5 Best Head Lice Combs to Get Rid of Lice Eggs and Nits
Get rid of nits with one of these professional-level head lice combs.
Question:
The lice comb that came in the lice kit isn't working. What lice combs actually get lice eggs and nits out of the hair?
Answer from a lice expert:
One of the most effective way to get rid of lice eggs and nits permanently is with a professional-level head lice comb like the ones I’ll show you in this article.
If you’re in a hurry to get rid of your pesky lice, here is my quick guide followed by full reviews of the best lice combs on the market. You can click on any of these combs and buy straight from Amazon.
(a quick disclosure: these are affiliate links, and I do earn a commission from qualifying purchases; however, all of my reviews are based on the quality of these products, and the decision to purchase through these links is completely up to you).
Let me introduce myself...
Hi there! I'm Theresa, I'm a lice expert, lice coach, and Registered Nurse. I help people with lice every day! You can get rid of lice in ONE DAY at home by using the same proven professional technique that I use in my lice center.
Just follow the step-by-step videos and be done with lice by the end of the day.
The 5 Best Lice Combs to Get Rid of Nits
Why Is It So Hard to Get Rid of Lice?
Now that you know what you're looking for I want to talk briefly about your biggest worry (that your child actually has lice) and the question I get asked by parents around the world that have been battling lice….
Parents around the world are all asking me the same question…. "Why is it so much harder to get rid of lice now?"
Lice have become immune to everything that used to work in the past. Perhaps you remember your mom using a typical lice treatment or mayonnaise and that doing the trick. The new strain of head lice is no longer killed by those treatments, that’s why lice today are termed by people, “super lice,” because they are immune to those treatments.
I’ve cured thousands of people of lice in my lice center and let me tell you, I don't do it with over-the-counter lice treatments.
Most people struggle with lice because they focus all of their attention on killing lice bugs and not enough attention on GETTING RID OF LICE!
If you want to get rid of lice you have to address all 3 of the problems of lice:
- Lice Bugs
- Lice Eggs
- Getting Lice Back
The best way to get rid of lice is to tackle all 3 of these problems at the same time, which is what I teach in my step-by-step video system.
So, if you discover your child HAS lice, don't panic. Just head over to the video system. Follow along with the videos and you'll be done with lice by the end of the day.
5 Best Lice Combs
Quick Guide
If you’re in a hurry, here is my quick guide with links to my full reviews of the best lice combs on the market. You can click on any of these combs and buy straight from Amazon.
#1 - Nit-Free Terminator Lice Comb
Best at removing lice and nits. Stainless steel, spiraled micro-grooved teeth create a “barbed wire” effect that traps nits and drags them out, yet slides easily through wet, conditioned hair. Sturdy and tough. It also features an anti-slip handle (find the full full review here).
#2 - Lice Lifters Nit Removal Comb (aka Nit Nanny)
Removes lice and nits well. Stainless steel, helix-spiraled teeth catch nits and drag them out. Comfortable plastic handle. Easy to clean. (read the full review).
#3 - Lice Meister Head Lice and Nit Removal Comb
Stainless steel, tightly spaced teeth trap lice eggs. Comfortable plastic handle. Cleaning tool included (check out the full review)
#4 - School Time Lice and Nit Comb
Stainless steel, tightly spaced teeth hook lice eggs. Comfortable plastic handle. (read the full review).
Are Electric Lice Combs Better?
Just so you know... METAL COMBS are far superior to electric combs. I don't typically recommend electric combs. But people often ask about electric combs, so I figured I include one in the article.
Best Electric Lice Comb
This comb vacuums lice into a small mesh bag, which can be easily thrown away. This comb is NOT ideal for treating for lice, but it is good for lice checks on large groups. (Since this is an electric comb, I highly encourage you to read the full review on this comb before purchasing it).
If you’re looking for more information about electric lice combs like the Robicomb and Nix Electronic Comb, you can read my article exclusively on electric lice combs here.
Full Review of Lice Combs
Lice eggs and nits are the same thing.
To start off let's get something straight... Nits and lice eggs are the same thing! Don't make this more complicated then it needs to be. The two words (nits and lice eggs) will be used interchangeably in this article.
A good lice comb is critical to getting rid of lice quickly and, more importantly, getting rid of it for good. A mistake too many people make when trying to get rid of head lice is that they put a lot of energy into killing the adult lice bugs, but pay much less attention to removing lice eggs (nits) stuck in the hair.
Regardless of what lice treatments say on the box about “killing lice eggs”, nits left in the hair will inevitably hatch, and within a few weeks, you or your child will have a full blown lice infestation all over again.
If you don’t remove every last lice egg from your child’s hair, you will end up going around and around in the cycle of endless lice. Perhaps you’re even stuck in this cycle right now...
