How to comb lice and nits out of hair

Surely, before combing out the nits, everyone who has been infected with lice at least once tried to remove them simply with his fingers. And for sure, such an attempt was not crowned with much success - the nits are too small and, moreover, are firmly glued to the hair with a special adhesive secret. An ordinary comb also does not work: its teeth are too far apart, and between them slip not only nits, but also the adult lice themselves, who have drunk blood.

Fortunately, today you can comb out nits and lice from your hair with the help of specially designed combs. These products have a rigid structure, their teeth do not diverge and do not let in parasites. There are even electric lice combs that can kill parasites with an electric shock.

Review

“A pediatrician friend advised me exactly a lice comb, said that shampoos can cause allergies, and told me how to comb out nits easier. I looked at the prices, bought LiceGuard, and combed out my hair after washing my hair with a simple shampoo. I really liked this comb - its teeth are so often arranged that even nits are combed.

Inna, Rostov-on-Don

Obviously, each such specialized comb from lice and nits requires a special approach to use and knowledge of some fundamental points and not entirely obvious details that will make it really effective.

So, let's look at how to properly comb nits from hair and get rid of them forever.

 

Tip 1: Destroy lice first

Nits are lice eggs, covered with a special shell and securely attached to the hair. If nits appeared on the head, it means that someone put them here. They themselves cannot be transmitted from person to person.

And first of all, it is necessary to destroy adult lice, each of which lays 8-10 nits daily. Therefore, even regular combing of nits without destroying their producers will give little: adult lice will lay eggs faster than the owner of the head combs them out.

Combing lice with a special comb is necessary in the same way as the nits themselves, but special attention should be paid to the scalp. It is at the roots of the hair that the main number of parasites is kept, and therefore, combing the hair from the very base, you can remove a much larger number of them than with superficial combing.

On a note

Insecticides are still more effective against adult lice. Parasites cannot get away from them, and therefore die within a few minutes. Combing lice with a comb, even the most effective, requires a minimum of 4-5 procedures. Therefore, in any case, quickly combing out the nits from the head will not work.

And only when adult lice are removed from the head, you can focus your efforts on combing out the nits.

 

Tip 2: Use special combs

Lice combs are now produced and sold by several manufacturers. On the territory of Russia, the following brands of combs are most famous:

• AntiV (aka Nit Free)
• RobiComb
• face guard.

Of these, AntiV and LiceGuard are combs for simple mechanical combing of lice and nits, and the RobiComb anti-lice comb and the more advanced version of RobiComb Pro also have a mechanism for the electrical destruction of parasites that fall on the teeth.

And further: Creepy photos of head lice, including macro photography (the article has more than 50 comments)

Review:

“I don't believe there are harmless insecticides. All of them somehow backfire on health. But with Robi Combe, there are no fears at all - the lice die from him, then you comb them out with him, and that's it. The main thing is absolutely safe. But the most reliable nit comb is still AntiV. Our whole family has been using it for two years now, and not a single clove has fallen out or bent. ”

Irina, Smolensk

Simple combs, even very dense ones, are practically useless against nits - due to the softness of the material of the teeth, insect eggs slip between them, and the combing procedure does not give much result.

But even from three brands of combs, you can choose the one that is most suitable to achieve the desired effect.

 

Tip 3: Choose the right comb

As practice shows, the least effective against nits is the RobiComb electric lice comb. Due to the small height of the canvas, it is not always possible to properly comb out lice and nits from very dense and long hair. Its main purpose is the treatment of the root zone for the destruction of adult parasites.

On a note

The action of the electric discharge from RobiComb has not been tested and has no unequivocal confirmation of effectiveness. Perhaps this is just a publicity stunt by the manufacturer: the description of this lice comb indicates that after receiving an electric shock, the insect dies within half an hour, which raises certain doubts. After all, the current either acts instantly, or does not act at all ...

Of the AntiV and LiceGuard combs, it is difficult to give preference to one of them: they are almost the same, and therefore their effectiveness turns out to be similar. The important thing is that their teeth are long enough and allow you to comb out even thick strands of hair.

You can buy a LiceGuard nit comb for 600 rubles, and the price of AntiV is almost a thousand. Accordingly, it is more rational to take LiceGuard.

Review:

“We just combed out all the lice in a child with this LiceGuard comb in a week. I was afraid that it would not work out, because the little one’s hair is very thick and curly, and the comb is too frequent and dense. But everything turned out to be in order, combed out easily, no one was hurt. It is only important to know how to properly comb out lice.

Valentina, Moscow

 

Tip 4: Rinse your hair thoroughly with special shampoos

No matter how hard lovers of all natural try to avoid pediculicidal shampoos, the nit comb still works more efficiently with them. At least because the hair itself becomes softer and cleaner, as a result of which the comb glides over it more easily. And as a maximum, because the adult lice themselves quickly die from such shampoos, and all that remains to be done after that is to comb out their mortal remains from the hair.

And further: You need to know the enemy by sight - detailed photographs of lice and nits (including macro photography). Terrible thing...

It is important to understand that shampoos have practically no effect on nits and do not poison them. Therefore, combing out dead nits after the hair washing procedure in any case will not work.

But after one treatment of the head with shampoo, there will no longer be any parasites that these nits can lay off. Therefore, after even a single use of shampoo, adult lice on the head are unlikely to appear.

 

Tip 5: further loosen nits

No matter how thick and hard the lice combs are, they often do not provide complete (100%) combing out of nits - the sizes of the latter are too small. So small that they are comparable to the thickness of a hair, and therefore some of them will definitely slip between the teeth.

However, special means can loosen the attachment of nits to the hair. Good for this:

• vinegar
• hellebore water
• and cranberry juice.

The natural organic acids contained in these products corrode the secret by which the egg is attached to the hair, and the nits come off more easily when combed with a comb. With these products, you need to wet your hair for about half an hour for the combing procedure.

 

Tip 6: brush regularly

And of course, we must not forget that the comb does not comb out all the parasites in one procedure. Individual lice and nits will certainly remain on the head, but the main thing is that after a few days, young lice will hatch from the surviving nits themselves, which can give rise to a new population. Therefore, you need to comb your hair with a comb at least 4 times, and preferably up to 10 times.

Review:

“With children, such a lice comb is a must-have.In kindergarten, they will definitely pick it up, at school - almost every year someone gets sick with lice, summer camps, all sorts of trips. If you buy chemicals, you can go broke. And with such a comb a little - I scratched for several days and there are no parasites. You just need to properly comb out the nits and lice yourself, you can’t give a comb to a child - it will break and won’t really do anything. ”

Olga, Bataysk

 

Additional Recommendations

When combing out lice and nits from the hair, it is useful to consider the following points:

• It is necessary to process the comb after lice immediately - both parasites and nits remain on it. The comb is washed under hot water, and ideally - dipped in boiling water.
• To ensure that all the hair is processed with a long length, you need to collect them in a ponytail on one side of the head and, separating strand by strand, comb out from the very roots.
• It is advisable to comb over the bathtub or over a spread sheet so that not a single louse slips away or accidentally falls on the floor, bed or sofa.

And of course, you need to take care of the security of the handler itself. It is advisable for him to undress to the waist so that the combed lice do not get on his clothes, tie up and hide his hair under a scarf.

After combing out the parasites, be sure to wash thoroughly. If you do everything right, you can forget for a long time what lice and nits are.

 

What you need to know before fighting lice

 

Detailed instructions for combing lice and nits with a special comb