Head Lice Removal Method

Head Lice Removal Procedure

Head lice and a head lice infestation can be one of the most annoying physical things that a person has to deal with in his personal life.

Perhaps you have noticed yourself scratching your head with no apparent reason. Remember just because one scratches an itchy scalp, that doesn't necessarily mean he has head lice. The cause could be dandruff, heat or any of many possible irritations that would lead to an itchy head.

You may wonder, what is a head louse or an infestation of many head or hair lice? How do you determine if you or your child or any member of your family has head lice? And, of course the most important, how do you remove hair lice?

Head lice, as you probably know, are wingless insects which spend their entire life on the human scalp. They will only feed on human blood. The one exception for animals are chimpanzees - they can also become hosts for lice. Children from the ages of 2 to 13 are most likely to get them. There is a big chance that girls get them more often than boys but that doesn't mean the boys are off the hook or immune to this little but very irritating threat to our heads.

Identifying hair lice is a bit tricky, since they're small and their eggs or nits and the young lice or nymphs are even smaller. When you do find a small bug on your scalp or crawling in or sticking on your hair, it's most likely a head louse. A louse is the only bug that exclusively feeds on human blood and on our scalps.

Nits are eggs of hair lice. They are very small and are very hard to identify or differentiate from dandruff. There are three kinds of what are referred to as nits: a louse egg that's most likely to hatch; the remainder of one that already hatched, and last, a dead-embryo which is most likely never going to hatch.

If you check your children's or family member's hair and see that there are small white specks on their hairs, but the specks come off easily, then they're just dandruff and NOT nits. But, if you look really closely and notice that there are small things that are light brown in color which are sticking on a strand of hair, there is a big possibility that it is a nit. But then again, once these nits hatch they will change in color and will now become clear or white, so pay attention, looking for the light brown eggs, the white remainders from hatched nits, the newly hatched nymphs and the adult lice themselves..

There are lot of ways to remove hair lice. This can be done by medicated shampoo which is meant especially to exterminate the little parasites or you can do it the old fashioned way and use a fine-toothed lice comb. You can also use home remedies or a combination of these methods. When you do use a lice comb, remember to wipe the comb clean after you use it on each small section of your hair as you process these sections one at a time.

Tweezers can also be used in removing hair lice. How to do it? Simply part you hair into small sections and pick the little parasites on the scalp. Grab a napkin or paper towel and gather all the nits or head lice that you've picked (which are probably dying), and then stash them in an airtight plastic bag and throw them in the outside trash bin. If you have fireplace or are near an open fire, you can just simply burn the napkin or paper towel which contains the nits or lice.

Caution needs to be taken when you are combing or removing hair lice or nits using tweezers. Avoid the removal process while lying on a couch, upholstered furniture or carpet as there is a huge possibility that the nits and / or lice might fall and infest the furniture or carpet.

Remember when delousing your home and family to treat the furniture, bedding, car, carpet and any objects the infected person may have had contact with. Wash your bedding and washable clothing and items in the washer using hot water and or drying it for 20 minutes in the dryer on the hot cycle. A thorough vacuuming should also be done of all upholstery, car interiors and carpets in or to make sure all potential for a reoccurrence of the head lice problem has been eliminated.