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They make shampoo's and combs for the treatment of head lice or you could shave your head but that is a last resort Answer. You go to Walmart and buy the equate brand of lice shampoo and spray. You use it on everyone's head in the house, 1 bottle per person; 2 if they have very thick or long hair. You spray your car and rugs with the spray and you wash all bedding and pillows. If you have boys shave their heads and with girls cutting long hair can help but not necessary. If you don't do one of these steps you will have a re-occurrence. Be thorough and sterilize things with Clorox, like combs, brushes and bathrooms. Wash everything in very hot water with detergent and baking soda. Good luck.

There are several different ways to treat lice. The simplest is to use an over-the-counter preparation like Nix. Depending on how resistant the lice are in your area, the treatment product may need to be left on for longer than the time recommended on the package. It's not uncommon for it to be needed for 30 minutes or more. Be sure the hair is dry when the medicine goes on. The way these products work is to temporarily paralyze the muscles the lice need to breathe. Ultimately they die from lack of oxygen. But when lice are wet they have a self-protective mechanism and can hold their breath for 30 minutes or more!

Nix and similar products contain a pesticide, so I prefer using an alternative treatment if possible. At Stanford, we use regular shampoo mixed with three tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of tea tree oil, and one teaspoon of rosemary or eucalyptus oil. (These oils can be found at a health food store.) We mix it all together, work it into the hair, and leave it on for 30 to 60 minutes under a tight-fitting shower cap. We seem to get good results with this, though unlike Nix, there are no controlled studies to provide statistics on success. Also, eucalyptus oil is very poisonous, so it's important to be careful when using this mixture on children. It must be kept out of the eyes, nose, and mouth of kids. The most important part of treating lice is to carefully comb through the hair using a nit comb. However treatment is done, it is a good idea to repeat it a week later just in case one louse survives. One louse lays three to ten eggs per day so a child could get re-infested quickly.

Since lice can also live on bedding, clothing, and toys, and can jump right back on the kids after they have been treated, all of these things need to be cleaned or isolated for a period of time. Lice live on a very simple diet -- human blood. If they do not have access to blood they will die, usually within 48 hours, though sometimes they live a bit longer. If you close up your home and take off for the weekend, any lice left in the home should be dead when you get back and you can skip the huge cleanup!

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10y ago

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