If one of your children has lice, it’s important to do a head check on yourself, as well as all the other members of your family, in order to detect lice early and prevent a full-blown infestation. Many people feel a bit apprehensive about checking their head for lice for the first time and are a bit unsure of where exactly to start. We’re here to outline some tips for how to check your own head for lice—tips that you can also use when checking other family members.
How to Check Your Own Head for Lice
Checking a child’s head for lice tends to be a little easier than checking your own, since you can lean in for a close look while working. However, the steps for a lice check are the same regardless of whose head you’re checking. In order to check your own head for lice, follow these steps:
- Work with hair when it’s damp, such as after a bath or shower.
- Using a detangler will help the comb glide through the hair more easily, especially if you have wavy or thick hair. Apply your detangler of choice and comb it through completely.
- Now grab your nit remover comb and lay it flat against your head at the root of your hair.
- Glide the comb all the way from the scalp and roots down to the ends of your hair.
- For short or medium hair, comb all your hair to the right, then back to the left. Repeat by combing front to back and back to front. For long hair, you’ll part hair down the middle. Place one side in a ponytail while you comb through the loose side. Then switch.
- Pause about every 5 strokes to wipe the comb onto a white paper towel and inspect it check for nits/lice.
What Exactly Am I Looking For?
A critical part of knowing how to check for lice on your own head is knowing what to look for. When checking for lice, you’re primarily looking for three things: nits, nymphs, and adult lice.
- Adult Lice: Adult lice are the easiest to spot. You’ll see small bugs with legs, and they can be dead or alive. They are grayish tan, and are typically the size of sesame seeds.
- Nymphs: Nymphs are immature lice that have just hatched. They have the same shape as adult head lice, but are much smaller—about the size of a pinhead. Nymphs start out very light gray or tan, but darken as they start feeding and maturing into adults. Nymphs reach maturity 9-12 days after hatching.
- Nits: Nits are the eggs laid by female lice. They are extremely small (barely visible to the naked eye) and oval-shaped, and at first glance can just appear like grains of dirt or sand. Nits are comprised of a translucent outer casing that houses a baby louse (nymph) inside. They start out clear, and then darken to a light tan as the nymph grows. After the nymph hatches from the egg, the empty casing can appear clear again, or white. Nits will be “glued” to the hair shaft, close to the scalp for warmth, which is why it is important to make sure you position your comb at your scalp so as to not miss them. Note that it is just as important to identify nits as it is to identify live lice, because even if you kill the adult lice, if any nits remain, they’ll hatch after about 8-9 days, and you’ll be re-infested.
Head Lice Clinics in Jacksonville and Orlando, FL, and Savannah, GA
Learning how to check for lice on your own head can be difficult. At Fresh Heads Lice Removal, we are experts at identifying and treating lice. Our professional technicians and experts take a safe, effective and affordable approach to treatment, stopping lice in their tracks using cutting-edge technology. If you are interested in learning more about our lice treatment options, contact us today.
Schools Without Lice
Our goal at Fresh Heads Lice Removal is to get rid of lice in schools across the United States. That’s why we partnered with the Lice Clinics of America to create the Schools Without Lice program. This program gives nurses and teachers free resources, screenings, and treatments. Together, we can have schools without lice!
Do you have a child who has been dealing with head lice? Are you worried you could possibly have caught head lice as well, but are feeling a little hesitant to ask someone to look for you? Remember, head lice are not a sign of poverty, poor hygiene, or a messy person. Head lice are simply a part of life and have been for centuries. In fact, if you live in a household with children between the ages of 3-10 you are much more likely to be exposed to head lice than other adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children these ages are the most likely to bring home head lice. Every year in the United States, up to 12 million of them do!
Here are a few things to remember when checking yourself for head lice:
-As embarrassed as you may feel, it really is more beneficial to have a professional at Lice Clinics of Texas check your scalp for you. A friend, physician or family member would also be able to check your scalp and clearly see symptoms. However, the professionals are much more accurate at determining between rashes and real symptoms, dandruff or head lice eggs.
-If you determine that you’d rather just look for a problem yourself, get two mirrors and face them together. The most common place for head lice to hide on the head is behind your ears, the nape of your neck and the crown of your head. Head lice are the size of a small sesame seed. After feeding, they are browner in color. Often, they are very difficult to see, especially in darker hair, because they are translucent in color and can blend in with hair color.
