For the treatment to work, you must follow the instructions exactly, including if the hair has to be wet or dry, and when to treat a second time. You may have to buy more of the same product if you have to use it on longer hair.

Using less of the product to make it go further will mean that the lice survive and more treatments will be needed. A second treatment with head lice shampoo, cream rinse, or spray is almost always needed 7 to 10 days after the first treatment to kill newly hatched lice.

Wash any items that were in contact with the head of the person who has lice, like combs, brushes, bedding, or hats. This includes the combs you used for detection combing. To learn more about head lice, watch head lice video. You can also:. This material is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified health professional.

This material is intended for general information only and is provided on an "as is", "where is" basis.

Although reasonable efforts were made to confirm the accuracy of the information, Alberta Health Services does not make any representation or warranty, express, implied or statutory, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, applicability or fitness for a particular purpose of such information.

Alberta Health Services expressly disclaims all liability for the use of these materials, and for any claims, actions, demands or suits arising from such use. ca Network. It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Please turn on JavaScript and try again.

Pyrethrin based products could cause a serious allergic reaction. Avoid using mayonnaise, olive oil, tea oils, petroleum jelly, margarine, or butter. These alternative treatments aim to suffocate the lice.

They have not been proven to be effective and may be hard to wash out of the hair. The doctor may order a prescription lice medicine if the over the counter medicine does not work. A prescription medicine might be needed for treating lice in a very young child.

These medicines have chemicals that are different than the over-the-counter medicines. The directions for using them may be different. Some may require only one treatment.

They often cost more and may not be covered by insurance. If using the prescription medicine Ovide® Malathion , do not use a hairdryer after treatment. Malathion has flammable ingredients that could set the hair on fire.

Machine-wash in hot, soapy water then dry. Use the hot cycle of a dryer for at least 20 minutes. Wash all washable clothing including hats, scarves and coats and all bed linens, towels and washcloths that have had contact with your child in the past 3 days.

Vacuum all carpets and furniture, including beds. This will remove any hairs that might have nits attached that are still alive. Do not spray insecticides on carpet and furniture nor hire a pest control company to treat your home.

It is not necessary and could expose children to harmful chemicals. Pillows, stuffed animals, clothing and other things that cannot be washed may be dry-cleaned.

Or you can put them in a tightly-sealed plastic bag for 3 days Picture 1. Any nits or lice on these things will die in 2 days. Check the hair and scalp of all family members every 2 to 3 days by combing the hair until no live lice are found for 10 days.

It is not necessary to treat anyone unless they have lice. Treatment that is not needed increases resistance to the lice medicine. Tell parents of your child's closest friends that their children may also have lice since the children play together.

Tell the school nurse at your child's school. The nurse can check other children for nits and make sure they're treated too. In some schools a child cannot return until he or she has received one treatment and is checked for live lice by the school nurse.

If live lice are found, the nurse will send the child home. The single most important thing to prevent lice is to "Never Share What Touches the Hair. Check your child's hair often during the school year, especially when the school tells parents there is a lice problem.

Lice: Treatment and Prevention PDF. Urgent Care. In This Section. Conditions We Treat Head Lice. How to Get Lice Lice are usually spread from child to child when sharing clothing, hats, scarves, combs, brushes, hair trims or helmets that have strands of hair with nits.

Life Cycle of Lice Lice spend their entire life on human heads. Treatment There are no over-the-counter or prescription treatments that totally kill both lice and nits. A combination of approaches is needed: Using over the counter or prescription lice medicine Removing nits with a nit comb and by hand, the single most important treatment!

Environmental control, vacuuming and washing Regular head checks followed by less frequent head checks to detect re-infestation Checking others who have close contact with someone who has lice Treatment with Lice Medicine and Removing Nits Head lice shampoo is an insecticide.

Follow these steps for most lice medicine: Read the label to be sure how long the medicine should be left on the hair and how it should be washed out. Wash your hands carefully.

Be sure to scrub under your fingernails. After Treating with Lice Medicine Have your child put on clean clothing after every lice treatment. Check for lice again in 8 to 12 hours. Use the nit comb to remove dead lice and nits. If some are still present but moving slowly, do not shampoo again.

Do not use conditioner for 10 days after any treatment. However, it may also pose a risk of skin damage. Further research is necessary to determine whether vinegar is a safe treatment option for head lice.

