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Head Lice Care (English)

How To Care For Head Lice

 

**These recommendations are intended to supplement advice from your child’s health care practitioner**

  1. Before using the lice treatment (either over the counter or prescription) shampoo the child’s hair with a clarifying shampoo.  This strips the hair of any hair product residue.  Consult your health care practitioner for a product recommendation for lice treatment.
  2. Towels dry the hair thoroughly with a clean towel.  Put towel in laundry hamper after use.  Use paper towels to remove as much more moisture as possible.  Wetter hair will dilute the treatment.
  3. Use one bottle per person of the lice removal shampoo/ treatment.  Sharing bottles will not provide enough coverage to kill all of the live lice.
  4. To apply the treatment product, part the hair and apply a strip down the part. Rub it back and forth to coat the scalp and hair shafts.  Part again ¼ “to the side of the first part and repeat. Continue doing this procedure until the entire head as been treated.  (This application is similar to applying hair dye).  It is not unusual to see live lice running down the hair to escape the treatment.
  5. Follow the recommendations on the treatment bottle as to how long to leave the product on the hair. Rinse the product off as per the directions on the bottle
  6. Towel dry hair with a fresh, clean towel.
  7. Comb hair with a large comb to remove knots.  The use a fine tooth “Nit” comb to comb through hair.  Nits are the actual eggs the lice lay that are attached to the hair shaft.  Hair should be sectioned off with bobby pins or clips so you can keep track of the areas you have combed.  Make sure to comb the entire head from scalp to the ends of each section.  The hair should be examined and any remaining nits should be removed by hand. If you are unable to nit comb the hair see the section on “wet combing”.  There are also You Tube videos available online that demonstrate nit combing. When the nits are removed, they can be dropped in the toilet or placed in a plastic bag and disposed of in the trash.  Clean the nit comb frequently with a paper towel and discard.  NOTE!  Nit combing must be done every day until no more nits are seen.  Lice shampoo/ treatment only works on live lice.  The nits (eggs) must be manually removed before they hatch.
  8. All family members should be checked for lice, and those affected should be treated the same day.
  9. The home environment should be thoroughly cleaned.  All linens and clothing recently worn by the child should be washed in hot water.  Since lice cannot survive for more than 48 hours/ 2 days away from their food source (the human scalp) the best thing to do is to use lice treatment product and nit removal.
  10. Clean all combs, brushes, and accessories to remove all hair, then soak in the lice treatment product for 2 days, or microwave for 3 minutes, or soak them in boiling water for 10 minutes.
  11. Repeat the treatment in one week. 
  12. Continue nit combing daily until there are no visible signs of nits in the hair.
  13. Remind your child not to share hats, coats, hair accessories, head or earphones.  Check your child’s head after he/she attends a sleepover with other children or returns home from sleepaway camp.  These are places highly likely to be where children contract head lice.

SEE WET COMBING INSTRUCTIONS

WET COMBING INSTRUCTIONS TO REMOVE NITS (EGGS)

IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU USE A QUALITY COMB SUCH AS THE LICEMEISTER.  THE COMBS THAT ARE FOUND IN THE PRODUCT TREATMENT PACKAGES ARE TOO WIDE OR BREAK EASITYL AND MAKE NIT REMOVAL MORE DIFFICULT.

In addition, you will need:

White hair conditioner –any kind as long as it is white and thick

Hair clips/ bobby pins

A de-tangling and a pin tail comb

Tweezers

Bowl of hot water to rinse the lice comb

White paper towels or rags

A good source of light

It’s a good idea to set up an activity for the child and make sure you are comfortable as it may take a while to complete the process.

  1. Liberally apply conditioner to DRY hair, saturating the hair and scalp
  2. Comb through hair with the detangling comb to further distribute the conditioner
  3. Use a pintail comb to separate the hair into 4 quadrants and use the clips to secure each section.
  4. Clean (comb) one section at a time.  Undo the first quadrant and using the pin tail comb, take out a small section at the bottom of the hairline. Clip the rest of the section back up and out of your way.
  5. Position the lice comb as close to the scalp as possible and pull the comb through the full length of the hair from root to tip.
  6. After combing each section, wipe the conditioner off the comb with the paper towels or cloth and spread it out. Take note of how many nits and live lice you remove so you can monitor your progress.
  7. Inspect all sides of the small sections of hair for nits or live lice.
  8. Continue taking small sections working your way up to the top of the head until all hair in the quadrant has been combed.  Comb through the entire quadrant a few times then clip it back up and move on to the next one.
  9. Once all 4 quadrants have been combed, take the clips out and comb over the areas where the parts were.
  10. Finish by passing the lice comb through the entire thickness of the hair working from scalp to tip, all the way around the head.  With long hair, hold it as if you are making a pony tail.  Wipe the conditioner onto a white cloth frequently and inspect for lice and nits.  Use this for your monthly comb outs to detect a new infestation (final comb out).
  11. Rinse out the conditioner and style hair as usual with clean tools.
  12. Soak all tools in hot, soapy water, wash towels and rags in hot water and use hot dryer to dry.  Follow these instructions as directed or every three days at least until you have combed out completely clear 2 times, 7-10 days apart.
  13. Once you are completely clear, check children for nits once a week on dry hair and do the “final comb out” once a month.  This will ensure any future infestations are found early and will be very easy to remove.

                      WHAT TO DO IN YOUR HOME

Good news:  Unlike with other pests, Head Lice are NOT and environmental problem.  The cleanup in your home and on your belongings is minimal.

Head lice are a human parasite, not a bug.  They need a host to almost constantly “feed on” or they will dehydrate and die quickly.  99% of head lice transmission happens through head to head contact.  It is relatively rare to catch lice from an object in your environment. After your first comb out, only nits (eggs) remain.  Because they are cemented to the hair shaft, the transmission rate is low to non-existent.

On the evening of your first comb out is when you will have to do your cleaning.  During this follow up, there is no need to clean again, because the large travelers are gone.

Put your sheets and pillowcases in the dryer for 30 minutes or wash and dry as you normally do.  Head lice cannot burrow, they can only stay on top of a surface for a short time without a hair to hold on to.

If there is bedding you would like to treat but can’t wash, put it in the dryer for 30 minutes or set it aside in your home unused for 48 hours.  Any lice will dehydrate and die.

If you have fabric headrest in your car, vacuum or cover with plastic for 48 hours.

Recently worn hats, wigs, helmets and hoodies can be set aside unworn for 48 hours.

Anything stuffed can be place in the dryer for 30 minutes.

Brushes etc. can be put aside for 48 hours unused and towels should be washed and dried as you normally do.