RSS Feed
How to Get Rid of Lice
(4)
Loading ...
Republish
3. How to get rid of head lice
Eliminate the source of the head lice infestation
If you or your child has been infested with head lice you should immediately figure out where it came from. Failure to do this will likely result in re-infestation immediately after de-infestation. If it’s a child, then inform the school immediately so the other children can be inspected for infestation. If you or another adult has been infested then retrace your steps for the past week or so and call everyone you have been in close contact with. Lice cannot jump or fly so transmission is usually caused by sustained contact with someone else who is infested or with infested objects (a hair brush, hat, seat back, shirt, pillow, etc).
Eliminate resident head lice
In order to destroy an infestation of head lice, you will need to perform the following actions in immediate succession. The required tools are: shampoo, a lice comb, a bowl of soapy water, some tissue, towels and some hair pins. These materials were discussed detail in the previous section.
- Wash all used clothing, bedding and head gear on the hottest setting with detergent to kill any lice or eggs that may have reached them. Any items that cannot be washed in the washer can be placed in the dryer on the hottest setting for 1/2 hour to kill all stages of lice. This much cleaning may be overkill - the point is to clean anything that could have come into contact with the head or nape of the neck. Pillow covers, shirts, and headwear are likely sufficient .
- Shampoo the infested person with hot water. Start with warm water and gradually increase the temperature until it is in your upper range of comfort. If you are shampooing a child’s hair, please be very careful not to burn them. Vigorously wash with your shampoo of choice and then rinse. After rinsing, lather the hair back up and wrap a towel around the infested person’s head for about 15 minutes to let the hair soften.
- Comb out the eggs with a lice comb. Unwrap the towel and straighten the hair by combing with a regular comb - do not rinse. If you’re combing a child’s hair then it may help to sit them down in front of the TV to keep them still. Start on one side of the head and comb the hair towards you making sure to drag the comb as close to the scalp as possible. Work over the entire head of hair in one inch sections, pinning cleaned hair out of the way as you progress. When the comb begins to clog, wipe it clean with a tissue and place the tissue in a bowl of soapy water to kill any lice or eggs. When the bowl becomes full flush it’s contents down the toilet and then refill it. After the entire head has been combed, thoroughly rinse the hair with more hot water and then clean the comb by submerging it in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Before putting the comb away, scrub the teeth clean with a stiff brush.
If it’s possible, keep the recently infested individual out of the house for a day or so (head lice generally won’t survive longer than 48 hours without a blood meal) and lower the humidity to kill off any left in the environment.
The combing process is called “wet combing” and should be repeated weekly for 4 weeks or as long as there is a lice problem in the surrounding environment. The infested person should also carry the comb around with him or her and use it whenever they feel an itch - afterwards it should be rinsed off in the hottest tap water available. During the extermination process keep all things that touch hair separated from one another and don’t share hats, hairbrushes or anything else that touches the head.
4. How to get rid of pubic lice a.k.a. crabs
Eliminate the source of the pubic lice infestation
If you’ve found yourself with a case of pubic lice, it is important that you contact everyone that you’ve recently had sexual relations with or shared bedding and clothing with so they can take appropriate measures to identify and destroy any personal infestations as well.
Eliminate resident pubic lice
To eliminate a pubic lice infestation perform the following two steps in rapid succession:
- Wash all of your used clothing and bedding on the hottest setting with detergent to kill any lice or eggs. 30 minutes in the dryer on the hottest setting will also kill them.
You can then successfully squelch the infestation by shaving the effected areas and vigorously washing the skin daily with soap and hot water. Use coconut oil or olive oil based soaps if possible. Smaller infestations can also be combed out over the course of a week or so.
5. How to get rid of body lice
Eliminate the source of the body lice infestation
Cases of body lice are rare, and most often occur in vagrants that sleep in their clothes and don’t routinely bathe. If you are struck by a case of body lice you most likely got it from someone who fits this description.
Eliminate resident body lice
A body lice infestation can be defeated by washing your clothes on the hottest setting with detergent to kill the lice and then routinely bathing with soap and hot water. You should also visit your doctor to be tested for any pathogens that may have been transmitted to you by the lice.
6. Off-site resources
- For more information about lice, visit The National Pediculosis Association.
- Are you sure you’re really infested? You could be suffering from “delusionary parasitosis” - “an unshakable false belief that live organisms are present on the skin”
Special thanks to Dr. Vincent S. Smith, a research scientist with the University of Illinois for his contribution of knowledge and experience to the creation of this article.