There are three reasons why lice eggs are so difficult to deal with. First, lice eggs are incredibly resistant to all lice products and treatments, so they are impossible to simply kill. Second, they are glued to the hair, so they will never “fall out eventually.” Third, lice eggs are surrounded by a strong protective coating, which is impenetrable.
Because lice eggs are resistant to chemicals, glued to the hair, and impervious to damage, the best thing you can do to “kill” lice eggs is to remove them from the head. Once lice eggs are pulled from the hair and thrown into the trash, they will not be able to hatch. Nits need the heat of the head to grow and hatch (similar to a chicken who will lay on their eggs because they need warmth to grow). After being removed from the head and their heat source, the lice eggs will quickly die.
Picking the Right Lice Comb
Removing lice eggs from the hair, however, is difficult. Anyone who has tried to use one of those plastic lice combs that come in a standard lice kit knows that these combs are next to useless. Most plastic combs are weak and often break in thick hair. The teeth of plastic combs are spread so far apart that they are incapable of removing nits, even if you comb over the same area multiple times.
After using a poor comb with little success, many people resort to “nit-picking,” which is manually removing individual lice eggs from the hair with one’s fingers. Nit-picking is incredibly time-consuming, tedious, and overwhelming. Sadly, most parents that spend 6-12 hours “nit-picking” and believe they have removed every nit inevitably miss some, and just two nits means staying trapped in the endless lice cycle again and again.
A high-quality metal lice comb paired with an effective lice treatment product is the key to getting out of the endless lice cycle. The teeth of a lice comb should be close together (with no spaces between the teeth) and, ideally, the teeth of the comb should be spiraled. This shape acts like barbed wire, trapping lice eggs and dragging them out of your hair.
#1 - Nit Free Terminator Comb
This comb is the best lice comb on the market today. It hands down removes lice and lice eggs more effectively than any other lice comb out there. If you ask any lice professional, they will almost certainly tell you this is the comb they use. The teeth of this comb are spaced tightly together, but the real secret is that these teeth have small spirals on their teeth, achieving a “barbed wire” effect on lice and nits, catching them and dragging them down the entire hair strand and out of your hair.
More great features of this comb are that, even with its tight, spiraled teeth, it still slides easily (and painlessly!) through wet, conditioned hair; it’s inexpensive (the same price you’d pay for a junky comb at your local drugstore); and it is entirely made of metal, so the tongs won’t break off when you’re combing through your hair.
#2 - Lice Lifters “Nit Nanny” Removal Comb
This comb also has helix-spiraled teeth, creating the “barbed wire” effect to grab lice and nits, quickly removing them from the hair. The handle on the comb is a little larger and completely plastic instead of metal, which makes it a more comfortable to hold.
When compared to the Nit Free Terminator Comb, the tongs are a little shorter, more flexible, and further apart. This makes the comb easier to clean, but slightly less effective. Because the teeth are further apart, it’s not quite as good at pulling out lice eggs as the Nit Free Terminator Comb, though it is still an excellent comb to use.
#3 - Lice Meister
The teeth of the Lice Meister comb are close enough to one another that it can remove most lice and lice eggs in a few comb-throughs. The rubber handle is easy to grasp. The comb also comes with a great cleaning tool to clean out any lice eggs that may get trapped in the comb.
The major disadvantage of this comb is that the teeth are not spiraled, so it’s likely to miss some recently hatched lice and lice eggs.
#4 - School Time Lice and Nit Removal Comb
The teeth of the comb are close enough to one another that it can remove most lice and lice eggs. The rubber handle is also easy to grasp. The real advantage of this comb is that it is one of the only quality combs that I have found in stores. I have seen it in Target and Walmart.
The major disadvantage of this comb is that the teeth are not spiraled.
The Best Electric Lice Comb
The V-Comb, also known as the vacuum comb, is my top pick for electric combs (but I don't really recommend electric combs).
When combed through small sections of dry hair, it vacuums live lice and nits into a small mesh bag. An LED light shines into the bag enabling you to see if any lice have been suctioned up.
After you have finished combing, remove the bag filled with lice and lice eggs from the device, place the provided cap on it, and throw it in the garbage. The mesh bag keeps all the lice completely contained. Here is a picture of what the V-Comb vacuumed up from a kiddo who came into my lice center.
This comb can be used without any lice treatment product because it works on live, moving lice. The comb also comes with a cleaning tool to clean out any lice and lice eggs that might get stuck in the comb during use.
I have used this comb multiple times, and the concept is a good one. There is something quite satisfying about vacuuming those pesky lice out of the hair! My clients love to see what I’ve vacuumed up. However, there are a few disadvantages to an electric comb.
