Head lice have no wings and do not fly or jump, but they can crawl or run through hair quickly. Most commonly, head lice are spread by direct head-to-head contact with an infested person.
Head lice crawl, but they can't jump or fly. Head lice often spread from one person to another by direct head-to-head contact, often within a family or among children who have close contact at school or play. It's less common for head lice to spread without direct contact.
Head lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Head lice are spread by direct contact with the hair of an infested person. Anyone who comes in head-to-head contact with someone who already has head lice is at greatest risk.
Avoid head-to-head (hair-to-hair) contact during play and other activities at home, school, and elsewhere (sports activities, playground, slumber parties, camp). Do not share clothing such as hats, scarves, coats, sports uniforms, hair ribbons, or barrettes. Do not share combs, brushes, or towels.
For the study, researchers compared tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil, and DEET. The researchers found that tea tree and peppermint oil repelled lice the most, and a tea tree and lavender combination kept some lice from biting people with treated skin.
As with furniture and carpets, adult lice typically live for around 2 days on pillows and sheets without human contact. Nits will not hatch and will die within a week. People should machine wash any pillows or sheets someone with lice has used in hot water of more than 130°F (54.4°C) .
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. Only items that have been in contact with the head of the infested person in the 48 hours before treatment should be considered for cleaning.
Permethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid similar to naturally occurring pyrethrins. Permethrin lotion 1% is approved by the FDA for the treatment of head lice.
Head lice are thought to be spread mainly through direct head to head (hair to hair) contact (9,10). Lice do not hop or fly but can crawl at a rapid rate (23 cm/min under natural conditions) (8). There continues to be controversy about the role fomites play in transmission (8).
It may take 4-6 weeks for itching to appear the first time a person has head lice. How are head lice spread?
Dandruff can shake right out of your hair but lice eggs don't budge. Lice eggs secrete a glue-like substance and they will not move if you shake your hair or run your fingers through your hair. Nits (lice eggs) must be individually pulled off with your nails or a lice comb.
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly.
NitWits All-In-One Spray, with key active ingredient Dimethicone, is effective in killing lice and eggs in one go*. NitWits All-In-One Head Lice Solution is the latest NitWits innovation that delivers a quick and easy way to kill head lice AND their eggs without the need for rigorous combing.
Introduce natural predators (Ladybugs)
Ladybugs can eat 100 lice a day! Plant lice, anyway, but I'm sure it's the same with head lice. COVER YOUR CHILD IN LADYBUGS. You can purchase them at any of those “Brew 'n Grow” type stores where people grow weed by equipment and pretend to grow tomatoes with it.
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.
If you spot nits, but do not see any lice, it is possible that they are hiding and scurrying from the light as you search the hair and scalp; they can move quite quickly! Focus your search to their preferred hideouts, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck.
Just like with mattresses, lice can only live on any bedding—whether it's sheets, pillows, or comforters—for 1-2 days. Without a human scalp as a source for food (blood) for longer than 1-2 days, lice cannot survive.
There's no need to wash your child's bedding every day.
Sally's tip is to take a roller lint brush--the kind with tape--and run it thoroughly over the top half of your child's sheet. Her logic: The odds of a louse or nit falling off your child's hair and getting under the pillow and remaining alive is remote.