over again – you're going to have a hard time getting the lice out using a comb. Though it's pricey, a lice removal service can be a great option, saving you time and worry.
Hair straighteners won't kill the nits on your hair shafts. Even if the high heat does kill any adult lice or nymphs (young lice) that might be on your scalp—which isn't guaranteed—it won't kill the eggs (nits).
Permethrin (Nix).
Permethrin is toxic to lice. Before using permethrin, wash your child's hair with shampoo but not conditioner. Rinsing the hair with white vinegar before washing may help dissolve the glue that holds the nits to the hair shafts.
Olive Oil smothers and kills active head lice, making nit removal easier and moisturizing the hair and scalp. Part hair and apply the oil directly onto the scalp. Massage into the entire scalp making sure to saturate the hair. Apply a shower cap.
Wet combing with cheap conditioner and a fine-tooth head lice (nit) comb is an effective way to find and remove head lice, if done properly.
After hatching, the nits can stay stuck to your hair, even once the lice have gone. You only know for sure that you have head lice if you find a living, moving louse on your scalp. Anyone can get head lice. But head lice are most common in children aged between four and 11 years.
Ivermectin (Sklice).
This lotion kills most head lice, even just-hatched lice, with just one use. You don't need to comb out lice eggs (nits). Children ages 6 months and older can use this product.
Be sure to note and follow how long the medication should be left on the hair and how it should be washed out. Using the Nit Comb can take 1-3 HOURS in order to get out all nits and lice from the hair. Lift a small section of hair (about 1 to 2 inches wide). Comb through this section starting at the roots.
Wet or dry hair? You can check for lice in either wet or dry hair, but we recommend wetting the hair and preferably adding conditioner. The lice do not move as much and they attach more easily to the lice comb (10, 13).
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly. Lice infestations must first be treated by improving the hygiene of the infected person.
Sometimes it will be easier to remove the nits if you wet the hair with white vinegar while you are combing the nits out. Vinegar helps loosen the "glue" that holds the nits to the hair. Separate and comb small sections of hair at a time.
The nits, or eggs, are stubborn things. Nits are firmly stuck to the hair when they are laid. They will stay attached to the hair until they are either pulled out or the hair grows and you cut it. You could either do this using your fingernails or combing them out using a long-toothed metal nit comb.
Spinosad topical suspension, 0.9%, was approved by the FDA in 2011. Since it kills live lice as well as unhatched eggs, retreatment is usually not needed. Nit combing is not required.
There is no way to look at a nit with the naked eye and determine if it is dead or alive. And although some people claim it does, popping them does not prove that one way or the other either. They are just too small. The only proof is when they don't hatch 7-10 days later.
Wash your hair with vinegar
Vinegar contains properties that kill and get rid of nits and lice. This mixture should be applied directly to the whole scalp. Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of warm water.
Head lice sometimes go away on their own because there are not enough insects to maintain the infestation, or they may persist for an indefinite period without treatment. With proper treatment, the infestation usually goes away within about two weeks.
If nits are yellow, tan, or brown, it means the lice haven't hatched yet. If the nits are white or clear, the lice have hatched and just the egg remains. Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they're laid.