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How do you get rid of head lice?
If you find a live head louse, you should aim to get treatment as soon as possible. Check everyone who lives in your household and treat anyone who has them at the same time. Children can still go to school – see our FAQ on whether or not to keep a child off school because they have head lice.
There are several treatments for head lice. You can either use a medicated lotion or spray or do wet combing (‘bug busting’).
Lotions and sprays
You can buy lots of different head lice treatments from a pharmacy without a prescription. These products contain an insecticide and you put them directly onto your hair. You should only use an insecticide treatment if you find live lice.
- Dimeticone gels, lotions or sprays. Dimeticone is a physical insecticide – it kills the lice by coating them so they can’t breathe.
- Isopropyl myristate and cyclomethicone solutions or sprays. These are also physical insecticides. They kill the lice by dissolving their outer wax coating.
- Malathion. This is currently the only chemical insecticide recommended for use in the UK. It works by poisoning head lice.
If you’re using dimeticone products, stay away from fires and flames (including lit cigarettes) until you’ve washed the product out of your hair.
Products containing the insecticide permethrin are no longer recommended because head lice are becoming resistant to this insecticide.
You’ll need to put the insecticide on your hair and scalp and leave it for a certain amount of time. This can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as overnight depending on the product. So, read the product packaging first. You then need to wash the product out using normal shampoo. You’ll usually need to put the treatment on twice with seven days between the applications – this kills any new lice that may have hatched.
Some insecticides aren’t recommended for:
- children under two years old
- pregnant or breastfeeding women
- people with eczema or asthma
Instead, these people should use wet combing or dimeticone 4% lotion. Check with your pharmacist which products are best for you.
Always read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine and if you have any questions, ask your pharmacist for advice.
Wet combing or ‘bug busting’
Wet combing involves removing lice by regularly combing wet hair with a plastic, fine-toothed head-lice-detection comb. If you’re using wet combing to remove head lice, you’ll need to do it every four days for two weeks. It’s important to keep wet combing your hair until you haven’t seen any full-grown lice for three consecutive sessions.
Wet combing is suitable for everyone. Some people prefer it to using an insecticide because it doesn’t involve any chemicals. It’s also relatively cheap because you can use the comb again and again. You can use one comb to treat all members of your family who have head lice. Wet combing should be done in four sessions spaced over two weeks – on days one, five, nine and 13. But it doesn’t always work as well as an insecticide. It can also take up a lot of time if several people in your family need to be treated.
Checking treatment has worked
Whichever treatment you use, you should check it’s worked by looking for lice with a detection comb. The advice about this varies. But it may be worth checking two or three days after you’ve finished the treatment and checking again after another seven days.
If you find any nits (egg cases), this doesn’t necessarily mean the treatment hasn’t worked. If you find live lice, the treatment may not have worked or you may have caught head lice again. You’ll need to repeat the same treatment, making sure you’re following the right instructions for the product.
Head lice can become resistant to the insecticide malathion. So, if malathion hasn’t worked for you, you should try either a physical insecticide or wet combing.
It’s important to check everyone in the household for head lice again at the same time – and treat them if you find any live lice.
Top 19 why do people get lice edit by Top Q&A
What Are Lice? How Do You Know If You Have Them?
- Author: webmd.com
- Published Date: 09/13/2022
- Review: 4.87 (958 vote)
- Summary: These pesky creatures don’t fly or jump — they crawl over to the closest head they can find. This is called head-to-head contact, and most people get lice this …
Head lice and nits – NHS
- Author: nhs.uk
- Published Date: 08/15/2022
- Review: 4.74 (234 vote)
- Summary: Head lice and nits are very common in young children and their families. They do not have anything to do with dirty hair and are picked up by head-to-head …
How do you get lice? Lice mainly spreads through head-to-head contact — here&x27s how to prevent it
- Author: insider.com
- Published Date: 05/25/2022
- Review: 4.39 (580 vote)
- Summary: Lice are mainly spread through head-to-head contact with other humans. Children most commonly get lice, through activities like sleepovers, …
- Matching search results: Common head lice treatments include physical removal with specialized lice combs, as well as lice-killing medications like insecticidal shampoos. You’ll need to talk with your doctor to confirm the presence of lice and determine the most effective …
What Are Lice, and Where Do They Come From?
