How to treat head lice

Head lice and nits are very common in young children and their   families. They are not caused by dirty hair. They are picked up by head-to-head contact. They cannot jump and crawl from head to head a long strands of hair. You can catch them early by wet    combing regularly and using a detection comb.

How to get rid of head lice:

· Tying long hair up and keeping hair neat will help stop the lice crawling from head to head. 

· Treat head lice as soon as you spot them. You can treat head lice without seeing a GP.

· Check everyone you live with, or have close contact with, and start treating anyone who has head lice on the same day.

· Lice and nits can be removed by wet combing. You can buy a special fine-toothed comb (detection comb) online or from     pharmacies to remove head lice and nits.

· wash hair with ordinary shampoo, apply lots of conditioner (any conditioner will do), comb the whole head of hair, using the       detection comb, from the roots to the ends

· It usually takes about 10 minutes to comb short hair, and 20 to 30 minutes for long, frizzy or curly hair. When you've finished    combing the hair, comb through all the hair again for a second time.

· Do wet combing on days 1, 5, 9 and 13 to catch any newly hatched head lice. Check again that everyone's hair is free of lice on day 17.

· If wet combing has not worked or is not suitable, you could try a medicated lotion or spray. These kill head lice in all types of hair, and you can buy them from pharmacies, supermarkets or online.

· Head lice should die within a day. Some lotions and sprays come with a comb to remove dead lice and eggs. Some treatments need to be repeated after a week to kill any newly hatched lice.

If lotions or sprays do not work, speak to a pharmacist about other treatments.