How to Check for Lice Video Tutorial

lice expert displaying the correct hand technique to check for lice by placing hand behind a small section of hair and looking for nits near the scalp

Check for lice in 5 simple steps by following along with this video tutorial. It'll take you less than ten minutes, and you're welcome to follow along with me.

Let me introduce myself...

Lice nurse helping others

Hi there! I'm a lice expert, lice coach, Registered Nurse, and the creator of My Lice Advice. I help people with lice every day in my lice treatment center, in school districts, and in government work. But the thing I love the most is empowering parents to get rid of head lice in ONE DAY at home! 

You can eliminate lice in one day using the same proven professional technique I use in my lice center on your child. Follow along with the Step-by-Step Video System, and when you're done with the videos you're done with lice. PERMANENTLY!

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Transcript of Video:

Hey, it's Theresa with My Lice Advice, and today I'm going to show you how to check for lice in five simple steps. This is a video tutorial. It'll take you less than ten minutes, and you're welcome to follow along with me.

 

Supplies:

You'll need four simple supplies most everybody has at home already. Some kind of hair clips, it doesn't matter really what kind some kind of hair elastics something like this or a scrunchie, a fine-tooth comb. I prefer something called a rat-tail comb like this that tapers at the end because it makes it easier for me to separate the hair. But if you don't have that, it's fine. And either paper towels or a napkin in case you end up pulling out any nits and you need somewhere to set them.

 

Set-Up:

Now, more important than perfect supplies is having good lighting, and the best lighting is actually outside on a sunny day because sunlight reflects off of these
lice eggs and makes them a lot easier to see. But if it's not a sunny day, then pick the lightest room in your house, which is usually the kitchen right next to the sink or the bathroom right next to the sink.

Pause the Video:
If you're going to be following along, this is the perfect time to pause the video and go gather those supplies before getting started.

 

Introduction:

Just so you know who I am. My name's Theresa with MyLiceAdvice.com, and I'm a registered nurse, and I specialize in head lice. So if in this video you discover lice, don't freak out. Just go to MyLiceAdvice.com, I have step-by-step videos. I'll walk you through how to get rid of it.

 

#1- Know What To Look For

OK, you have your supplies. You're set up. Let's get to it. Number 1, what to look for. Most people assume that if their child has lice, they're going to find a lot of bugs in their child's hair. But lice are masters of disguise.

Can you see the lice bug in this person's hair? Here it is right here. Do you see how it blends in super? Well, in this case, it almost looks translucent. Now, take a look in this person's hair. Here's the lice bug right here.

I find that lice usually match the color of the hair that they're in. So they're really difficult to see, and they move really fast in the hair.

So when you're looking for lice, you're actually looking for lice eggs.
You'll also hear them referred to as nits.

So what are lice eggs? They are exactly what they sound like. Lice bugs lay little eggs in the hair, and each of those little eggs has a bug inside that eventually will hatch and infest your child.

The telltale sign of something being a lice egg is that it's going to be glued onto a single hair strand. It's stuck on there. So if you're not sure whether or not something's dirt or dandruff, then what you want to do is try to kind of flick it or blow it or pull it out of the hair strand.

The only way to get these lice eggs out is to pinch it between two fingers or two fingernails and drag it all the way down the entire hair strand.

Now, as far as what lice eggs look like, the most common misconception is that they're going to be white. You will see these white nits, which are these hatched lice eggs in somebody that's had lice for a really long time. But typically, lice eggs that you're going to find in the hair will have some sort of color to them.

They're either going to be this golden color or two-toned color, or even a dark brown or black. So that's what you're looking for. You're looking for little lice eggs in the hair that are either golden brown or black that are glued to the hair strand. You can't flick them off or anything. The only way to get them out is by squeezing them in between two fingers and pulling them all the way down the hair strand.

And if you end up pulling any of these lice eggs out of the hair, then just put them on that paper towel that you have, and they're going to look like this. They always look the same, and they usually have like a golden brown color to them.

