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Young schoolchildren can pick up contagious diseases when in contact with other kids for the first time. Similarly, head lice can be acquired by contact. Adults coming into contact with the children can get lice as well. Lice are not exactly a medical problem, and you should not panic if your children or you are infested. They do not spread disease or carry bacteria. Although it's a bit gross to realize they live on human blood, they are not a menace, just an annoyance.

However, they are an annoyance. People infested with head lice are irritated by the lice because they itch. Even if you get rid of adult lice, the problem is not over till their eggs, called nits, are removed too. So, how to get rid of lice and nits? No amount of soaping and shampooing will do the trick. Then, is there a way to get rid of this embarrassment? Yes, there are quite a few methods to rid of the infestations.

You can do a manual search to locate head lice and nits and kill them. It is a time-consuming and laborious job though. There are medicated shampoos that work well. You can use fine-toothed combs called lice combs on moistened hair to remove the lice and nits. They are also known as nit combs and are more effective than medical treatment, as scientists say the lice are increasingly getting immune to chemical treatments in some parts of the world.

You can use your hair blower to blow hot air on it from a slight distance. Wash and dry the head and repeat the whole routine of combing.After combing with the lice comb, remove all debris from the comb and wash it by holding it under running water, preferably warm water, and dry thoroughly. Just combing once is not enough and you have to repeat to ensure all the head lice and nits are removed.

How do you avoid a renewed infestation? Wash anything that can be washed- towels, bed linens, clothing, et cetera- in hot water and dry them in a hot dryer (heat kills lice). If they cannot be washed, then they must be sealed away for at least three days- longer than lice can survive without the nourishment they find in human blood. Make sure that clothes and anything else in contact with the infested person are treated in the same way.

Now you need to make sure that anything touching the infested head is clean- combs, brushes, caps, hairpins, and so on. Make sure that children know the importance of using their own brushes, combs, and pillows. Color coding these items has been shown to be effective. The entire process should be repeated every seven days for about a month to ensure that the infestation is truly gone for good. Lice have a life cycle of three weeks, so this protocol needs to be followed a little longer than that.