- Author: healthline.com
- Published Date: 02/17/2022
- Review: 4.15 (281 vote)
- Summary: Head lice are obligate parasites. This means that they cannot survive without a human host. This species can live only on human hosts, so you cannot get them …
- Matching search results: Common head lice treatments include physical removal with specialized lice combs, as well as lice-killing medications like insecticidal shampoos. You’ll need to talk with your doctor to confirm the presence of lice and determine the most effective …
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Head Lice: What Parents Need to Know
- Author: healthychildren.org
- Published Date: 10/31/2022
- Review: 3.92 (274 vote)
- Summary: Some nits may blend in with some people’s hair color, … However, it may take up to 4 to 6 weeks after lice get on the scalp before the …
- Matching search results: Head lice are a common problem, especially among school-aged children and their families. The lice can attach to the hair of anyone’s head. It doesn’t matter if the hair is clean or dirty. Head lice are also found worldwide in all different places, …
Body Lice – MedlinePlus
- Author: medlineplus.gov
- Published Date: 08/04/2022
- Review: 3.73 (394 vote)
- Summary: There may also be a rash, which is caused by an allergic reaction to the bites. The itching causes some people to scratch until they get sores.
- Matching search results: Head lice are a common problem, especially among school-aged children and their families. The lice can attach to the hair of anyone’s head. It doesn’t matter if the hair is clean or dirty. Head lice are also found worldwide in all different places, …
Head lice – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic
- Author: mayoclinic.org
- Published Date: 03/18/2022
- Review: 3.39 (494 vote)
- Summary: Head lice are tiny insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. Head lice most often affect children. The insects usually spread through …
- Matching search results: See a health care provider before you begin treatment if you suspect that you or your child has head lice. Your or your child’s health care provider can confirm that head lice are present. Studies show that many children have been treated for head …
[PDF] SIGNS OF LICE HOW DO YOU GET LICE? OTHER THINGS TO
- Author: sheboygancounty.com
- Published Date: 05/22/2022
- Review: 3.22 (383 vote)
- Summary: Lice (louse) are tiny, wingless, 6-legged bugs that are about the size of a sesame seed. ▫ Every day a female louse lays 3-5 tiny oval gray/white-.
- Matching search results: See a health care provider before you begin treatment if you suspect that you or your child has head lice. Your or your child’s health care provider can confirm that head lice are present. Studies show that many children have been treated for head …
Pediculosis (Head Lice Infestation) – Epidemiology
- Author: vdh.virginia.gov
- Published Date: 12/22/2021
- Review: 3.12 (514 vote)
- Summary: The most common way to get head lice is by head-to-head contact with a person who already has head lice. Less common ways to spread head lice are by indirect …
- Matching search results: Head lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly, so they are usually spread by direct contact with the hair of a person infested with head lice. The most common way to get head lice is by head-to-head contact with a person who already has head …
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Where Do Head Lice Come From?
- Author: liceclinicsofamerica.com
- Published Date: 01/12/2022
- Review: 2.98 (183 vote)
- Summary: Body lice evolved to attach to clothing fibers which are typically thicker and stronger than a human hair. Head lice stuck with the scalp.
- Matching search results: According to researchers, there are three primary “clades” (i.e., categories) of head lice, imaginatively named A, B, and C. Clade B head lice are thought to have originated in North America, and then to have migrated to farther reaches of the …
Head Lice Fact Sheet – MN Dept. of Health
- Author: health.state.mn.us
- Published Date: 10/02/2022
- Review: 2.69 (124 vote)
- Summary: Most people don’t know they are infested until they see the nits or lice. … Head lice have no wings and do not fly or jump, …
- Matching search results: Look closely for nits along the hairline at the back of the head and neck and behind the ears. Nits should not be confused with an accumulation of hair spray, hair gels, or dandruff, which can be easily flicked off the hair; nits cannot because they …
Can Black People Get Head Lice?
