Headlice

Headlice and nits are very common in young children and their families. They do not have anything to do with dirty hair and are picked up by head-to-head contact. 

• Head lice are small insects, up to 3mm long
• They can be difficult to spot in hair
• Head lice eggs (nits) are brown or white (empty shells) and attached to the hair

Head lice can make your head feel itchy. You can check if your child has live lice in their hair by combing through with a special fine toothed detection comb. These can be purchased online or in pharmacies. 

How to get rid of head lice

Treat head lice as soon as you see them.

• You can treat head lice without seeing your GP. 
• You should check everyone in the house and start treatment on everyone on the same day
• There is no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice. 

Wet Combing

Lice and nits can be removed by wet combing:

Wash hair with ordinary shampoo

Apply lots of conditioner

Comb the whole head of hair, from the roots to the ends. 

Repeat this process on days 1, 5, 9 and 13 to catch any newly hatched head lice. Check again that everyone's hair is free of lice on day 17. 

Head lice and nits - NHS (www.nhs.uk)