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The Best Lice Removal

Lice are small insects that live in the hair of humans and some animals and feed on the blood through the scalp, causing itching and general discomfort. Lice also spread very quickly and multiply efficiently--a female louse can lay up to 20 to 30 eggs per day; multiplying that by hundreds of lice, outbreaks can readily occur at schools and businesses, as lice can be spread by mere physical contact. There are a number of effective ways of controlling and killing the spread of lice.

  1. Washing All Clothes and Sheets

    • Once lice have been discovered on a person, the outbreak first needs to be controlled. All clothes, hats and bed sheets need to be washed with detergent and hot water, so that any lice living on those or eggs that have been lain in the fabric will be eradicated. Combs and brushes should be soaked in water over 130 degrees Fahrenheit. All toys should be placed in a plastic bag and sealed for 14 days, as lice eggs can't live that long. All furniture should be sprayed with a pesticide and covered with a sheet. Each day this process should be repeated to kill any lingering lice or eggs on the furniture itself.

    Killing Lice on the Head

    • At the same time as the house is being quarantined and cleansed of lice, the head itself should be cleaned of all living lice and eggs that may have been laid in the scalp. Over-the-counter lice shampoo can be purchased at many pharmacies, and there are a wide variety. The best are pyrethrum- or permethrin-based shampoos, as they chemically kill most lice. Some lice are resistant to these shampoos, so others should be tried--something will ultimately work and kill the lice.

    Remove the Nits

    • Even after using the shampoo, eggs can still survive for up to one week after washing. So manually removing the nits--the eggs--may be the most important part of the whole lice removal process. With a fine-toothed comb, go over the scalp of the lice-infected person, using a magnifying glass if you have it, looking for lice eggs. The nits look like small pieces of sand or dandruff and can be difficult to spot. This process should be done after washing the hair a couple of times with the lice-killing shampoo. Be sure you use a heavy-duty comb--a plastic comb probably won't last through this process.

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