How to Check for Head Lice in Children

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By Edward Jenkins
eHow Contributing Writer

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All children are at risk for head lice.

Head lice can be embarrassing for both children and parents. Lice are often thought of as an affliction caught by dirty children. Lice, however, actually survive better in clean hair than in dirty hair and hygiene plays a small part in lice infestation. If your child goes to school, daycare or plays around other children, the chances are high that one day you will have to perform a head lice check. Check for head lice if you notice your child scratching her head often or if a playmate of hers has been infected.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Magnifying glass
Tweezers
Lice comb
Latex gloves (optional)

Step 1

Nit (Lice Egg)

Bring your child to a well-lit area of the room. Sit the child down and put on your gloves.
Step 2

Louse

Search through the child's hair and closely examine the scalp. Pay close attention to the hair near the neckline and behind the ears. Look for lice as well as their nits. Hatched nits will be white or clear; unhatched nits are usually brown. Use the magnifying glass to examine any foreign object to determine if it's a louse or a nit.
Step 3

Lice Comb

Run the lice comb through the child's hair, even if you could not find any lice or nits. Lice combs will often catch nits unseen by the human eye.
Step 4

Treat the child for lice using a high quality lice treatment, even if you only found nits. If you find nits, chances are your child also has lice, although it may be possible that none have yet hatched.
Step 5

Use the lice comb and the tweezers to remove the dead lice and nits after treatment. The nits are often resilient to lice treatments, so you need to remove them to prevent them from hatching. Check your child several times over the next few days to make sure you removed them all.

How to Check for Head Lice in Children

Things You'll Need:

References

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