Resources:
Pages: 1 2
BTW, my friend has a yellow lab that was recently treated for tics. Other than that, noone in the house, human or dog, has any signs of lice. My friend thinks I’m CRAZY!
HELP!!! I’m married, and no affairs. Child is 17, neither she or my husband has lice. I simply cleaned a dirty house (on the floor, washing baseboards, etc) for a friend and then slept in a room that had been unoccupied for over a month. So-no human could have been there. I have head and body lice. Tried Premetherin treatments (creme) for over a month, bathed in Tide, used Rid in the hair, still there. Ordered Licerex not received yet, will that work just for hair or can I take a bath with it? My husband hasn’t slept in our bed for 6 weeks, when/how do I know when it’s safe for him. Will I EVER be able to be sexual again?????
for ppl comfortable with the concept: SHAVE YOUR HEAD!
of course i wouldnt, i’ve never had lice and the thought
of it kinda scares me. just in case, what REALLY works?
Ok people, listen carefully, my children have had lice and I learned about them from our ordeal. It is a nightmare if you don’t treat the kid’s head at least two times, eight days apart. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE THE LICE CAME FROM! YOU MUST KILL THE EGGS! keep your kid’s clothing away from other kids. this especially refers to the hooks at school. have your kids pack their coat in their back pack.
The lice are resistant to over the counter treatment, i.e. it doesn’t always work. We used a vaseline treatment (olive oil works too or mayonaise but mayo is disgusting) overnight (bag over the hair)which killed the buggers. IT takes many washings to get the stuff out. YOU MUST RE-TREAT eight days later to kill the live hatched from eggs. NOTHING KILLS THE EGGS! Either pull them off the hair shaft, RETREAT or they will be born and reproduce and it starts all over again. Good luck! They can be eradicated but you must be persistent. REMEMBER TO USE AT LEAST TOW TREATMENTS TO KILL THE EGGS!
i have had lice for a long time i tri everything but nothing works.my freind tried using (rubbing)achol and she said it worked so im goin to tri it.
my kids have been bringing them home since they started at school 5years ago i tell the school but all they do is send out letters the stuff i use dose not work no more i have tryed evry think what can i do i have had it up to my neck with it
i have been struggling with head lice for four months. i have six girls and two boys plus teenagers going in and out of my house due to foster care. we have tried many different things to get rid of it. my water bill has doubled and i have exceeded my budget trying things. i finall found an affordable remedy, tea tree oil. it kills the bugs and i was actually able to pull the nits out of my daughters unusually thin strands of hair. you can get it at walmart pharmacy. thank god for that.
i have had lice since 3rd grade and it wont go away help me it wont go away
Not a tip: ok i have had lice for like ever. me n a family member have tried so hard to get it out. we have had tried mayonaisse and vinger and the lice killing stuff and still nothing. i have been combing my head when i get out of the shower with a lice comb n been pulling out like 25 lice bugs and nits a day. I practiclly quit going to school of it and it is only the 3rd week. but when i pull the lice and stuff out of my head i see they are alive and i quickly get some disenficted spray and spraying on the comb in which it kills them. but i want to get riad of this. my cuz has had her hair treated and she never gets it but we are going for the super cheap way. someon please help me.
