Treating Head Lice

1. Check to see if others in your area have lice

If you find out your child or student has lice, it's important to check to see if your family or other students have been infested. Let your family or classroom know about a possible lice infestation and urge them to get them checked.

• If you find lice in your home, it's important to treat everything in your home to ensure the lice does not infest others in your family. Even the sheets and rooms of non-infested people must be cleaned.
• If you're treating a child or student with lice, it's most likely you will have come in contact with lice as well. Get yourself checked for lice before, during, and after their treatments.

2. Wash all clothing worn in hot water

Remove all clothing worn by you or whoever is infested with head lice and wash all garments in the hottest water setting possible.

• If a garment can't be washed, isolate it in a garbage for several days to weeks to ensure all lice is dead. Since there is nothing the lice can feed on, the lice will eventually die.

3. Apply lice medication

You can purchase over-the-counter or prescription lice medication at your local pharmacy which may sometimes be called pediculicide. Be careful to read and follow the instructions of the medication.

• If you or whoever is infested with lice has long hair, you may need more than one bottle of medication.
• Do not use shampoo or conditioner or wash your hair for 1 to 2 days after using lice medication.

4. Allow the lice medication 8 to 12 hours to work

If you can still see lice moving around in your hair, do not retreat. It can take a while for the medication to kill all the lice.

• If you still see lice moving around after 12 hours, call your health care professional. They may recommend you do a second round of treatment or prescribe you a different lice medication.

5. Comb your hair

Most lice medications will come with a comb or you can purchase a comb specifically made for checking for lice. Since all the lice are dead and you aren't able to wash your hair for the next few days, it's important to comb out the dead lice and eggs from your hair.

• Flea combs for pets are a great alternative to lice combs.

6. Check and comb your hair regularly

Even if treatment was successful, it's important you comb your hair with a lice comb every 2 to 3 days after treatment to protect yourself from reinfestation.