 

Step #2- Check the Baby Hairs

Number 2, start with the baby hairs. So the baby hairs are these fine short hairs that are all around the hairline. You can see them really prominently here in the bang area. These are some of the most common spots for you to find lice, eggs, and they're also a lot easier to spot in these baby hairs if you look through them.

So we're going to start with checking for lice right here in the bangs and this baby hair area. So push all the hair back and take a look through these little baby hairs. Do you see anything that looks like dirt or looks like something else in there that's stuck in the hair?

Now, if you do, then you're going to want to examine it, and if it doesn't move easily, then you're actually going to put your fingers around it, squeeze it and see, is this something that you have to drag all the way down the hair strand?

Once you're finding lice eggs in the hair, then you have your answer. Yes, you do have lice. Don't freak out. Just go to MyLiceAdvice.com. I'll show you how to get rid of it. If in this bang area you're not seeing any lice eggs, that's great, but we need to check the rest of the head. So I want you to check all the baby hairs around the circumference of the head.

If your child has long hair, you can just put all their hair up in a ponytail and look around that way. Or if they have short hair, just kind of push their hair back out of the way and look at all these baby hairs, you know, around the ears, around the nape, at the neck, and look through all these baby hairs.

Now, if you're following along with me, now's a good time to pause the video before I move on to the next step. So you have some time to look through these baby hairs.

 

 

Step #3- Nape of the Neck (HOTSPOT)

 

Now it's time to check the hot spots. There are certain places that lice like to lay their eggs the most, and you're the most likely to find lice eggs. And those are called hot spots.

So the first hot spot we're going to check is the nape of the neck. Now at the nape of the neck here, we're going to be checking paper-thin sections of hair. You're going to put either your hand behind or a finger behind that paper-thin section of hair. And to demonstrate why we are putting our hand behind a paper-thin section, take a look at this hair.

You don't see anything here. But as soon as I take a paper-thin section and put my hand behind it, look at what we find not one but two lice eggs hiding right there in plain sight. But you can actually see them when I put my hand behind there.

So the first thing you want to do is push that hair out of the way and clip it in some way. If your child has long hair, you may want to tie it with an elastic, so it's not falling in place.

But if your child has short hair, you can just usually clip and it'll stay in place that way. Start at the nape of the neck and gather a paper-thin section of hair and put your hand behind it.

Then examine this hair for anything that looks abnormal. You want to check close to the scalp because lice eggs are always laid within a quarter inch of the scalp. So look up here. Do you see anything? If you don't find any lice eggs, then keep working your way up on this nape of the neck section by section.

If you find something that you're not sure about, you're going to examine it and ultimately try and pull it out of the hair. If you're following along, now's a good time for you to pause the video and check at least ten paper-thin sections of hair in this area next to the nape of the neck.

 

 

Step #4- Behind the Ears (HOTSPOT)

The next hotspot we're going to examine is right here behind the ears, and we're going to do it the same way. So the same tips apply. You're going to take a paper-thin section of hair, and you want to put your hand right up against the scalp.

So again, we're going to begin with the hair clipped back out of the way. And we're going to separate small paper-thin sections of hair, and you want to be checking all around these ears. So take small sections of hair and examine them.

And again, if you find something that looks like a lice egg, you want to try to pull it out of the hair. You want to check at least ten small sections of hair around both ears. So if you're following along, now's a good time for you to pause the video after you're done with that come back to the video. We're almost done.

 

 

Step #5- Crown of the Head

If you have gotten this far where you have checked all of the baby hairs and these hot spots, and you're still not finding lice eggs, then you can be pretty certain you don't have lice.

But the last place I like to check is right here at the crown of the head. So what you're going to do is divide the hair into two pigtails and check just a couple of sections. And if you don't find anything there, then you don't have lice. Hooray, I'm so happy for you!

 

If you have lice...

And if you do have lice and you'd like some help, then head over to my MyLiceAdvice.com. There are loads of free resources, including a free house cleaning checklist specific to head lice.

So that's it for today. Be sure to like and subscribe below and if you have a comment, then feel free to leave a comment. And if you have discovered lice, then head over there and check out that step-by-step video system.

I'll see you there.