What is Head Lice

Lice are tiny bugs, or parasites, with claws on the ends of their legs. They live on a person’s scalp and hair. Lice eggs are also called nits. Having head lice is very common in children.

Although having lice can be annoying and make your child’s head itchy, it is not dangerous. Lice do not spread diseases.

Lice can spread from one person to another. Lice crawl. They do not fly or jump. Because lice spread easily from one child to another, it is important to treat lice and notify your child’s school, camp, or daycare. With a few days of treatment, you can safely get rid of lice.

What are the causes?

This condition may be caused by:

• Head-to-head contact with a person who is infested.
• Sharing of infested items that touch the skin and hair. These include personal items, such as hats, combs, brushes, towels, clothing, pillowcases, and sheets.

What increases the risk?

This condition is more likely to develop in:

• Children who are attending school, camps, or sports activities.
• Children who live in warm areas or hot conditions.

What are the signs or symptoms?

Symptoms of this condition include:

• Itchy head.
• Rash or sores on the scalp, the ears, or the top of the neck.
• A feeling of something crawling on the head.
• Tiny flakes or sacs near the scalp. These may be white, yellow, or tan.
• Tiny bugs crawling on the hair or scalp.

How is this diagnosed?

This condition is diagnosed based on:

• Your child’s symptoms.
• A physical exam:
  • Your child’s health care provider will look for tiny eggs (nits), empty egg cases, or live lice on the scalp, behind the ears, or on the neck.
  • Eggs are typically yellow or tan in color. Empty egg cases are whitish. Lice are gray or brown.

How is this treated?

Treatment for this condition includes:

• Using a hair rinse that contains a mild insecticide to kill lice. Your child’s health care provider will recommend a prescription or over-the-counter rinse.
• Removing lice, eggs, and empty egg cases from your child’s hair by using a comb or tweezers.
• Washing and bagging clothing and bedding used by your child.

Treatment options may vary for children under 2 years of age.

Follow these instructions at home:

Using medicated rinse

Apply medicated rinse as told by your child’s health care provider. Follow the label instructions carefully. General instructions for applying rinses may include these steps:

1. Have your child put on an old shirt, or protect your child’s clothes with an old towel in case of staining from the rinse.
2. Wash and towel-dry your child’s hair if directed to do so.
3. When your child’s hair is dry, apply the rinse. Leave the rinse in your child’s hair for the amount of time specified in the instructions.
4. Rinse your child’s hair with water.
5. Comb your child’s wet hair with a fine-tooth comb. Comb it close to the scalp and down to the ends, removing any lice, eggs, or egg cases. A lice comb may be included with the medicated rinse.
6. Do not wash your child’s hair for 2 days while the medicine kills the lice.
7. After the treatment, repeat combing out your child’s hair and removing lice, eggs, or egg cases from the hair every 2–3 days. Do this for about 2–3 weeks. After treatment, the remaining lice should be moving more slowly.
8. Repeat the treatment if necessary in 7–10 days.

General instructions

• Remove any remaining lice, eggs, or egg cases from the hair using a fine-tooth comb.
• Use hot water to wash all towels, hats, scarves, jackets, bedding, and clothing that your child has recently used.
• Into plastic bags, put unwashable items that may have been exposed. Keep the bags closed for 2 weeks.
• Soak all combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.
• Vacuum furniture used by your child to remove any loose hair. There is no need to use chemicals, which can be poisonous (toxic). Lice survive only 1–2 days away from human skin. Eggs may survive only 1 week.
• Ask your child’s health care provider if other family members or close contacts should be examined or treated as well.
• Let your child’s school or daycare know that your child is being treated for lice.
• Your child may return to school when there is no sign of active lice.
• Keep all follow-up visits as told by your child’s health care provider. This is important.

Contact a health care provider if:

• Your child has continued signs of active lice after treatment. Active signs include eggs and crawling lice.
• Your child develops sores that look infected around the scalp, ears, and neck.