Oh dear lord... you caught lice... Now what?!

The stigma of being infested with lice should be motive enough for anyone to kill the buggers, but for some reason they are still rampant all over the world. Don't be the person everyone hates (the one who gave us all lice).

Kill the little bastards before they can spread!
The only acceptable answer is to wipe them out!
Eradicate even the smallest and most pitiful louse!

I'll show you how.

Step 1: An Oz. Prevention = Lb. of Cure

People can only get lice from other people, but lice can survive away from their host for a few days. Lice require human hosts so your pets won't get lice.

Sharing clothes, hats, pillows and brushes is a no-no if you might have lice. Hugs should be careful and restrained until you are clear. Once lice are discovered, a good idea is to quarantine bed pillows or stuffed animals which might be exposed. Quarantine time should be 14 days. Brushes, combs, and hair doodads can be boiled in water for 1 minute to kill lice and eggs. A cycle in a hot dryer will kill off any lice and eggs on cloth.

There are several products in stores which claim to be for treatment of lice, but most of these, as far as I can tell, are more likely to make you sick than to kill lice.

Lice are one of the hardiest life forms you or I is likely to meet. They fall dright between cockroaches and goats on the hardiness scale, and are, for all practical purposes, immune to all poisons marketed for their destruction.

... so how do I kill them?

Step 2: Advanced Hand to Louse Combat Techniques!

The easy and effective ways to kill lice are with heat or combing, and I suggest a mixture of both.

COMB THEM OUT!
First obtain a delousing comb and a bottle of your favorite conditioner.
Now take a nice hot shower combing the conditioner through your hair and rinsing the comb and the tips of your hair throughout to wash any lice down the drain.

BURN THEM UP!
Second, dry your hair with an electric hairdryer, combing it out with only 'known clean' combs or brushes. Lice can't take the heat over 110F, but neither can you! Don't hurt yourself, but get it nice, hot and dry.

These methods can both be done on yourself, and don't rely on you actually seeing the lice. Which is a good thing since lice are tiny and tend to be nearly the same color as the hair they hatched on.

Step 3: The Ultimate in Lice Removal: the Liceguard Robi Comb

I especially suggest this electric comb if you have elementary school age kids. It can turn a weekend long nightmare lice eradication frenzy into a 3 minute per day per child treatment. If you are careful with it, it will last for years and keep your family safe from lice.

This device should be used on dry hair only, combed through according to the directions. It will kill lice and nits when used properly, and, if used daily on everyone in the house, it will eradicate an infestion in 2 weeks of daily use.

These combs are about $30, but if you need one, and you know if you do, it's more than worth it.