Like blow dryers the heat is too high to safely use without damaging your hair. Since straighteners can only heat a small portion of your hair at a time, they often miss a lot of lice. Lice can crawl away from the heat as the straightener moves.
Lice and nits can't survive the high heat. It's true that lice and nits can't survive temperatures above 113°F (45°C). This makes them susceptible to any heat source, such as a hairdryer or the plates of a hair straightener.
Grab your unplugged iron and gently scrub the plates with a soft towel, cotton rounds dipped in water, or cotton rounds dipped in rubbing alcohol for a deeper clean. Make sure not to scrub too hard, as Mayeda says this can damage the plates.
Lice bugs can die at any temperature above 135 degrees Fahrenheit and a flat iron reaches temperatures over 400 degrees. It is only natural that one thinks to turn to flat ironing to help eradicate their head lice infestation. Yes, it is true, if you flat iron over a louse, it will sizzle and die on contact.
Heat Method:
There are recent studies that show that treatment of lice with heat can be quite effective in killing head lice. Products such as Lousebuster are very effective but even a home hairdryer can successfully treat lice.
Off the host, adult head lice can live about two to four days at 74 degrees Fahrenheit (F) and one to two days at 86 degrees. Nits will remain alive off the host for up to 10 days; they will not hatch at or below room temperature (68 degrees F).
By comparison, the researchers found that a normal hair dryer aimed at the base of hair, divided into 20 large sections, killed 55.3% of hatched lice and 97.9% of lice eggs after 30 minutes of blow drying.
Hair gels, hairspray, oils or other non-medicated products do not kill lice or their eggs. Cutting your child's hair or shaving their head to get rid of lice won't keep them away. Lice stick to short and just “grown in” hair too.
Hairspray makes it harder for the louse to grab hold. The smell of hairspray and the use of solvents (sad but true) in them can also deter creepy crawlies from finding their way in. Not to mention that if you're tying longer hair back, you've got a double whammy.
How many head lice are usually found on an infested person? Typically, 10–15 head lice are found. The number of lice often depends on personal hygiene, for example, how often the person bathes, shampoos, or changes and washes his/her clothing.
Adult head lice can survive for 2 days and nits for around 1 week on a hairbrush. Soaking combs or hairbrushes in hot water of at least 130°F (54.4°C) for 5–10 minutes will kill any lice and nits.
Shaving the head does not cure lice. The itching should go away within a few days, but the medicated treatment will need to be repeated in 5 to 7 days to kill any new lice that may have hatched since the first treatment.
After treatment, your skin may still itch for a week or more. This is because of your body's reaction to the lice. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety.
Simply washing the items in hot water and drying them at a high temperature should get rid of the critters. The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) is easily killed by temperatures above 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and the typical residential hot water temperature is about 130 degrees.
Coconut, tea tree oil, lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemon grass, and peppermint are scents popularly believed to repel lice. Using any coconut scented shampoo and conditioner is an easy way to increase your defense. At 1% concentration, tea tree oil killed 100% of head lice after 30 minutes.
Head lice do not have wings or jumping legs, so they cannot fly or jump from head to head. They can only crawl. People catch head lice from direct head-to-head contact with another person who has head lice.
There is no product available to prevent head lice. Using the conditioner and comb method once a week will help you detect head lice early and reduce the problem. Tying back long hair can help prevent the spread of head lice.
Wet-combing
Combing wet hair with a fine-toothed nit comb may remove lice and some nits. Studies show that wet-combing results vary. Start by wetting the hair and lubricating it with hair conditioner or olive oil. Comb the entire head from the scalp to the end of the hair at least twice during a session.
Washing, soaking, or drying items at a temperature greater than 130°F can kill both head lice and nits. Dry cleaning also kills head lice and nits.
Permethrin lotion 1% is approved by the FDA for the treatment of head lice. Permethrin is safe and effective when used as directed. Permethrin kills live lice but not unhatched eggs. Permethrin may continue to kill newly hatched lice for several days after treatment.
But if you're wondering will disinfectant spray kills lice on a human head, know this is ineffective, unhealthy, and dangerous.
There are two reasons for a recurrent lice infestation: The lice treatment you used didn't work. You or someone in your family came in contact with lice again.