The conditioner does not kill lice but stuns them for about 20 minutes enabling easier removal. The long toothed metal comb will remove nits and the stunned head lice. Wipe the comb on a white tissue and check for any lice or nits. Keep combing until no more appear on the tissue.
Smothering agents.
Some people try to suffocate and kill lice by putting large amounts of a greasy substance on your scalp, covering with a shower cap, and leaving it on while you sleep. You can try petroleum jelly, mayonnaise, or olive oil.
Ordinary conditioner removes head lice eggs as effectively as special products. Summary: Some shampoos and conditioners that contain chemicals or special oils are marketed as nit-removal products for head lice eggs. However, new research shows that ordinary hair conditioner is just as effective.
Suffocate the Lice
Soak your child's head in olive oil or coconut oil. Cover with a shower cap for at least 2 hours (or preferably overnight). When ready, remove the shower cap, and separate the hair into small sections, then use a metal nit comb to carefully remove the lice and eggs. Rinse the hair well with shampoo.
Blow dry your child's hair. It has to be thoroughly dry down to the scalp to suffocate the lice. Expect this to take 3 times longer than normal drying. The dried Cetaphil will smother the lice.
By comparison, the researchers found that a normal hair dryer aimed at the base of hair, divided into 20 large sections, killed 55.3% of hatched lice and 97.9% of lice eggs after 30 minutes of blow drying.
So, the realistic answer is “No, you can't drown lice.” The best treatment for lice is to get them picked out by a professional – Lice Geeks, for example – using the right comb. Even over-the-counter shampoos and products aren't as effective as a well-trained professional wielding the proper comb.
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly. Lice infestations must first be treated by improving the hygiene of the infected person.
Head lice survive less than one or two days if they fall off the scalp and cannot feed. Head lice eggs (nits) cannot hatch and usually die within a week if they do not remain under ideal conditions of heat and humidity similar to those found close to the human scalp.
Mechanical removal or 'comb and conditioner' method
The conditioner does not kill lice but stuns them for about 20 minutes enabling easier removal. The long toothed metal comb will remove nits and the stunned head lice. Wipe the comb on a white tissue and check for any lice or nits.
Some shampoos and conditioners that contain chemicals or special oils are marketed as nit-removal products. However, new research just published in the Journal of Medical Entomology shows that ordinary hair conditioner is just as effective. A single head lice egg, or nit, cemented to a human hair.
Sometimes it will be easier to remove the nits if you wet the hair with white vinegar while you are combing the nits out. Vinegar helps loosen the "glue" that holds the nits to the hair. Separate and comb small sections of hair at a time.
Avoid sleeping in the same bed as the person with an active lice infestation. Avoid sitting where the person with lice has sat in the past two days. Wash linens and clothing in hot water and dry on high heat. Place stuffed animals, pillows and items that cannot be washed into an airtight bag for two weeks.
Petroleum jelly (Vaseline).
The thick jelly supposedly suffocates lice by clogging their breathing holes. For best results, coat the hair and scalp, cover it overnight with a shower cap, and wash out the next morning. Comb for nits. Repeat the treatment one week later.
Olive Oil smothers and kills active head lice, making nit removal easier and moisturizing the hair and scalp. Part hair and apply the oil directly onto the scalp. Massage into the entire scalp making sure to saturate the hair. Apply a shower cap.
Typically, 10–15 head lice are found. The number of lice often depends on personal hygiene, for example, how often the person bathes, shampoos, or changes and washes his/her clothing.
Because the active ingredients have remained the same all these years, new generations of head lice have become immune to them. Once lice become immune, the product no longer works. Scientists call this resistance.
Head lice may be spread by sharing towels or other items that have been in contact with an infested person's hair, although such spread is uncommon. Children should be taught not to share towels, hair brushes, and similar items either at poolside or in the changing room.
Anyone found to have lice or nits should be treated as well. DECONTAMINATION OF PERSONAL ARTICLES AND ENVIRONMENT: Since heat kills lice and their eggs, many personal articles can be disinfected by machine washing in HOT water and/or drying using the HOT cycle of the dryer.
Lice can survive up to four hours underwater so swimming or lying with your head in saltwater or any other kind of water isn't really an option to kill them. Don't seek to drown them, comb them out with a long-toothed metal nit comb and some conditioner!
Since eggs do not need a host to survive, they will continue to live until a nymph hatches from it. A louse will ultimately die without a human host. However, it can still live for 1-2 days on a pillow or sheet.
Nothing pierces the eggshells, so drowning eggs is impossible. In order to get rid of lice for good, it is imperative to get rid of the nits, or they will hatch and the lice will come back.
Medieval folklore suggests that lard was used to try and suffocate lice and nits off of a scalp. Others propose simply keeping the hair combed through and clean was of so little a priority that no one even bothered with lice.