- Author: liceclinicstemecula.com
- Published Date: 04/14/2022
- Review: 2.66 (92 vote)
- Summary: The unfortunate answer is that black people can indeed get lice. Where does the saying come from? If black people can, in fact, get lice, where …
- Matching search results: Head lice are adapted for particular conditions. For head lice to survive they need just the right conditions. This narrow adaptation is why head lice live on humans and not animals and it is why a small change in hair shape is enough to, usually, …
Do African Americans Get Head Lice? – Lice Choice
- Author: licechoice.com
- Published Date: 01/04/2022
- Review: 2.51 (167 vote)
- Summary: Lice must crawl from one person’s head to another, or from a shared item. Since lice need the warmth of a human head to survive, and the blood is drawn from the …
- Matching search results: How can black people get head lice? The same way as every other person. Head lice are most commonly transmitted by direct head-to-head contact with a person who is already infested with lice. This is most common among children, during sleepovers or …
Facts & Myths of Head Lice and Lice Treatments
- Author: liceclinicsnorthgwinnett.com
- Published Date: 10/22/2022
- Review: 2.52 (161 vote)
- Summary: Anyone can. A person’s degree of cleanliness or personal hygiene has little or nothing to do with getting head lice. A common misconception is that lice …
- Matching search results: Regular hair dryers are often too hot and you would burn the scalp because eggs need to be exposed to 30 seconds of heated air in each area. Regular hair dryers have an airflow rate that is too low. The Air Allé™ has controlled airflow of about 3 …
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Can African Americans Get Head Lice?
- Author: liceaunties.com
- Published Date: 12/10/2021
- Review: 2.41 (77 vote)
- Summary: Cultural use of oils actually doesn’t affect this much, contrary to popular belief. … Although the incidence is quite low, African Americans do …
- Matching search results: Regular hair dryers are often too hot and you would burn the scalp because eggs need to be exposed to 30 seconds of heated air in each area. Regular hair dryers have an airflow rate that is too low. The Air Allé™ has controlled airflow of about 3 …
Head lice: Who gets and causes
- Author: aad.org
- Published Date: 08/19/2022
- Review: 2.33 (96 vote)
- Summary: Because head lice crawl onto objects that have touched the human head, it is possible to get head lice by sharing everyday objects infested with lice such as …
- Matching search results: Regular hair dryers are often too hot and you would burn the scalp because eggs need to be exposed to 30 seconds of heated air in each area. Regular hair dryers have an airflow rate that is too low. The Air Allé™ has controlled airflow of about 3 …
Head lice (nits) – Better Health Channel
- Author: betterhealth.vic.gov.au
- Published Date: 06/14/2022
- Review: 2.22 (131 vote)
- Summary: There are other reasons why your scalp might feel itchy. Finding head lice. Some people who have a head lice infestation do not itch. It is possible to have …
- Matching search results: A female louse lays 3 to 8 eggs (nits) per day. The eggs are firmly attached to the hair fibres, within 1.5 cm of the scalp, and rely on warmth from the head to hatch. Head lice do not have wings or jumping legs, so they cannot fly or jump from head …
Head Lice (for Teens) – Nemours KidsHealth
- Author: kidshealth.org
- Published Date: 07/27/2022
- Review: 2 (130 vote)
- Summary: Some people with lice also get a rash of small red bumps from scratching. How Are Head Lice Treated? The two main ways to treat lice are: medicine; removing by …
- Matching search results: To remove lice and nits by hand, use a fine-tooth comb on wet, conditioned hair every 3-4 days for 3 weeks after the last live louse was seen. Go through small sections of hair at a time. Wetting the hair temporarily stops the lice from moving, and …
Heads Up: Black People Can Get Lice, Too
- Author: allure.com
- Published Date: 01/18/2022
- Review: 2 (138 vote)
- Summary: So, yes, Black people can get lice. But identifying and treating the parasite is a bit harder for kinky hair textures. There are topical …
- Matching search results: To remove lice and nits by hand, use a fine-tooth comb on wet, conditioned hair every 3-4 days for 3 weeks after the last live louse was seen. Go through small sections of hair at a time. Wetting the hair temporarily stops the lice from moving, and …
