When you first realize that someone in the family has lice, it's time to plan for the most effective head lice treatment possible. Of course the people have to be treated but it is also important to make sure that all the household items and objects that have been in contact with the infected person get treated as well. In starting the overall treatment process it's a good idea to start treating the people and cleaning up the hair and heads from both lice and eggs.

There are a lot of different ways to treat lice besides the shampoos, creams and lotions that you can get with a prescription. When you purchase products that are designed to kill lice and treat infested scalps it is quite critical that you read and follow the instructions. These products are often quite toxic if not used properly so avoid the unnecessary hazards and follow the directions. When using shampoo products, the directions will most frequently have you lather up the hair with the shampoo and let it sit for a while on the head before going into the shower and rinsing it all away.

When out of the shower, with the hair still moist from it's recent rinsing, start the process of combing out the lice. You should use a high quality metal lice or nit comb (the lice eggs are named nits). The combing process is to get all the nits and living and dead lice out of the hair. It is much simpler to go through the combing procedure if done while the hair is still wet. When the initial treatment is complete, you should wait seven to ten days and then go through the whole process again. This repetition insures that any newly hatched parasites (called nymphs) are killed before maturing and laying more eggs.

Adult lice and the young nymphs do well with the abundant food and warmth of the human scalp and hair. When they are separated form their host, they usually do not live more than about 48 hours. Make sure that all surroundings and objects that may have become infected with stray lice are treated and cleaned right away. You don't want your newly treated individual to pick up stray parasites during this 48 hour period that they might be living on something close and waiting for a change to return to the host.

When cleaning the home environment, it is good to start by taking all bedding off the beds that might have been infected and putting them through a hot wash cycle. With items that shouldn't be washed in the clothes washer, you can often safely put them in the clothes dryer. Things such as pillows or stuffed toys are examples of things that you can just put ion the dryer for twenty minutes on the hot cycle, This will kill both lice and nits.

Upholstered furniture, rugs and carpets should be carefully cleaned by vacuuming. Do the same for any automobiles the person has ridden in recently. Things like helmets and hair care utensils such as combs, hair brushes, clips etc can be soaked in rubbing alcohol for a an hour, put in an airtight bag in a freezer (below 5 degrees) or thrown out. Follow these final procedures to complete your household treatment of head lice.