Lice are highly contagious, and anyone can get them. Having lice does not mean that a person has bad hygiene or is otherwise unhealthy. Lice are not typically dangerous, but an infestation can be uncomfortable, and because they are so contagious, prompt treatment is essential. Further research is necessary to prove the safety and efficacy of home treatments.

However, a healthcare professional can recommend OTC or prescription options. This MNT Knowledge Center article looks at how to get rid of lice, including the most common treatments, how to use them, how to get rid of the eggs….

Head lice are tiny, parasitic insects that live on the scalp, usually on young children. They are not dangerous but are highly contagious and can be…. Lice are small parasites that live on the scalp and feed on human blood. They can cause irritation and itching alongside tiny red bumps and sores, and….

Sea lice are jellyfish larvae that can release stinging cells, causing a rash when someone goes into the sea. Learn the signs and what helps treat a…. Anyone can get head lice regardless of cleanliness of their hair.

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. Home remedies for lice: Effectiveness and prevention. Medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, FAANP — By Zawn Villines — Updated on October 30, Home remedies Do home remedies work?

Medical treatments Prevention FAQ Summary Home remedies for lice may include olive oil, coconut oil, and mayonnaise. Do home remedies work to treat lice? When to use medical treatments. Frequently asked questions. How we reviewed this article: Sources.

Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles.

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These services are effective but often costly. Remind your child that while having lice can be embarrassing, anyone can get them.

Having head lice is not a sign of dirtiness or poor hygiene. The pesky little bugs can be a problem no matter how often kids do — or don't — wash their hair or bathe. Dealing with head lice can be frustrating, but be patient.

Follow the treatments and prevention tips from your doctor, and soon your family will be lice-free. KidsHealth Parents Head Lice. en español: Piojos. Medically reviewed by: Michelle P. Tellado, MD. Primary Care Pediatrics at Nemours Children's Health.

Listen Play Stop Volume mp3 Settings Close Player. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Are Head Lice? It's best to treat head lice right away to prevent them from spreading. Even though they're tiny, you can see head lice. Here's what to look for: Lice eggs nits. These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch.

Lice lay nits on hair shafts close to the scalp, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm until they hatch. Nits look a bit like dandruff, but aren't removed by brushing or shaking them off. Unless a child has many head lice, it's more common to see nits in the hair than live lice crawling on the scalp.

Lice eggs hatch 1—2 weeks after they're laid. After hatching, the remaining shell looks white or clear and stays attached to the hair shaft. This is when it's easiest to spot them, as the hair is growing longer and the egg shell is moving away from the scalp. Adult lice and nymphs baby lice.

Adult lice are no bigger than a sesame seed and are grayish-white or tan. Nymphs are smaller and become adult lice about 1—2 weeks after they hatch. This life cycle repeats itself about every 3 weeks.

Most lice feed on blood several times a day, and they can survive up to 2 days off the scalp. With lice bites come itching and scratching.

This is due to a reaction to the saliva spit of lice. But the itching doesn't always start right away. It depends on how sensitive a child's skin is to the lice. It might take weeks for kids with lice to start scratching. They may complain, though, of things tickling or moving around on their heads.

Small red bumps or sores from scratching. Some kids have mild irritation from scratching, while others may get a bothersome rash. Scratching a lot can lead to a bacterial infection. Watch for swollen lymph nodes glands on the back or front of the neck, and red, tender skin that might have crusting and oozing.

Doctors can treat a skin infection with an antibiotic. How Can I Check My Child for Head Lice? How Are Head Lice Treated? The two main ways to treat lice are: medicine removing by hand Medicine: Medicated shampoos, cream rinses, and lotions are available that kill lice.

Are Head Lice Contagious? Pets can't catch head lice and pass them on to people or the other way around. Do Kids Have to Stay Home From School? Can We Prevent Head Lice? To get rid of head lice and their eggs, and to help prevent them from coming back: Wash all bed linens, stuffed animals, and clothing used during the 2 days before treatment any lice that fell off before that will not be alive.

Wash in very hot water °F [ Dry clean items that can't be washed. Or put them in airtight bags for 2 weeks. Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture in your home or car , and throw away the vacuum cleaner bag.

