Even if you don't know what to do, do something!

A CPR instructor once told me that a high percentage of serious emergency situations where a first aider is on the scene, the injured or ill person still dies. I found this to be surprising. Then he continued by saying that the deaths didn't occur because the first aider did not adminsiter CPR correctly, but rather because the first aider didn't do anything at all. Many first aiders are so afraid of making mistakes; afraid of getting the ratio of breaths to compressions incorrect, or of doing things in the wrong order, that they remain inactive. The CPR instructor said, "But if the person's heart has stopped, they are technically DEAD. Your imperfect or rusty technique isn't going to make the person more dead. You have nothing to lose by taking some action.

It is the same with head lice.

So it's late and you can't get to the store to get a good lice comb? Use the comb you have and comb the hair that is detangled, wet, and conditioned. You will still be able to get out quite a number of adult bugs this way.

Or grab your blowdryer - warm, fast blowing air kills bugs and eggs.

Or, get in some good light and simply go through the hair, strand by strand. Just like the monkeys do. Look at the root of the hair and the scalp and pick out what you see. Is it eggs or dandruff? Well, dandruff will usually move when flicked, but eggs won't. When in doubt, pick it out. Even with no other tools, your nimble fingers can pick out bugs and eggs faster then they can lay them. If you spend time considerable on this problem and focus your energies on the scalp (and not on housecleaning) you can out run those bugs.

Head lice has been around longer than our tools. We have dealt with them for a long time. You have the ability to get rid of them, or at the very least, get the head lice under control. Get started and do something.