Fairy Tales vs Clearlice

Continued from above...

What about dealing with the hair itself? Prepare yourself for a lengthy process. First, you'll need to select a lice product to apply to the hair; while some people may swear by home remedies like mayonnaise or olive oil, those approaches haven't been shown to be effective enough to guarantee that you won't still have nits that hatch later on. Commercially-produced lice products are a much more trustworthy approach. You'll apply the product thoroughly according to the package directions, using a lice comb to help remove live lice and nits - the white specks that at first glance look like dandruff but are firmly attached to the hair shaft.

Recheck the hair 8-12 hours after the product is applied: if you still see active lice, the product may not be working. If this happens, you should talk with your health care provider, who may recommend a different lice product.

If the product you applied does seem to be working - in other words, no live lice are spotted when you check later - you'll still want to comb through the hair with a nit comb every 2-3 days. Why? Those nits in the hair can sometimes hatch days later. For that reason, it's also typically recommended that you reapply the lice product 9-10 days after the first application, so that any newly-hatched lice (from nits that didn't get combed out) are killed before they can lay eggs in the hair. This helps prevent self-reinfestation.

With respect to prevention, some lice product lines have a spray that can be used to help discourage lice from taking up residence in the first place; especially for girls with long hair, many moms swear by pulling their kids' hair back in tight braids before school and spraying with these prevention products, which often use tea tree oil or other natural ingredients.

When deciding which lice product to use in your family, you might feel overwhelmed by the number of choices. Here are some helpful criteria to keep in mind as you narrow down your options to the right lice product for your situation:

• Effectiveness. How well does the product work? Do other users report that it takes care of head lice in the recommended 1-2 applications?
• Cost. Given that you will probably have to apply the product at least twice, how much will you spend to get enough of it to cover the members of your family? How does the price compare with other available products?
• Guarantee. Can you get your money back if the lice product doesn't work for your family?

TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed and ranked the best Lice Products on the market today. We hope this information helps you get lice-free quickly, with as little hassle as possible!