Before you battle these critters, you should get to know a little about them.
Head lice are parasites that feed on human blood.
They are most commonly found on children that range in ages from three to twelve.
Unfortunately for the ladies, girls are more likely to be infected by lice than boys, but boys still run a high risk of catching them.
You'll also find that they can be difficult to identify if you don't know what you're looking for.
All you have to do is keep in mind that bugs don't generally reside in a person's head, so if you notice a tan bug about the size of a sesame seed crawling around someone's head, they have head lice.
Nits (lice eggs) can be a little more difficult to identify.
People often mistake dandruff or dried hairspray as nits since they look similar, so how can you tell the difference? If the object can be easily removed, it's not a nit.
If you can't easily remove it and it's yellow, tan or brown in color, you have most likely found a nit.
Once they've hatched, they will be white or clear in color.
Now that you've found some nits or lice in someone's hair, it's time to remove them.
This step takes place after their hair has been treated for lice, and it's wet.
You will need to separate their hair in to one inch sections and comb them individually from the scalp to the tip with a fine-toothed lice comb.
Make sure that you clean off the lice comb after every pass and when you move to a new section of hair.
Don't rush this process, or you'll be doing it again.
It may even take you several hours so be prepared.
The main thing is you make sure that you comb their hair thoroughly to get all the lice and nits out.
It's not uncommon for lice shampoos to fail at killing some of the nits, so it's important to make sure that they are all removed or they'll hatch.
As long as you go through their hair thoroughly, you should have nothing to worry about.
You can also try to use tweezers to remove the lice and nits from the infected person's head.
The same rules that apply to the lice comb also apply to the tweezers.
You separate their hair in to small sections and go through each section thoroughly.
Since the nits are no longer sticky after they've been removed from someone's hair, a useful tip is to take a piece of masking tape and place the nits on the sticky side.
Hopefully by this time they're dead or close to it, but as an added precaution, you should roll up the tape and place it in an airtight ziplock bag.
This will keep them from escaping and also cause them to suffocate.
After you have treated the infected person for lice, you need to turn your attention to everything they have been in contact with.
This includes upholstery, carpet, beds, hair products, clothes, etc.
Things that can be washed in the washing machine need to be washed with hot water.
Some of the stuff that can't get wet can be placed in the dryer on high heat.
The rest will need to be vacuumed or wiped down thoroughly.
Don't forget the car.
Head lice are parasites that feed on human blood.
They are most commonly found on children that range in ages from three to twelve.
Unfortunately for the ladies, girls are more likely to be infected by lice than boys, but boys still run a high risk of catching them.
You'll also find that they can be difficult to identify if you don't know what you're looking for.
All you have to do is keep in mind that bugs don't generally reside in a person's head, so if you notice a tan bug about the size of a sesame seed crawling around someone's head, they have head lice.
Nits (lice eggs) can be a little more difficult to identify.
People often mistake dandruff or dried hairspray as nits since they look similar, so how can you tell the difference? If the object can be easily removed, it's not a nit.
If you can't easily remove it and it's yellow, tan or brown in color, you have most likely found a nit.
Once they've hatched, they will be white or clear in color.
Now that you've found some nits or lice in someone's hair, it's time to remove them.
This step takes place after their hair has been treated for lice, and it's wet.
You will need to separate their hair in to one inch sections and comb them individually from the scalp to the tip with a fine-toothed lice comb.
Make sure that you clean off the lice comb after every pass and when you move to a new section of hair.
Don't rush this process, or you'll be doing it again.
It may even take you several hours so be prepared.
The main thing is you make sure that you comb their hair thoroughly to get all the lice and nits out.
It's not uncommon for lice shampoos to fail at killing some of the nits, so it's important to make sure that they are all removed or they'll hatch.
As long as you go through their hair thoroughly, you should have nothing to worry about.
You can also try to use tweezers to remove the lice and nits from the infected person's head.
The same rules that apply to the lice comb also apply to the tweezers.
You separate their hair in to small sections and go through each section thoroughly.
Since the nits are no longer sticky after they've been removed from someone's hair, a useful tip is to take a piece of masking tape and place the nits on the sticky side.
Hopefully by this time they're dead or close to it, but as an added precaution, you should roll up the tape and place it in an airtight ziplock bag.
This will keep them from escaping and also cause them to suffocate.
After you have treated the infected person for lice, you need to turn your attention to everything they have been in contact with.
This includes upholstery, carpet, beds, hair products, clothes, etc.
Things that can be washed in the washing machine need to be washed with hot water.
Some of the stuff that can't get wet can be placed in the dryer on high heat.
The rest will need to be vacuumed or wiped down thoroughly.
Don't forget the car.
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