You shouldn't see any crawling head lice after the first treatment if you applied it correctly. If you are still seeing live crawlers, then you may have missed a step or the treatment is not effective against the type of lice your child has.
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.
Medicated lotions and sprays
Head lice should die within a day. Some lotions and sprays come with a comb to remove dead lice and eggs. Some treatments need to be repeated after a week to kill any newly hatched lice.
You may be wondering: why won't my lice go away? Head lice keep recurring when eggs are missed and left in the hair. Those missed eggs then hatch and you find head lice again. Removing all the eggs is key to stopping head lie recurring.
After Treating with Lice Medicine
If some are still present but moving slowly, do not shampoo again. If lice are still active and no dead lice are found, call your health care provider. These lice may be resistant to the medicine. Do not use more than one head lice medicine at a time without asking your doctor.
Wet the entire hair with 6 parts of water plus 3 parts of vinegar. Vinegar dissolves the glue of the lice eggs, so they can easily come off the hair when combed out. Wet the entire scalp and hair from the roots down to the tips, so that you can remove dead lice eggs on hair also.
The head lice may have become resistant to the treatment. If the treatment used does not kill the head lice, your health care provider and pharmacist can help you be sure the treatment was used correctly and may recommend a completely different product if they think the head lice are resistant to the first treatment.
New eggs are attached to the hair shaft very close to the scalp. Eggs that still contain a louse embryo are brownish in color, while the empty egg shells are white to grey.
Some treatments need to be done twice – 7 days apart. This makes sure that any newly-hatched lice are killed. Detection combing should usually be done 2 or 3 days after finishing treatment, and again another 7 days after that, to check for any live head lice.
Nits are often confused with other things found in the hair such as dandruff, hair spray droplets, and dirt particles. If no live nymphs or adult lice are seen, and the only nits found are more than ¼-inch from the scalp, the infestation is probably old and no longer active and does not need to be treated.
The best way to check is by using a fine-tooth comb on wet hair. After applying lots of conditioner, comb the hair out in very small sections, and look for lice or nits on the comb. You can wipe the comb onto a tissue or paper towel where it will be easier to see them.
Spinosad (Natroba).
Spinosad is approved for adults and children age 6 months and older. It can be applied to dry hair and rinsed with warm water after 10 minutes. It kills lice and nits and usually doesn't need repeated treatment.
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. However, the lice could be in hiding.
Dead nits are often black in colour and are found well away from the scalp. Nits are laid on the hair shaft within 1cm of the scalp and take about 7-10 days to hatch into head lice.
DO NOT over treat. Some louse shampoos can be neurotoxic and overuse can damage the nervous system. Wear gloves when treating more than one person with head louse shampoo. If more than two treatments are required to control an infestation, talk to the School Nurse(s) or the Health Department about alternative methods.
Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person's head. They must feed on blood several times a day to survive and will die within 1-2 days off of the host. What are the symptoms of head lice infestation?
Lice can be tricky to get rid of because nits can remain unhatched on your head or you might pick up lice that are still on bedding or other items. Here's what to do if you've had lice — or someone in your family has: Wash bed linens and clothing that anyone with lice has used recently.
Heat Method:
There are recent studies that show that treatment of lice with heat can be quite effective in killing head lice. Products such as Lousebuster are very effective but even a home hairdryer can successfully treat lice.
Nits may remain after lice have gone. They are empty eggshells and stick strongly to hair. They will eventually fall out. If you prefer, a fine-toothed 'nit comb' can remove them.
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.
In actuality, untreated head lice may degrade the scalp and affect its health. It will also affect your hair's health as well. If the hair follicles become blocked, then hair loss may occur. It is hard to have well-conditioned hair if it is covered in head lice, lice eggs, and bacteria.
If no nymphs or adults are seen, and the only nits found are more than ¼ inch from the scalp, then the infestation is probably old and no longer active — and does not need to be treated. For Healthcare Providers, Emergency Consultations, and General Public.
Coconut, tea tree oil, lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemon grass, and peppermint are scents popularly believed to repel lice. Using any coconut scented shampoo and conditioner is an easy way to increase your defense. At 1% concentration, tea tree oil killed 100% of head lice after 30 minutes.