Frequently Asked Questions

During an exam, a lice removal professional may use a magnifying lens to look for lice. The provider may also use a special light, called a Wood's light, to check for nits. This light makes the nits easier to spot by making them look pale blue.

Check other household members for lice and nits. Treat anyone who is in the same household as the person who has lice. A professional will spend hours on each client, making sure to physically remove the lice from wet hair. the professional will use a special comb and carefully designed products. 

Wash items. Wash bedding, stuffed animals, clothing and hats with hot, soapy water — at least 130 F (54 C) — and dry them at high heat for at least 20 minutes.

Seal un-washable items. Place them in an airtight bag for two weeks.

Vacuum. Vacuum the floor and furniture well.

Wash combs and brushes. Use very hot, soapy water — at least 130 F (54 C) — or soak combs and brushes in rubbing alcohol for an hour.

One thing you don't need to worry about is your household pets. Lice prefer people to pets. So, your pets don't need any treatment for lice.

If you think or know you have lice, avoid sharing personal items, bedding, towels or clothing. Bathe and follow self-care measures, including washing items in hot water.

If you think or know you have pubic lice, also avoid sexual activity until you've been treated. Call us as soon as you are suspecting lice, we will book your appointment at your earliest convenience. 

The truth: Contrary to popular opinion, having lice doesn't signify poor hygiene. In fact, lice are just as apt to make a home in freshly shampooed hair as they are in locks that could use a washing.

"They don't care at all," says Dawn H. Gouge, Ph.D., a public health entomologist at the University of Arizona. "They love warm little noggins."

The truth: Although lice can be transmitted at school, kids can also "catch" them in a number of other places, including sleepovers, playgrounds, sporting activities, and camp.

And according to Gouge, the idea that school is the primary place for lice infestation has led many schools to implement "no nit" policies. These require children to be sent home from school or kept out of school if nits (lice eggs) are discovered on their scalps. In a new Consumer Reports nationally representative survey of 2,016 U.S. adults, we asked Americans whether their child had ever been sent home or asked to stay home from school because he or she had lice. Fifty-two percent of those with children in their household who'd dealt with a lice infestation in the previous five years said yes.

But such policies have several flaws, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's easy to mistake dandruff or debris for nits in hair. Plus, nits don't move and, in fact, are affixed to hair shafts with a cementlike substance that makes it unlikely they can be transferred from one person to another. And there's no evidence that banning kids with nits from the classroom is useful. The National Association of School Nurses notes that classroom or schoolwide nit checks aren't effective at preventing incidences of lice in schools.

Keeping kids with nits (or lice) out of school has "absolutely no benefit to anybody," Gouge says. And the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has proclaimed that "no-nit policies are unjust and should be abandoned." The cost of missed school far outweighs any risks of head lice, according to the CDC and the NASN.

The truth: Lice, which are wingless, don't jump or fly. They don't hop from place to place, either.

They can crawl, however, and very quickly, because their legs are very well adapted for crawling. And once they crawl onto a child's head, they tend to hang on tightly, thanks to the hooklike claws they have at the end of their legs.

So how do they get from head-to-head? By crawling from one head to another, via direct head-to-head contact between two people.

Though it's theoretically possible to pick up a louse from a public place, such as a movie theater seat, it would be highly unlikely. That's because lice live on human heads, and they need to feed every 4 to 6 hours. Adults can survive only for about a day if they fall off. (They don't live on pets, either—only people.)

In fact, it's pretty unlikely that lice will be transmitted from person to person without direct head-to-head contact, Gouge says.

Even the sharing of helmets, clothes, pillows, and hairbrushes probably rarely leads to lice transmission, according to the CDC. The risk is greater, however, when these types of items are used by more than one child in quick succession, Gouge says. And if someone in your household does have lice, it's a good idea to launder their bedding and clothes and to clean hair-care items as a precaution, according to the AAP.