While it is good at vacuuming up fully grown lice, it can miss very small recently hatched lice (nymphs) and lice eggs.
This comb only works on dry hair. Combing through dry hair can be painful for some folks, especially for thick or curly hair.
I found it to be more effective when I could cleanly section off the hair I was working with. This means it was much more effective when used in long hair as opposed to short hair because shorter hair is more difficult to section off.
The V-Comb cannot be a one-time treatment. The instructions for the comb instruct you to use it daily for one to three days, and then again on the seventh day for “newly hatched nymphs or new head lice.” You need to be diligent in using it and vigilant about continuing to search for new lice.
The price of the V-Comb may be pricey for some budgets. Many families end up spending hundreds of dollars on multiple rounds of ineffective lice shampoo, though, so in reality, a high-quality lice comb like this will actually save money in the long run.
You should also be aware that the V-Comb only comes with four non-reusable lice bag containers. If you plan to use the comb on multiple people, or daily as instructed for several days, you will likely run out of bags. A package of eight replacement mesh bags is available on Amazon.
The V-Comb is a great way to check multiple people for lice quickly. Performing lice checks at school or camps with this comb is a breeze. Simply have the children line up and run the V-Comb through a few sections of each child’s hair. It is absolutely clear if someone you’re checking has lice because they will get vacuumed into the translucent bag.
The V-Comb is also a natural way to remove lice instead of using lice treatment or lice shampoo. If that is appealing to you, then this is a good option for you. I highly recommend that you purchase a metal comb as well for removing lice eggs and baby lice (nymphs) that the V-Comb may leave behind.
If you want to know more about electric lice combs I did not review here, such as the Robicomb and the Nix Electronic Comb, you can read my article specifically on electric lice combs here.
Pros
- Vacuums lice out of the hair
- Lice are contained and easy to discard
- Great for lice checks on multiple people
- Cleaning tool included
Cons
- Limited to dry hair
- Difficult to use in short hair that can’t be sectioned
- Not as effective at removing lice eggs from the hair as metal combs
The Never-Ending Cycle
Most people that use lice kits and home remedies get caught in the horrible "Never-Ending Cycle of Lice"
First- You Have Lice
When you first discover lice you have adult lice bugs, baby lice bugs, and lice eggs (also known as nits)
You Think You've Gotten Rid of It.
But...
After using an over-the-counter treatment or a home remedy, people think they've taken care of the problem because they aren't finding lice bugs for a while.
But the bigger problem is the lice eggs that are left in the hair. Lice kits and home remedies don't kill eggs, and each of those little lice eggs has a bug inside just waiting to hatch and re-infest your child again.
Then- Those Eggs HATCH!
Just like lice eggs are tiny, when lice first hatch they are teeny-tiny. In fact, they are almost invisible to the naked eye! So, it typically takes a few weeks for them to grow big enough for you to see them.
And by the time you notice your head is infested all over again!
And Lice Is Back Again!
How to Avoid the Never-Ending Cycle
If you want to avoid this never-ending cycle and get rid of lice fast then check out my Step-by-Step Video System. Follow along with the videos and you can be completely done with lice in ONE DAY, no retreatments necessary.
How to be lice-free by the end of the day...
GET THE VIDEO SYSTEM
Get rid of lice the same way the experts do. Your personal lice coach walks you through each step of doing a professional lice treatment at home in a series of videos.
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow along with the videos on your child in your home. No lice kits or toxic chemicals involved!
BE DONE WITH LICE!
When you're done with the videos, you're done with lice. And it's gone permanently!
Summing It Up…
Head lice today are extremely difficult to kill because lice have become immune to lice treatments that worked in the past.
Having a good lice comb is a good start to eliminating lice. Metal lice combs are undeniably more effective than other lice combs at removing lice eggs from the hair. The best combs are those with teeth that are close together and spiraled, creating a “barbed wire” effect that traps nits and drags them out of the hair.
The V-Comb is the best electric lice comb on the market, and it’s great for group lice checks. But, all electric combs, including the V-Comb are not great at getting lice eggs and nits out of the hair.
Even with a good lice comb many parents still struggle with lice. So, if you want to get rid of lice quickly then I'd recommend following along with my Step-by-Step Video System and getting rid of it in ONE DAY.
All the best,
Theresa is a Registered Nurse and lice expert with years of experience curing children of lice. She owns a lice treatment center in the US which is where she perfected the Step-by-Step Video System proven to get rid of lice. She also works with government agencies and schools helping those with the worst head lice cases in America.
Her greatest passion is empowering parents by teaching parents online how to do a professional lice treatment on their child at home. She is the Lice Coach for the My Lice Advice Step-by-Step Video System.