Lice Advice 1300 665 423

How to eradicate head lice

Uh-Oh! My child has head lice! What do I do?

We know that discovering or learning that your child has head lice can cause anxiety levels to soar. Having Head lice is most certainly NOT something to be ashamed of, and should not be a great drama to get rid of them. It is only the affected heads that need treatment, not the entire house. Head lice are more common now than they used to be, and need to be dealt with quickly and effectively. It is also VITAL that you inform the parents of your child's friends and your child's school or centre so others can check for head lice.

• Once head lice are found it is important that you start using a plain white conditioner. Spread the conditioner liberally through hair. If the hair is thick, use plenty of conditioner!
• Why do we use conditioner? Conditioner performs two functions. First it 'stuns' the lice for about 20 minutes, slowing them down and making it easier to remove. Second it loosens the eggs from the hair shaft.
• Comb hair with a normal comb to remove tangles and to ensure the condition is coating ALL of the hair.
• Use the Nitpickers^TM head lice comb and comb through small sections of the head at a time use a hair clasp to divide sections. Comb each part of the head thoroughly from all directions - from above, underneath and each side. Work on sections no wider than the comb if hair is thick you will need to ½ the section.
• It is important to work on small sections at a time, re-applying conditioner as needed. If you miss sections then the process will not be effective and the treatment period will take longer. Continue until you are no longer collecting eggs or lice on the tissue. (You can re-comb areas to be doubly sure.)

Demonstration of combing method
This shows the combing technique. It is important not to work with too much hair at once. Tie or clip it back. These photos show unconditioned hair for clarity purposes. Use lots of conditioner!

• Handy Hint: Dipping the Nitpickers^TM comb into apple cider vinegar will help loosen eggs.
• Repeat the process every 2 days until you are satisfied with the results.
  If there are still headlice at school then do a weekly check.
• Here is the good news! There is no need to de-lice the house. The research tells us that head lice don't last long away from the host AND they don't tend to leave the host to live on hats, pets, carpets, cushions, trees or clothes etc. So spring cleaning is a waste of time and energy. Concentrate your efforts on removing every egg from your child's head!
• It is important, however, that you wash all hair combs, brushes, clips etc. in boiling hot water. Any head lice or eggs caught in these things (possible because hair can get caught in brushes etc) will die in 30 seconds of contact with 60 degree heat.
• Keep all brushes and combs separate from other members of the household while headlice are evident. While the risk of transfer is not high, it is a wise precaution.
• Specific questions can be Emailed to us"

The best fine-toothed metal comb which has been university* tested against other combs and found to remove more eggs than any other comb on the market and is the essential component to any head lice removal treatment It is also the comb most often recommended by many State Government Health Departments.
*Rick Speare, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University
Single Nitpicker comb      $12.00 incl. postage            Click to Buy Online Now

If you feel inclined to use a head lice treatment, we suggest you use one of the naturally-based products. Used in conjunction with the conditioner and comb method, described above, they can provide added peace of mind, though not neccessarily a better result.

You are urged however, to avoid pesticide-based products as these may prove harmful to your child, potentially cause skin irritations and as the head lice's resistance to the chemicals used in trying to treat them is increasing, they may not be terribly effective anyway.