Millions of people all over the world face problems with lice infestations. It doesn’t matter where you come from, whether it’s a developed country or a developing country. People get lice in their hair all the time. It’s the same as animals getting fleas in their fur.
The first thing you need to know is that it’s not easy to get rid of lice. There are multiples ways to get rid of lice infestation in your hair. You can either comb out your hair, blow-dry, use lice treatment, and then blow-dry hair afterward. But do blow drying kill lice for real? Blow drying your hair, in general, is a pretty simple and cheap way to get the lice out.
We will talk about how it works and how useful it is.
How Do You Know If You Have Head Lice?
You might be worried about your child having head lice infestation like many parents all over the world. You can check your child’s head under a bright light. Check each section of your child’s hair and scalp to find the lice and nits. Now, it is important to check if your head is lice free too. A family member would easily spread lice to others if has lice infestation. There are several treatments and home remedies to this but first, you need to know if you have lice and nits.
Normally the person’s head having lice will feel irritation and itching. So, it worth checking lice infestation if, your head feels irritation. You may also do a routine check on your and your child’s hair.
Now, there is a simple way to check your head lice infestation. All you need is a white towel, a fine-tooth comb, and a blow dryer.
- First of all, make sure your hair is dry and detangled.
- Place the white towel on the bed.
- Blow dry your hair thoroughly. Make sure the towel is placed underneath your head.
- Comb your hair thoroughly from scalp to hair aiming at the towel.
If you find any live lice or nits (lice eggs) on the comb or in the towel, you may think of the next step to remove lice and nits.
Lice life cycle
We thought that it is really important that you learn about the head lice life cycle to get rid of lice and be preventive about lice infestation. Here is the lice life cycle for your understanding and treat lice better. Super lice are very common these days that’s why it is not easy to get rid of lice and nits.
Day 1 head lice lay eggs on the hair shaft. Most of the head lice eggs stick with the hair.
Day 3-6 the nits (lice eggs) incubate and mature.
Day 7 the nymphs (small lice) hatch from the nits. Most lice eggs hatch from nits.
Day 8-17 the nymphs grow and turn into adult lice.
Day 18-32 the female lice start reproducing nits and continue till 10-16 days. Each of the female lice lay around 4 eggs a day.
Day 28-35 the lice complete their life cycle and dies.
What are super lice?
Super lice are genetically mature head lice that are resistant to some of the lice treatments. They successfully developed resistance to available lice treatment that was effective to get rid of lice in the early days. However, prescribed lice treatments will work to get rid of lice and their eggs.
How Do You Kill Lice with a Hair Dryer?
Of all the techniques you can use, blow-drying is definitely the easiest. You do not have to learn any extra tricks for this, neither do you have to buy anything additional for killing the lice.
All you need to do is use the hairdryer efficiently, and soon you will be able to kill the lice in your hair. We will describe how to use a hairdryer to get rid of lice, along with other tips to get rid of lice and nits. So, follow the tips below –
Keep Your Home Clean
Using a hairdryer will not be of any use if your home and belongings are not clean and hygienic. This is how lice end up returning to your home and spread among your family member’s heads. Although the head lice can’t fly to spread they can easily spread with head-to-head contact. Lice can spread using the same comb, brush, towel, clothes, pets, etc. You need to clean them with hot water to keep lice free.
Make sure to regularly clean your home every day, especially around all the nooks and corners.
You need to clean your belongings such as appliances and furniture as well.
The belongings you should ensure are the cleanest are the stuff you put on your body. This includes body cosmetics, clothes, and shoes. Lice can crawl from places or other people’s bodies to your clothes. The lice can then lead up to your hair. You also need to clean your hair accessories and appliances.
And the accessories include hair clips, hair ties, headbands, ribbons, etc. Hair tools and appliances include combs, hair rollers, hairdryers, straightening irons, curling irons, etc. Lice could be waiting there, and then get in your hair when you use them.
Especially if these items or tools are shared with other family members or friends in your home, you need to be cautious.
Comb Out Sections
Take a large comb with big teeth, and comb out all the knots in your hair till your hair is knot-free and all the strands are separated from each other. Long hair should be detangled properly for easy nit picking. Then, take a thin comb with thin and small teeth & very narrow gapping. Do the same to each hair section.
These combs are usually called lice combs or nit pick. Their sole purpose is to comb out lice from your hair. Once you have one of these, you may start to part your hair, standing in front of a mirror.
Check the areas where there might be lice or lice eggs so that you know how much lice you have and where you should be blow-drying with hot air.
