Removal Tips for Head Lice

How can you be sure if your child has head lice?  Have you noticed your children scratching their heads or have you observed small little specks in their hair?  But how do you know if it is lice or dandruff and how do you remove them?

This article will discuss removal tips for head lice and the best head lice treatments such as: shampoo for head lice and home treatment of head lice.

Head lice are human parasites that feed on small amounts of blood that is drawn from the scalp.  They are most likely

seen but not limited to children between the ages of 3 to 12.  Girls are also more likely to get lice but that does not mean that boys are abstained from it.

Identifying head lice might be a little hard to do.  Generally most types of bugs do not reside on a person’s scalp so if you notice an insect about the size of a sesame seed and tan in color crawling on your child’s head, they most likely have lice.  Nits which are the eggs that the lice lay are harder to identify.  It could be dandruff or dried hair spray that you are looking at and not a nit.

So how do you tell the difference?  If the white thing in the hair comes off easily from the hair shaft, it is most likely dandruff.  If it is not easily removed yellow, tan or brown in color it is most likely a nit.  Once the eggs have hatched they will look white or clear.

It is now up to you to remove any lice or nits that are found in the hair.  This can be done in several ways typically after shampooing using medicated lice shampoo.  While the hair is still wet, separate the hair into one inch sections and comb from the scalp to the tip of the hair with a fine-toothed lice comb.  You’ll need to wipe the comb clean with every pass then move onto the next section of hair.  This can take several hours so be prepared.  But, it is important to go through the hair thoroughly.  Lice shampoos do not always kill the nits leaving some that will still hatch.  Making sure to go through the hair thoroughly will cut down you likely hood of an infestation in the future.

Another removal tip for head lice from your child’s head is by using tweezers.  This is done in the same way as if you were using the comb by parting the hair into small sections.  But, what do you do with the lice and nits as you are removing them?  Once the nits are removed from the hair they are no longer sticky so they will not stick to a paper towel or napkin.  And hopefully by this time the lice are dead or dying.  The best way to dispose of these insects is to stick them onto a piece of wide tape or making tape.  Roll up the piece of tape onto itself once it is filled up, place it in an airtight Ziploc bag and throw it in the garage.

The last removal tips for head lice is to make sure that you remove lice from all your bedding, upholstered furniture or carpets and this can be done easily in a few different ways.  First, wash everything that you are able to wash by placing it in the washer machine and make sure that it is on the hot setting.  Second, items that cannot be soaked with water place in the washer machine can be placed into a dryer for 20 minutes on one of the hot settings. Remember also to thoroughly vacuum upholstered furniture and carpets. Finally, remember to vacuum your car upholstery and floors as well because the head lice and nits are there as well.

If you would like additional information on simple but effective lice treatments check out head lice home remedies.

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