-Get yourself a nitpicking comb. This tool will help you separate hair near the roots and brush through it to determine if you see any nits. Lice eggs, or nits, are usually white in color and do not flake off as easily as dandruff or dead skin. Check the comb after each time you brush through. It could pick up traces of head lice or eggs. Keep a clean bowl of water and a white towel handy to help you see what you brush off.
-What else do I need to look for? Watch for redness, rashes, bumps or irritations on the scalp. As head lice feed they secrete saliva that keeps your blood from clotting so they can feed several times in the same spot throughout the day. This saliva is usually what causes the human scalp to itch and feel irritated.
-Pretty sure you have head lice? The average adult who discovers they have head lice will have 15-20 active adult lice on their scalp. This means that you have actually had head lice for several weeks, giving lice eggs time to hatch and grown into full adult lice. Come into Lice Clinics of Texas today to talk about your BEST treatment options to eliminate head lice quickly and stop the hassle.
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What are lice?
Lice are tiny insects called parasites that spread by personal contact, as well as by sharing belongings. Children are particularly likely to catch and spread lice.
Learn how to identify symptoms that indicate you or your child may have lice.
There are three main types of lice. They all come from the same parasite family, but they’re each a different species:
- You can find head lice on the scalp, neck, and ears.
- Body lice start out on clothing or in beds, but they move from those locations to people’s skin.
- Pubic lice are also called “crabs.” You can find them on pubic hair and skin.
The most common symptom of any type of lice is itching. Lice bites cause an allergic reaction that causes this itchy feeling. However, you may not feel itchy right away, especially if it’s a light infestation. You may not notice any symptoms for up to six weeks the first time you get lice.
In addition to intense itching, lice can cause other symptoms, such as:
- a tickling feeling of something moving on your head, hair, or body
- sores that develop from scratching itches
- irritability
- difficulty sleeping
- red bumps on your head, neck, shoulders, or pubic area
- the appearance of lice eggs, or small white objects in your hair
Lice eggs are also called “nits.” They appear on hair shafts and are difficult to brush out of the hair.
Head lice can cause an itchy scalp, but so can other skin conditions, such as dandruff, eczema, or even allergies to shampoo and other hair products. Therefore, it’s important to know how to check for lice, especially on children.
First, wet your child’s hair. This slows the lice down and makes them easier to spot. Use a fine-toothed comb to part your child’s hair, then shine a bright light onto their scalp. Get a comb for finding lice here.
If your child has lice, you’ll notice small, brown insects the size of sesame seeds moving around or nits that look like they’re cemented on to individual hairs.
You may be unsure if you see dirt or lice and nits. Lice and nits are often difficult to comb out, while you can easily remove dirt.
Head lice are contagious. You should take precautions to avoid catching or sharing them. Don’t share personal belongings such as hairbrushes, hairclips, combs, and hats. Launder clothes and sheets regularly.
If you think you may have a lice infestation at home, vacuum the floor and furniture, and then cover furniture for two weeks with a plastic drop cloth.
It’s difficult to prevent the spread of lice in school or childcare settings. You can ask your child to avoid head-to-head contact with other kids during playtime. Avoiding shared spaces for clothing and hats, such as closets and lockers, may also help prevent the spread of lice.
However, even with good hygiene practices, your child may still develop lice. If so, the best way to treat symptoms is through medications that your doctor can prescribe or recommend.
You can treat lice with some over-the-counter (OTC) products, as well as prescription medications. You can purchase OTC shampoos that contain ingredients that treat lice, such as pyrethrin or permethrin.
Medications that your doctor may prescribe include:
- malathion, which you rub into your hair and scalp before rinsing off
- benzyl alcohol lotion, which is a lotion that you apply to your hair and scalp for 10 minutes before rinsing off
- lindane shampoo
Make sure you read the labels of all prescription medications and follow the directions.
If you’re uncertain whether you or a family member has lice, see your doctor. Your doctor can use a special light called a Wood’s light to make the nits more visible. They can identify whether or not you have lice.
If you do have lice, it’s possible to use home treatments to get rid of lice and avoid further symptoms. Wash contaminated clothing, sheets, and towels, and use over-the-counter treatments as needed.
Last medically reviewed on May 31, 2016
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
May 11, 2019
By
The Healthline Editorial Team
May 31, 2016
Medically Reviewed By
Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COI