Choose the Right Blow Dryer
You can use any type of blow dryer, really. Any hair dryer that reaches a temperature above 170-degree farenhite will kill lice. But for better results, you should use the Lousebuster hairdryer or a bonnet hairdryer. If you have ever wondered how long it takes to dry hair with a bonnet dryer or a Lousebuster hairdryer, the answer is that it takes minutes.
The Lousebuster hairdryer is a custom-built blow dryer meant solely for lice killing. It is a hot air blower that flows in high volume to kill lice with a lot of heat and pressure. You can use it while sectioning or parting your hair, or you can use the custom-designed comb that comes with it.
That handpiece has short and pointy teeth that you have to place on your head. The teeth will reach your scalp and expose it to a high volume of hot air.
And the bonnet hairdryer is like a huge hat that stands tall and upright on your head. You put your hair inside this hat and turn the dryer on. There will be hot air blowing internally. As your hair whirls around in the heat and high-volume air and dries up, all the lice are also killed in the heat.
There are both hard and soft types of bonnet hairdryers. But if you want to open up your hair cuticles to force heated air, then you should go for the soft bonnet hairdryer.
Get the Blow Dryer Settings Right: Lice Eggs
You might be wondering how heat kills head lice eggs in the hair. For sure, it does the job, but you need to use the right temperature that will kill lice and nits. It is best to go for the highest volume settings for both heat and force of air on the blow dryer.
The blow dryer you have should at least be able to provide you with heat from 2000 watts. Because scientifically, no way do lice like heat, and they can’t survive in such conditions.
Be Careful While Using Children’s Blow Dryers
Since the scalp of children of 13 and under is usually very soft and sensitive, you need to be careful of the level of heat you use on their hair. Regular hairdryers for adults may kill the lice, but they can also burn their soft hair and scalp.
To avoid hurting kids and causing damage, you should buy a children’s hairdryer. And you should get a toddler hairdryer in case you are dealing with a toddler or a baby that is 2 years old and above.
Lice Treatment before Blow Drying
You can try making home remedies for your hair and scalp with ingredients like olive oil, vinegar, etc. Some ready-made lice treatment therapy remedies can also be found in shops in the form of cream, oil, and shampoo.
After treating your hair, the lice may be partially dead and very weak. So, blow-drying your hair lightly will make them fall off your head easily.
Proper Form of Blow Drying
The best way to successfully get to the lice is by sectioning out or parting your hair. It exposes the lice sticking to your hair strands or scalp. The number of lice you have in your hair will decide how long in the dryer to kill lice is needed.
And the heat will not exactly melt the lice. Instead, the heat will apply pressure on the bodies of the lice and pop them until they are dead.
Combing Them Out
When the lice are alive, they usually stick to your hair and scalp. But after they pop dead from the blow dryer heat, they let go. So, you can easily use your thin comb or lice comb to comb out the dead lice. Take your time to remove nits from your hair.
Do It Regularly: Head Lice
Do hair dryers kill lice? Yes, they do. In fact blow drying is the easiest way to kill lice and their eggs. But it is not something you do once a year. You need to make a habit of blow-drying your hair with a lot of heat. Hot air dehydrates lice eggs causes damage for those nits and kill lice on spot. Lice infestation is not something that leaves easily. You could still end up getting lice again, whether it is from your own home or someone else’s.
If your hair is wet and needs drying, always use a blow dryer so that lice can’t start to infest your head again. Never let your hair stay damp from toweling off after a bath.
When to see a doctor for clinical lice treatment?
If you have gone through the above home remedies surely it will kill lice and kill nits in your head or your child’s head but it may not totally get rid of lice. You need to do the same home remedies again in 7 days as the lice eggs hatch every 7-10 days.
If you still find the lice and lice eggs with no significant reduction then you may see a lice expert to prescribe a treatment method for these live bugs.
Lice can’t or lice don’t
- Lice can’t survive in high heat. Temperature above 170 degrees Fahrenheit will kill head lice and lice eggs.
- Lice can’t survive in other parts of the human body. Head lice feed on blood from your head scalp.
- Lice can’t fly or jump.
- Lice don’t carry or transmit any disease.
- Lice don’t die in water. Need to go through prescribed lice treatments to kill lice.
Final Words
Does blow drying kill lice better than other techniques? I’d say yes.
Although applying high heat with blow drying is not the only way to kill lice. Taking prescribed medication, clinical lice treatment to prevent lice, or doing hair therapy can work too. But applying heat will always be the easiest way to kill lice and lice eggs on the spot. Whether blow drying kill lice or not has already been proven so far for both adults and children.
You also do not have to waste money on extra items, as long as you have a powerful hairdryer.