What is the best head lice treatment for long thick hair? Well, there are many effective ways of dealing with head lice in your thick hair. You don’t have to shave your hair to deal with them! Here, I outline how to get rid of head lice nits fast, overnight, using super-fast approaches. This article will also provide great insights into how to remove nits from long thick hair.
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Can Head Lice be Treated or Prevented?
Yes, it is possible to treat and prevent head lice and nits. Head lice and nits can be treated using many medications such as Malathion, Lindane, Ulesfia, Natroba, Vinegar and Sklice among other treatment methods.
However, these treatment substances should be used with caution especially for children, pregnant and breasting women and persons with skin allergies to avoid any potential side effects.
Regarding prevention, there are also many ways both natural and artificial that can be used to prevent and reduce the chances of catching head lice. Key among them include avoiding sharing head items such as combs, hats, and brushes.
Being vigilant and sterilizing hair objects before and after use could also reduce the chances of catching head lice.
How to Get Rid of Lice & Nits Fast
Once an adult female adult lays eggs or nits, they stick tightly to the hair shafts making it very hard to remove them from your head. Eventually, it becomes hard to comb these nits out of your hair.
However, with good knowledge, removing nits from your head once and for all would become a simple task. On how to get rid of lice and nits fast from your head, here are simple steps:
- Get armed with information – Note that nits usually stick at the root of the hair because it provides them with warm and moist conditions they require to thrive. Nits are whitish and yellowish in color and are usually glued to your hair shaft using chitin, a kind of special glue that is hard to dissolve.
- The right nit removal tools – the right tools to assemble include a special nit comb, preferably steel comb as opposed to plastic one is better for combing out nits. You will also need white vinegar or Apple, warm water, and a light white towel.
- Unglue nits from your hair using vinegar – use the towel to cover your shoulders and wet your hair with warm water. Add vinegar to dissolve the glue that holds nits tightly to hair shafts for easy removal of nits from the hair upon combing.
- Comb nits off the hair – Comb through the hair thoroughly after applying vinegar to remove lice and nits from your head.
- Monitor treatment – Wash and shampoo your hair after using regular shampoo after combing.
How to Get Rid of Lice Permanently with Vinegar
Vinegar is very helpful in getting rid of head lice eggs or nits because it has the ability to dissolve chitin; a special glue that binds nits to your hair shafts. But to say the truth, vinegar will not remove adult head lice because it lacks the properties to kill adult head lice.
However, the acidic properties in Vinegar can only kill nymphs- the young lice which cannot lay eggs. Mixing vinegar with suffocating substances like Olive oil could get rid of lice permanently. On how to get rid of lice permanently with Vinegar mixture, follow these three simple steps:
Step 1: Mix vinegar with water in an equal amount and apply this mixture to the hair until it is wet to unglue nits. The mixture should be applied throughout the head and closer to the scalp, around the neck, and behind ears.
Step 2: Wait a few minutes and rinse the hair in water to remove the vinegar. Use a considerable amount of time to comb out all nits from the hair.
Step 3: The process is repeated for two consecutive days to remove any louse that could have survived or hatched permanently. Combing is an important process for removing lice and nits from your hair because vinegar alone cannot do so; it only loosens nits for easy combing out.
Note: It is also important to wash all nit removal tools in hot water and change clothes and wash them in hot water too, and vacuum the floor where treatment took place. Always check for any live nits in the hair and repeat the process after seven days.
Head Lice Treatment at Home Remedy
Combing is the main method used to remove head lice from your head by combing your head every morning and evening for several weeks. Sometimes, combining nit combing with home remedies could speed up the removal of lice from your hair.
Virtually all home treatments have suffocating properties and lows down lice making it easy to catch on the comb. These suffocating substance works well if instructions are correctly followed to the later.
Always note that suffocating remedies work by stunning the lice to become slower and easier to catch through combing.
