Once you have discovered head lice either from a school letter, seen a child scratching their scalp or spotted them, it is search and destroy time. You will need to carefully and methodically comb through all the hair a small section at a time using a proper nit comb. Ordinary combs and brushes are of no use as the lice are tiny, the size of a sesame seed. The little critters are really tiny, about the size of a sesame seed. Color wise the adult is a dirty white / grey color but as they are blood sucking creatures they take on a rusty red tint. Their eggs or nits as they are known are an oval, white / tan color and about the size of a poppy seed.

If you are going to treat lice at home using natural ingredients, then try some of these suggestions. First use a "lice" comb or tweezers to get the small parasites out of the hair and scalp, and more importantly, the eggs before they hatch. This method is one of the most effective techniques suggested, although it takes a lot of time, because you have to repeat it several times a day for almost a week.

The next phase is to buy a dedicated over the counter head lice shampoo. A lot of people wish to use natural remedies but Vaseline, mayonnaise etc are simply not designed for the job and are not only very messy but quite ineffective. An even better choice is the electronic type of lice comb which not only emits a bleep when it detects the minute pests but zaps and kills them. Just comb through small sections of hair at a time and wipe off onto tissue or paper towels any of the pests caught in the comb.

Over the counter medicines may be suggested to remove lice and their eggs. Many commercial products are now found on the Internet and several of them have side effects. After identifying head lice, you should resort to natural ways to remove them so that you don't damage hair and scalp. Further, natural solutions have no side effects and they don't result in hair loss.

Getting rid of lice requires using harsh chemical shampoos called "Pediculicides" and some of the over the counter brands called "Clear", "Pronto" and "Nix", but they all contain either "Pyrethrin" or "Permethrin," and both are chemicals which kill the lice and the "nits".