Generally, if no live crawling insects are seen three weeks after the treatment, it's safe to assume that they are gone. Nits would have hatched by that time if they were alive. Nits and their shells may remain in the hair for some time but won't be viable.
You do not need to use regular shampoo or conditioner after the lice treatment. In fact, it is best to not shampoo again for 2 days, in order to give the medicine time to work. The medicine will kill the live lice bugs, generally within 12 hours. Comb your child's hair.
In the past, kids with head lice were kept home from school. But now doctors don't recommend these "no-nit" policies. In most cases, a child who has lice should stay at school until the end of the day, go home and get treatment, and return to school the next day.
Avoid sleeping in the same bed as the person with an active lice infestation. Avoid sitting where the person with lice has sat in the past two days. Wash linens and clothing in hot water and dry on high heat.
Lice and nits can live on pillows and sheets. Lice glue their eggs to the hair strands of their host. However, if a piece of hair with an egg falls out while the lice host is sleeping, an egg could end up on pillows or sheets.
As with furniture and carpets, adult lice typically live for around 2 days on pillows and sheets without human contact. Nits will not hatch and will die within a week. People should machine wash any pillows or sheets someone with lice has used in hot water of more than 130°F (54.4°C) .
After each treatment, checking the hair and combing with a nit comb to remove nits and lice every 2–3 days may decrease the chance of self–reinfestation. Continue to check for 2–3 weeks to be sure all lice and nits are gone.
If they are full then they will be plump and shiny. What does a dead lice egg look like? A dead lice egg will be white or grey. As they are empty, they will be flat and dry.
After Treating with Lice Medicine
Have your child put on clean clothing after every lice treatment. Check for lice again in 8 to 12 hours. Use the nit comb to remove dead lice and nits. If some are still present but moving slowly, do not shampoo again.
Some experts recommend bagging items for a week or two to make sure, but honestly, that seems excessive as head lice or nits will be long gone after 24 hours. Blankets, pillows, sheets, and other washable items should be soaked, washed and dried in high heat temperatures reaching at least 130 degrees.
What makes someone contagious with head lice is having a mature, egg-laying adult female louse on your head that could travel to another head. After the first treatment, when the egg-laying lice are eliminated, you are no longer contagious.
Most treated nits (lice eggs) are dead after the first treatment with Nix. The others will be killed with the 2nd treatment. Removing the dead nits is not essential or urgent. However, it prevents others from thinking your child still has untreated lice.
Washing, soaking, or drying items at a temperature greater than 130°F can kill both head lice and nits. Dry cleaning also kills head lice and nits. Only items that have been in contact with the head of the infested person in the 48 hours before treatment should be considered for cleaning.
Can someone have nits but no lice? It may be possible to have nits but no lice. If a person cannot find any nymphs or adult lice in the scalp and the nits are more than a quarter of an inch from the scalp, these may be dead and from an old infestation.
After treatment, your skin may still itch for a week or more. This is because of your body's reaction to the lice. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety.
How many head lice are usually found on an infested person? Typically, 10–15 head lice are found. The number of lice often depends on personal hygiene, for example, how often the person bathes, shampoos, or changes and washes his/her clothing.
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.
If you do not comb out all the remaining nits, they will hatch and restart the cycle in 7-10 days from that point. That's why we recommend 3 treatments over a 12-day period of time. This stops the life cycle of lice. These are nits at different stages and a louse.
Lice don't care if hair has been colored. As long as a louse can grab on to a hair strand, it can make its way to the head where its food supply (blood) is. Myth #6: Lice like dirty hair.
Head lice cannot live for long on pillows or sheets. It is possible for a live louse that has come off a person's head to crawl onto another human host who also puts their head on the same pillows or sheets.
A preventative shampoo and spray can break the life cycle. A shampoo that kills lice before they can lay eggs is critical for closing the “bridge” from one head to another.