Steps in head lice treatment at home remedy:
- Coating with a home remedy – tea tree oil or olive oil or almond oil. You may alternatively coat the lice comb and reapply the oil as required
- Use your regular shampoo after combing your hair and rinse your hair. Always wash all the tools used to get rid of surviving lice.
- Repeat the process for seven consecutive days followed by two weeks of thorough combing every night to get rid of lice.
Head Lice Treatment Shampoo
Common head lice treatment shampoos include coconut oil shampoo, lavender oil shampoo, olive, and tea tree oil shampoo. However, there are some restrictions especially on the age when using these shampoos for hair treatment.
Furthermore, different treatment shampoos have side effects which should be noted before the actual treatment.
What is the best head lice treatment on the market?
Well, there are several reliable head lice treatment options on the market for you that you can access this year. Below, I have listed them basing on the age group of the patient.
Head lice treatment 6-7-month-old infants
- Benzyl Alcohol Lotion 5% – This substance is used on prescription for treating head lice in infants 6 months or older. The second treatment is applied after 7 days to kill the newly hatched lice to prevent them from producing eggs.
- Ivermectin lotion – This is recommended for treating lice in 6 months or older infants. It is ovicidal and is able to kill newly hatched lice. It is safe and effective to work even without combing the hair.
It is however inappropriate for kids with less than 15kg and pregnant women.
Head lice treatment in 1-year-old infants
- Ivermectin lotion and Benzyl alcohol lotion – These treatments are recommended for 6 months or older infants. They are able to kill newly hatched lice. They are also safe and effective to work even without combing the hair.
It is however inappropriate for kids with less than 15kg and pregnant women. Repeating the process seven after initial treatment is recommended to get rid of any hatched lice and prevent them from laying eggs.
Head lice treatment in a 2-year-old
- Pyrethritis or RID – It is effective and safe to use in children aged 2 years or older. However, this treatment works by killing already hatched and live nits. A second treatment with vinegar and wet combing is recommended to get rid of nits.
Head lice treatment in a 3-year-old
- Lindane –This has no age limit and could be used for people aged three years to treat head lice. It is capable of killing lice and should be followed by combing to remove the dead lice and eggs from your hair.
Head lice treatment in a 4-year-old
- Lindane- This has no age limit, but should not be used to people weighing over 110 Pounds, HIV positive and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Lindane works by interfering with the nervous system of the lice to kill them. This treatment should be applied to clean and dry hair to be effective.
Head lice treatment in adults
Malathion Lotion – This treatment is recommended for adults 6 years and older, but should not be used in pregnant and breastfeeding women.
It is effective and safe if used as directed and one treatment is adequate to remove the infestation. However, the process may be repeated between 7-9 days after initial treatment.
Head Lice Treatment Guidelines
There are various treatment guidelines on head lice treatment with updated evidence-based clinical reports for parents, teachers and the general public.
These guidelines provide information on the best way to treat head lice in adults and children. They can be found in health magazines and several health websites.
Head lice treatment in Boots
Head lice treatment is offered in boots pharmacy across the United Kingdom, Thailand, and Norway among other regions. It is also possible to obtain head lice treatment lotions from these boots for subscribers.
Boots pharmacists are also offering free advice on head lice treatment including lotions for lice treatment.
Head Lice Treatment in Japan
Tokyo family magazine – This provides an important guideline on how to treat head lice. It also has information on where to obtain a home remedy for head lice.
Information on lice and nits treatment can also be accessed from a variety of health websites.
Head Lice Treatment in the UK
NHS website has resourceful information on head lice and nits treatment. You can also obtain resourceful guidelines from a variety of health websites.
You can also obtain free head lice treatment under free NHS minor ailment scheme at some pharmacies which include Boots pharmacies.
Online health magazines are also an important source of information on head lice treatment in the UK and can be accessed through a subscription.
References on Head Lice Treatment for Thick Hair Fast
- 1: Head Lice at KidsHealth
- 2: Head Lice Overview at American Academy of Dermatology
- 3: Lice Treatments and Medications at Healthline
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