How To Treat Head Lice

Head lice, also known as pediculosis, is a highly contagious infestation of tiny white insects, called lice.  Lice eggs are called nits, and typically attach themselves to hair right next to the body or scalp of the host.  Lice are spread from person to person through sharing of infested clothing, towels, and items like brushes or combs, or through direct personal contact.

To treat head lice, first assess whether you or your child actually has them.  Symptoms associated with lice include swollen glands in the back of the neck, itchy head, white or grayish spots stuck on hair shafts, and  foul-smelling hair.  You should also check for actual live lice, as well as their eggs (or nits).  This should be done in a bright, direct light, working with small sectioned bits of the hair at a time.  It is best to use a fine-toothed comb, or a pet flea comb, to both find the lice and their nits, and comb them out of the hair.  Tweezers can also be utilized to pick the nits and lice off the scalp or the hair.  Lice are reddish-brown in color, and their nits are clear or white in color, and are attached to the hair shafts.  Lice do not jump or fly.  Everyone in the home needs to be checked, as lice are extremely contagious.

It is important to wash all bedding, recently worn clothing, and towels in hot water, and dry them in a hot dryer.  This will kill any lice that have infested the fabric of these items.  All combs and brushes should be soaked in very hot water for a minimum of 10 minutes, to kill any lice in the combs and brushes.

Lice can infest the eyebrow and eyelash area, so this area needs to be treated with a coating of petroleum jelly twice daily, for a total of 8 days.  You should never use any chemical delousing agents around your eyes, as you could seriously injure you eyes.

One remedy that has been shown to work in some people, is the application of olive oil or mayonnaise to the scalp and hair.  It should be left on as long as possible, prior to combing out the nits with a fine-toothed comb.  This techniques is believed to work by coating the lice and smothering them to death.  The next step is to use a hot blow dryer, as the heat will also aid in killing both lice and nits.  Do not use too hot of a blow dryer directly on your scalp, as there is a risk of burning your scalp.

Following the delousing procedures, the hair and scalp should be checked daily to make sure that all nits and lice have been removed.  If there is evidence of nits or lice, you either did not kill the entire infestation, or re-infestation has occurred.

You will need to report the presence of lice to your child’s school, so that faculty and teacher can check for a lice outbreak.  Children need to be kept out of school in the event of a lice infestation.  They are able to return to school once the lice have been thoroughly removed, or the child has been treated with a commercial delousing product.

If you plan to use a commercial delousing agent, you should confirm with your pharmacist that the product does not contain the chemical lindane.  Lindane has been associated with several serious medical conditions including cancer and seizures.