If you ever have experienced the agony of head lice and nits, you probably can imagine how awful the full-scaled plague of ancient Egypt of biblical times was. During the World War years when lice was a rampant danger leading to disease, those affected were shaved clean of all hair. Luckily, today, there are tactics that effectively kill and remove both the adult version of lice and their unhatched eggs without resorting to this.

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Your first step in eradication of the infestation is to exterminate all lice. You can do this by following the directions on an over-the-drugstore-counter lice shampoo. Should this fail, your doctor will be able to prescribe a stronger remedy of shampoo.

In all cases, the standard procedure is:

1. Wear gloves to apply shampoo on hair according to directions
2. Wait the recommended amount of time
3. Use water to lather up
4. Rinse shampoo completely off  
5. Divide hair into sections, then meticulously comb out with a fine-toothed nit comb to remove nits
6. Repeat procedure after 7 to 10 days to ensure any lingering lice have been totally eradicated

Though they have not been clinically proven, alternate lice-killing methods do exist.

A)     Petroleum Jelly
        Applying a liberal coating of Vaseline or the like onto the scalp and
        hair shaft may suffocate the lice, leading to their extermination. Be
        sure to leave on for 8 or more hours while wearing a plastic
        shower cap. After removing the cap, shampoo hair (you can use
        grease-cutting dishwashing liquid for more effective cleaning) and
        proceed to comb out nits.

B)      Olive Oil
         Use the above method to kill adult lice, shampoo, then comb out
         nits. Using this method, nits will slide off hair strands more easily.

C)      Mayonnaise
         Use the above method to kill adult lice, shampoo, then comb out
         nits.

Many people swear by vinegar as a pre-nit combing procedure. Accordingly, particularly the white vinegar acts as a dissolvent, ungluing nits from the hair strands to ease the combing.

Of course, prevention is the best remedy, so make sure there are no remnants of lice by washing linen, blankets, hats, towels, etcetera, in very hot water, then placing them in your dryer on the hottest setting. Combs and brushes should likewise by soaked in hot water and soap or alcohol. Delicate items that cannot be washed in this manner should be wrapped up tightly in plastic for the duration of two weeks. All flooring and furniture should be thoroughly vacuumed.

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Summary: School children are notorious for spreading lice. Prime Insurance posts these instructions on the varying methods of becoming lice/nit and itch-free.