Lotions come in water or alcohol bases. Alcohol based lotions work slightly better than water based lotions. But, do not use alcohol based lotions if you have asthma, eczema, or broken skin.

Follow the instructions on the packet carefully. This may include the following.

For lotions: apply to dry hair. Part the hair near the top and pour a few drops onto the scalp. Rub well into the hair. Part the hair again a little further down and repeat. Repeat this until the scalp and roots of the hair are saturated. Apply down to where a pony tail band would be. Leave on for 12 hours (overnight) and then wash off. Each person needs about 50ml of lotion, and up to 150ml if you have long thick hair.
For cream rinse: apply to damp hair so that the scalp and roots of the hair are saturated. One tube is usually enough. Leave on for 10 minutes and then rinse off.

Do not go swimming before applying a lotion. The chlorine from the swimming pool may stop it working.
Do not use a hairdryer to dry hair after applying treatment.
Re-apply the same treatment after 7 days. (Although lice are usually killed by one application, not all eggs may be. The second application makes sure that any lice that hatch from eggs which survived will be killed before they are old enough to lay further eggs.)
Inspect the hair 2-3 days after the second application. If you see any live moving lice, despite treatment, then see a doctor or nurse for advice.

Do family and friends need treatment?

Only if they have lice. All people in the same home, and other close 'head to head' contacts of the previous 4-6 weeks should be contacted. Tell them to look for lice (described in the leaflet called 'Checking for Head Lice'). Only people with head lice should be treated. (It used to be advised to treat all close contacts even if they had no symptoms. This has changed to just treating people with definite head lice infection.) All people with head lice in the same home should be treated at the same time. This stops lice being passed around again.

Some other points about head lice

Use an anti-lice lotion or cream rinse only when you are sure that you or your child have head lice. Do not use them to prevent head lice, or 'just in case'. Frequent use may cause a build up of small amounts of the active medication in the body. The risk of harm from this is very small, but it is best to use these treatments only when infected.
A common reason for head lice to recur in one person is because close contacts (family and close friends) are not checked for head lice, and not treated if they are infected. The treated person is then likely to get head lice back again from untreated family or friends.
After treatment and the lice have gone, it may take 2-3 weeks for the itch to go fully.
Nits may remain after lice have gone. They are empty egg shells and stick strongly to hair. They will eventually fall out. If you prefer, a fine toothed 'nit comb' can remove them.

Important warning. Alcohol based lotions are flammable. Keep children away from fires, cigarettes, flames, etc, whilst lotion is in their hair.

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