What are Head Lice?

• Lice are small insects. When fully grown they are roughly the size of a match head and are usually grey or brown. They are difficult to detect. Lice like to live on a hair shaft very close to the scalp and their egg cases are glued to the hair.
• The eggs are pale brown but when empty, they turn a white colour; these are the "nits". The eggs take 7-10 days to hatch, and the lice take 7-14 days to become mature and lay more eggs
• They feed by sucking blood through the scalp.
• Lice walk from one head to another during very close contact, they cannot jump, fly or swim.
• Lice prefer clean short hair and are NOT a sign of poor hygiene.

How do you detect Head Lice?

• You should check all the family by combing wet hair from the roots with a fine tooth comb. The traditional nit comb is difficult to use and not necessary.
• Check the comb for lice between each stroke.

How do you treat Head Lice?

Wet Combing clears head lice over 2 weeks

• Wash the hair with an ordinary shampoo
• While the hair is still wet after using lots of hair conditioner, comb through the hair from the roots with a fine tooth comb.
• Clear the comb of lice between each stroke
• If you find any lice repeat this routine every 3-4 days for 2 weeks, so that any lice emerging from eggs are removed before they can spread
• You can buy a 'Bug Busting' kit from your pharmacist. The kit includes a comb and information with clear diagrams on this wet combing technique.

Insecticidal Lotions are no longer routinely recommended.

• Only treat those members of the family who have lice.
• Everyone infested should be treated at the same time.
• Carefully follow the instructions on the bottle.

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