Lice Information - Nit Picking

Nit-Picking or How to Get Rid of Lice

Our school has issues with lice. And if you look at the fast-growing business of Lice Busters, or Nit Pickers, I think it is now an issue with many schools. Last year we ran an article in Chalkboard on various lice treatments and alternative treatments and this year we will give some instructions on combing, or nit picking.

Head lice are a common, controversial and frustrating problem for parents. And the controversy isn't usually about where they got infected, but instead revolves around how you are going to get rid of the lice. On one side of the debate are the people who believe that head lice have developed resistance to regular treatments, so that they no longer work. Other experts believe that resistance is not a big problem, and treatment failures are because parents didn't remove the nits. No matter the reasons, the way to get rid of lice is to comb properly!

Lice love laying 100s of eggs, called nits, that are glued to the bottom of the hair shafts. Removing these nits is a vital step in the lice eradication process. Nits are not necessarily killed or removed by even the strongest of prescription treatments. They must be REMOVED from the scalp by combing. This is what takes time and effort and seems to be the step that many skip or do not do well or often enough.

Here are some instructions for nit-picking!

1) First step after finding lice is to treat in some way to kill the adult lice. (You can comb them out without killing them, but you must immobilize them as they can move fast.) Most popular are the pesticide-based Rid or Nix or suffocating lice with conditioner. Tea Tree oil conditioners (add a few drops to any conditioner to make your own) are a good option for those wishing to avoid the pesticides. There are lice products without pesticides on the market that work in various ways. ALL products necessitate combing the lice, nymphs and nits out. Combing is essential, no matter which treatment you use. It is the combing that gets rid of the infestation, even if you use the strong treatments. They will not kill the nits. YOU MUST COMB! (Have I repeated that enough yet? COMB, COMB, COMB!)

2) There are some products and methods that will help to loosen the nits before combing. Some say that vinegar works well and will apply mayonnaise which contains vinegar or spray vinegar directly on before combing. Conditioner with tea tree oil can also help loosen nits as can specific lice products with enzymes like Lice-Be-Gone. Let this sit on the hair, wrapped with plastic wrap or a shower cap, for at least 40 minutes to an hour. Overnight can work well but protect the pillow! This will also smother the live adult lice, killing them and making it easier to comb them out.

3) You can rinse the conditioner or product out of the hair first or not. Use a brush or regular comb to comb out the tangles. When using a lice comb you need to be able to comb from the top of the head, to the ends of the hair without getting caught in a snarl.

4) Now you are ready to comb with a. lice comb. Many products come with a lice comb and they are not always very good. The best, most effective lice comb is one with short, metal tines, very close together.

a) Divide out a small section of hair at the top of the scalp with a comb and clip up the rest if it is long. Comb the section, starting at the very top and making sure that the scalp is combed, and pull the comb through to the end. Examine the comb and see if there are any lice or nits. Nits will frequently get stuck between the tines and must be removed. Have a dish or water at hand to rinse the comb each time, or wipe it on a towel. Comb the same spot numerous times.

b) Go over the entire scalp this way, making sure that you cover every single millimeter.

· There are very big differences in hair. With fine hair, it may be possible to do larger sections.

· Lice are dark brown and nits are white. Contrasting color hair makes it easier to see.

5) You are done when all parts of the scalp have been combed numerous times.

6) Now you need to do it again the next day. It is probably a good rule of thumb to comb every day for at least the life cycle of the lice, 7-10 days. You WILL miss some nits and possibly even some newborn lice. Keep combing every day or every other day depending on how many nits and lice you find when you comb.

7) Once you stop finding nits and lice, you can relent. A little. But check again in a few days.

“The systematic combing is a two-week cycle to break the lice life cycle; if you short-cut the time, you could find your child becomes reinfested. The combing removes nits that hatch and then remove any nymphs before there is any chance to reproduce.”

Facts about head lice:

Acquiring head lice is not a sign of poor hygiene, so that should not be a stigma to the child or embarrassment to parents. Well-to-do kids are as equally exposed to head lice as disadvantaged ones.

Nits hatch in 7-10 days and develop into an adult in another 7-10 days which can then lay more (up to 100) eggs. So it is important to remove all of the nits to break this cycle. Also, since anti-lice shampoos don't usually kill nits, you have to usually retreat the child in 7-10 days to kill any newly hatched lice.

There are three basic kinds of lice. Head lice, body lice and crabs. Body lice, not head lice, is the kind of lice that is associated with poor hygiene.

Head lice can move around/crawl very quickly. However, it is untrue that they either jump of fly.

Since the lice issue has existed at our school for a few years now, we probably have many experts or seasoned parents. In that light, if you are willing, we would like to post your names and phone numbers on our website for parents dealing with lice for the first time to call and get some support. Additionally we would be happy to gather comments and then post our community’s experiences, proven methods, or things that didn’t work. For these shared comments we would not need to post any names or contact information. Just send your experience and advice to KESPTO.com and please be as detailed as possible.