This comment is for cmr:
I see by your post that you have no idea what you’re talking about when it comes to lice-low income has nothing to do with where they come from first of all…secondly,no animals CANNOT give them to you and do not need to be treated..lice won’t “settle for the next best thing” they cannot survive on animals. Birds are definitely not carriers, not sure where you get your facts but before you go freaking people out with facts that are not true you should do some homework. Harvard has been and still studies lice (what kills them, life cycles etc.) you’d do well to do an internet search for the real facts before you post somewhere acting as if your comments are scientifically sound-almost everything you’ve said is non sense…I hope you didn’t scare any kids looking for good advice. BTW, they cannot jump either, they can however crawl very fast.As far as the measures you take with your house, that’s overkill; it is true that after 3 days lice cannot live without a host and die off-nits cannot hatch at room temperature,they prefer a warm climate (they hate hot and cold extremes and hatch in warm, not hot areas only, room temperature is not sufficient to sustain nits).I would suggest lice.ca for some scientifically proven facts….you may even save yourself $200 the next time you are faced with an infestation. Lice also cannot survive without feeding (on human blood,which is what they survive on). I hope some of this helps put some peoples minds at ease and clears up some of the overkill methods posted here.One person stated that persistence is the key,that is very sound advice when dealing with lice-keep washing/treating the hair,comb the nits until they’re all gone and disinfect surrounding areas(if you’re able to stay away from home for 2-3 days after treating to give any live lice time to die off from starvation, literally)eventually (if the initial source/cause is eliminated so you aren’t re infested)you will have success in the end with respect to disposing of little critters once and for all.As far as milatto hair goes, my niece is half Jamaican and is currently dealing with lice as is my son, I soaked her hair with NIX, combed in small sections after leaving in for 15 minutes, rinsed and then combed again-so far so good. I also put both kids hair up while soaked in olive oil the next night to loosen the nits,then combed while the oil was still in; I washed a few times and conditioned heavily… it does work and helps keep black hair soft and detangled-my best advice is to brush the hair first with a good brush and only comb with a steel comb in very small sections to avoid causing the child added pain-black hair is much more brittle and thick but responds just as well if you only comb very small sections at a time like I’ve suggested.Brushing out the big knots first with a proper brush saves time and makes the steel comb easier on the kids(especially ones with black hair) as only small knots may be left (or may develop during the process)to deal with. I hope this is of some help to someone out there and best of luck to all with this annoying problem.
Mage01
this isnt a tip:
ok, this is my third time having lice! its so annoying! we have been using rid, and like store brand sutff. and it STILL wont go away. e have bombed the whole house everytime we have had it. it just wont go away! any tips to help? please and thanks.
I have a 7 year old constant nit problem i use Mayonaise Yes Mayonaise rub in to the hair and scalp stick it on there head with a shower cap! works a treat do this once a week and wash and condition the hair as normal run through with the comb! No nits for a few days during term time! but during holidays no other kids nit free!
Help ????
THIS IS NOT A TIP ! my friend has headlice really really bad
and i have been researching for her and found LICENEx but i dont no where you get it from or how much ? :S
Please help
My 7yr old constantly gets lice i treat her buy expensive products take the eggs out as we sit for hrs trying for this not to return, but yes they do we were told to try vinager in her hair still nothing i am so sick of doing this please help me as i will have to cut her hair very short which is something i dont wanner do please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My niece is constantly getting lice and giving them to my kids~we’ve found that if you use olive oil and rosemary oil and make a mixture and spread on the hair and cover with a shower cap for an hour then comb through with a really good lice comb removing all of the lice and nits every 7 days for three weeks will get rid of the lice. You’ll also need to strip the beds wash ALL of the bed clothes and dry the pillows on high for half an hour. And do this for three weeks you will get rid of these pests!!! However, if you don’t find the source of where you got them they will find their way back in!!!
LICENEX! As a mother of 4, 2 girls 2 boys, i was overwhelmed when i realized my girls had lice! Of course i buzzed the boys head but did not want to have to do that to my girls. The first night it used RID and it took me 5 hours to take that little comb thru their hair. i almost cried when i realized all the nits were not out. so i did some research. i found licenex. I kills the lice and the nits and dissolves the nit glue so they wash out! human lice cannot feed on animals (research by harvard proved) and the louse itself can only live a one day without a host. so for the next week i washed thier hair with licenex, sprayed the beds and furniture down with Lysol (tip given by harvard reasearch), used bleach water to clean or wipe down all surfaces and toys, vacuumed evereyday, washed all bedding and made sure to dry all clothes on high heat or hang them in the sun.
this did the trick! thank goodness for licenex, removing nits can drive you insane
Saw an episode on 20/20 or something 2 yrs ago. Buy Cetaphil skin cream. Apply to dry hair and comb thru evenly. Blow dry hair. Leave on for 8 hours. Rinse out then repeat 1 week later. Cetaphil shrink wraps lice and kills them via suffocation. Haven’t tried this method yet but when the dermatologist in CA was refused a patent for this procedure (which he had been charging 200$/session) he went public on TV. Good Luck!
ok my sister has lice and is infestited with it and been using the head lice go away stuff and it does not work please help
Sorry no tip, I need advice. My daughter who lives in a very clean house continues to get lice. It doen’t seem to matter how often I do her hair or how much laundry I do they just keep coming back, I am so tired of cleaning and doing laundry I want to shave her head. Any suggestions?