With around 12 million cases of head lice seen in the United States per year, the condition occurs mostly in kids. Everybody is looking for a sure way of getting rid of it. So far, the accepted head lice treatment methods included chemicals and also some pesticides; which were not only bad for the scalp, but also to the environment. Nowadays mechanical methods of lice and eggs (or nits) removal is preferred. If you want your "nit picking" to work, you need to apply the following procedure.

Anybody with lice can get a natural lice wash that is sold at any pharmacy. Carefully heed all instructions, making sure to let the product work for the recommended time before washing it out. If this solution doesn't work for you, you can try slathering the scalp with a thick coat of petrolatum, mayonnaise, or olive oil and leave it in overnight. To protect your bedding, a shower cap can be worn until you go to rinse the solution out in the morning. While messy, this mixture should effectively suffocate the lice.

For either approach to head lice treatment, commercial wash or home remedy, the next step is to comb out the nits. Special nit combs are available at the pharmacy. Basically, these are very fine toothed stiff combs. The spacing of the teeth is close enough to catch the nits as the comb passes through the hair. Parents or caregivers are often squeamish about this task, but some basic head lice information may help. Namely, head lice can not jump or fly so are not easily transferred to the person combing the child's hair.

Now that you've completed your head lice treatment, you also need to clear your house of lice and nits. Head lice live on the scalp of a person, but they can survive for up to 55 hours on their own. So everything that has touched a lice-infested person must be washed to get rid of any lice, including beddings and clothing. It isn't required to use special detergent to kill the lice, just standard detergent and hot water. When you need to disinfect an item that you can't wash, try some lice spray.

Because nits can survive for up to 14 days even without a host, it is important to quarantine any items for that amount of time if the item cannot be cleaned. If this is not possible, the item should be discarded. Some experts suggest that taking a vacation from your home is a great solution. Stuffed animals must be kept in an airtight bag if they normally share the child's bed.

Once head last have been eliminated, the focus should be on prevention of further infestation. Instruct children to not share hats, combs, scarves, or other items that contact their heads with other children. Also tell them to try to minimize direct head-to-head contact while playing. Finally, tell anyone who your child may have contacted while they had lice about the situation. Keep in mind, there should be not stigma attached to having had lice, as it is not a sign of poor hygiene.