Soak hair-care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands, headbands, and brushes in hot water or throw them away. Tell kids not to share these items. Because lice easily pass from person to person in the same house, check all family members.

Treat everyone who has lice so they won't pass it back and forth. Tell kids to try to avoid head-to-head contact at school in gym, on the playground, or during sports and while playing at home with other children. Every 3 or 4 days, check kids who had close contact with a person who has lice. Then, treat any who have lice or nits close to the scalp.

Will They Ever Be Gone? If you've tried everything and your child still has lice, it could be because: some nits were left behind if you see nits far from the scalp — more than ½ inch 1 cm — and no live lice, these are probably dead and treatment likely isn't needed your child is still around someone who has lice the treatment you're using isn't effective If your child has lice 2 weeks after you started treatment or if your child's scalp looks infected, call your doctor.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you've combed through all of your child's hair. Check with your child's doctor before beginning any head lice treatment.

The most effective way to treat head lice is with head lice medicine. After each treatment, using the comb-out method every 2 to 3 days for 2 to 3 weeks may help remove the nits and eggs.

Never let children apply the medicine. Medicine should be applied by an adult. Always rinse the medicine off over a sink and not during a shower or bath, so the medicine doesn't run off the head onto other areas of skin. Place your child's head over a sink and rinse the medicine off with warm water not hot water.

Check with your child's doctor before beginning a second or third medicine. Your child may just need to repeat the same medication, or switch to a new one.

Ask your child's doctor if you have any questions or if treatments you have tried have not gotten rid of lice. Never use dangerous products like gasoline or kerosene or medicines made for use on animals!

Also, do not use home remedies, such as petroleum jelly, mayonnaise, tub margarine, essential oils or olive oil, because no studies prove they work. Check with your child's doctor before beginning any treatment.

See chart, below, for a list of head lice medicines approved by the U. Food and Drug Administration. Apply to shampooed and towel-dried hair; then rinse off after 10 minutes. Do not shampoo for hours afterward. Spinosad topical suspension 0. You may want to wash your child's clothes, towels, hats, and bed linens in hot water and dry on high heat if they were used within 2 days before head lice were found and treated.

You do not need to throw these items away. Items that cannot be washed may be sealed in a plastic bag for 2 weeks or dry-cleaned.. Do not spray pesticides in your home.

They can expose your family to dangerous chemicals and are not needed when you treat your child's scalp and hair properly. All household members and close contacts should be checked and treated for head lice if necessary. Some schools have "no-nit" policies stating that students who still have nits in their hair cannot return to school.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and National Association of School Nurses discourage such policies and believe a child should not miss or be excluded from school because of head lice. Head lice don't put your child at risk for any serious health problems. Products should be used only if those products are safe.

If your child has head lice, work quickly but safely to treat your child to prevent the head lice from spreading. Nolt currently serves as medical director of the antimicrobial stewardship program and the department of infection prevention and control at the hospital.

She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and previously served on its Committee on Infectious Diseases. Outside of the hospital, Dr. Nolt enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, discussing the positive impact of superheroes, both in comic books and real life.

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Skip to main content. Turn off Animations. Turn on Animations. Our Sponsors Log in Register. Log in Register. Ages and Stages. Healthy Living. Safety and Prevention. Family Life. Health Issues. Tips and Tools. Our Mission. Find a Pediatrician. Head Lice: What Parents Need to Know.

Page Content. What are head lice? What are nits? What is the life cycle of head lice? This cycle can repeat every 3 weeks if head lice are left untreated. How common are head lice? How do head lice spread? What are symptoms of head lice?

How do you check for head lice? Seat your child in a brightly lit room. Part their hair. Look for crawling lice and for nits on your child's scalp a section at a time. Live lice are hard to find. They avoid light and move quickly. What is the comb-out method for lice?

Here is how you use the comb-out method: Step 1: Wet your child's hair. How do you treat head lice? Head lice medicine should be used only when it is certain that your child has living head lice. Remember, check with your child's doctor before starting any head lice medicine.

Also, when head lice medicines are used, it is important to use them safely as directed. About school "no-nit" policies Some schools have "no-nit" policies stating that students who still have nits in their hair cannot return to school.

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician.

There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances. Follow Us. Back to Top. Chronic Conditions. Developmental Disabilities. Emotional Problems. From Insects or Animals. Genitals and Urinary Tract.