Learn How to Get Rid of Lice in 4 Easy Steps

If you've ever wondered how to get rid of lice, the odds are your child brought them home from school or daycare. Just about every child will have lice at some point. However, that doesn't mean you need to ever go through this parasite infestation over and over again. With just four steps, you can not only get rid of head lice, but make it unlikely that they'll ever come back again.

Contact us to learn more about How To Get Rid Of Head Lice

Step one: kill the adult lice

An adult louse lives and feeds for up to a month, with females laying 100 or more eggs. Clearly, to stop the itching and keep things from getting any worse, your first step is to remove and kill the egg-laying adults. There are pesticide-laden shampoos that will kill most adults, but these can be dangerous for many people to use and can even result in a more robust, resistant louse population. The experts agree that getting rid of lice is safest when done manually with a comb.

Lice don't hop or fly and, are always found close to the scalp. Therefore, you don't have to “stun” them with anything to make them easy to catch. Live adults that are taken off hair follicles can be killed by dropping them into alcohol.

Step two: remove and kill the eggs

The eggs of lice, most often called “nits,” are firmly attached to individual hairs, usually about 1/4” inch from the scalp. Unless your child wants a shaved head, the only effective way to get rid of the pesticide-resistant eggs is to pull them off with a comb. They are very small, but even these translucent nits can be seen by most for easy (though long and tedious) removal. This is, by far, the most important step to help get rid of lice. Without removing these eggs, you'll have a new crop in less than a week.

Step three: kill or starve the stragglers

When removing head lice, thoroughness is important. Even a single adult female can start the whole process over again. As such, you'll need to be sure and get all the stragglers that are found on items that have come in contact with your child's head. This includes hats, combs, bedding, pillows, mattresses, couches and stuffed animals. Putting washable items through a hot water cycle (of at least 150F for 10 minutes) and a hot drying cycle will kill the adults. Sealing the laundered items in a plastic bag for at least 10 days will starve the emergent young.

Thankfully, lice do not survive for more than a few days without their sole source of food: human blood. Therefore, anything that you can't wash or carefully vacuum must be sealed away for at least 14 days. Check other members of the household to make sure they didn't pick them up, too. Treat everyone as necessary. Don't worry about checking pets – lice only attack humans.

Step four: behavior changes to keep lice from coming back

Recheck each member of the household every 10 days for the next month or so. You should also encourage your children to be careful about sharing hats, combs, hair accessories and other items with their friends. Have your child bring their own sleeping bag and pillow to sleepovers. If your child starts itching, check her or him immediately for signs of re-infestation.

Such measures will help prevent lice, but there's always a chance they'll be back. However, once you know how to get rid of lice, you'll be ready to respond quickly.

Areas we service: