Now that you have identified head lice in your family, the next step is to effectively eliminate them. This can include shampoos, styling, creams, chemicals, and natural alternatives for the family. For your home, it can also mean vacuuming, washing, insulating, soaking, or even throwing away personal items.
For the infected person, there are several different medicated shampoos and hair treatments currently on the market. These can include both custom formulated and natural alternatives. In either case, after carefully following the hair treatment application instructions, proper styling is often the key step to truly ridding your family of these pests.
While the hair is still damp, the hair should be parted into approximately one-inch sections. Then each section must be carefully combed from the root to the tip of the hair. A fine-toothed lice comb should be used and cleaned or cleaned after each pass. It is essential not only to remove all the dead insects, but also to remove the nits (lice eggs) that are attached to the hair shaft.
After completing one section, you should continue across the entire scalp in small sections. When done correctly, this process can easily take several hours, so be prepared. There are different styles of lice comb available that can help with certain types of hair. Hair treatments do not always kill or loosen nits completely, so careful combing can help minimize ongoing problems.
You may also prefer to use tweezers to remove lice and nits. The same process should be used as with styling and the two options can be used together. As you remove lice and nits, a wide piece of tape is convenient to get rid of these parasites. They may not stick to a towel and this prevents them from escaping into the environment. After filling the tape, roll it up and stick it in a zip-lock bag for disposal.
The same care must be taken when addressing other parts of the environment. Hair items must be isolated, treated or thrown away. Bedding and clothing should be washed, dried on a high temperature, dry cleaned, or thrown away. Rugs, pillows, rugs, upholstered furniture, and cars need to be carefully treated and cleaned.
Careful attention to each step of the process can minimize infestation and rapidly eliminate lice from the area. Just a few stray lice or nits can easily start a new infestation. These steps should be repeated several times to kill and remove any stray insects or to tackle newly hatched nymphs.