Lice or nits can be a traumatizing experience for some people. Since not all people get exposed to this parasite, getting them on your hair without knowing what it is, their harmfulness, and what they want will surely be a trauma. Even those with knowledge hate it to get in their hair. It causes itchiness, irritation, and sometimes skin condition. Though they are not life-threatening and have no danger whatsoever, that does not mean you should go around making your hair their eternal home. The more delay you make, the harder it will be for you.
There are lots of treatments for getting rid of lice. You can get help by seeking prescribed products, home remedies, or traditional methods, or just go to the professionals. Another important note is that Lice cannot tolerate heat. They just die at the contact of something hot or in high temp. environment. That’s why there is some treatment including heat or suffocation. In this case, you may ask does straightening your hair kill lice? In short, does hair straightener kill lice? Since it uses heat to straighten hair, it may help kill lice. However, what is the percentage of its success? We don’t know.
Does hair straightening iron kill lice?
No, hair straightening iron does not kill lice, not even lice eggs. You must be wondering why this does not work, even though it causes heat. Let me elaborate.
You must have known how these tiny creatures walk as if they are on continuous runs. Their mobility is so fast that one’s eye will get tired while trying to capture one by hand. Moreover, they can easily hide and be safe if you are not professional.
When using a hair straightener, it’s not like you can use it on your whole hair at once. You section it and then use the iron one by one. When you use it on a section of hair, the lice will just jump or run to the other side of your head. You may get lucky with a few being in contact with the iron. However, lucky chances are not enough for getting rid of these parasites from your head. Also, most of them reside on your scalp or just very close to your scalp. Using straighteners that close will burn your scalp and hair which is way too dangerous.
And the ones getting killed are also bothersome since their body won’t come out of your hair automatically. Combing may help in this case. As for nits, they cannot move until hatching and stay in the same place. However, their shells are not easy to break even using heat. Flat iron may help damage them somewhat but cannot possibly kill them. Then what is there to be succeeded?
The lucky kills will also require you to search through your hair to be get ridden of.
Ways to get rid of Lice
Lice need a human host to acquire nutrition from blood and live. They suck blood from our scalp skin and reside there expanding their numbers until you get rid of them manually. They just don’t go on their own. The most annoying this is that they can stay alive even without a human host for almost a week and will attack a person on contact. Like you just got rid of these and went to sleep in peace, there might be some living on your pillow or mattress. They will crawl their way to your head and infest you again. The one who will be dumbfounded is you without knowing how they got in your hair again. That’s why getting rid of lice from the head is as annoying as getting rid of them from your house.
You can use OTC treatment or use prescribed products from professionals. It is one of the most effective ways to get rid of lice once and for all. Make sure to consult any professionals or someone who has good knowledge of it.
Suffocating the lice using olive oil, vaseline, tea tree oil, or coconut oil is the best home remedy you can resort to. However, it does not get rid of all lice and needs to be done a few times.
A metal comb is the best simple thing to remove lice. Combing will drag those parasites down from your hair, even from the scalp.
For cleaning, heat is the best way. Your regular things, clothes, combs, pillow, and bed sheets that are easier to wash, wash them with hot boiling water and some solvents antiseptic too. As for the things not for wash, seal them away for a week or more to let the residing lice die on their own. Or just toss them in the sun and the natural heat will be deadly for them too. Make sure the day is too sunny and the temperature outside is beyond tolerance.
