Little league helmets. Shared combs. Posing for selfies. However they're transmitted from one (otherwise vermin free) kid to another, lice happens.

To contend with the little buggers, you can hire one of those entrepreneurial moms who've turned your ick factor into her fat checkbook, you can pop into CVS (incognito, of course) and clean out their supply of Rid, you can get your GP to prescribe Quell or, you can heed the advice of a bunch of lab-coat wearing Belgian smarties.

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Researchers at the University of Ghent have discovered that when it comes to removing nits from hair, water and run o' the mill conditioner have the same efficacy as specialized treatment options.

As reported in the Journal of Entomology, scientists plucked nit ridden hairs from 605 enfants and set about to see which products best facilitated the egg removal. (In case you're lucky enough to not already know this; nits/eggs are laid, then "cemented" into place on the hair shaft and are famously difficult to dislodge.)

"There were no significant differences in measured forced between the ordinary conditioner and the commercial nit removal product [which] do not seem to have additional effect," the study says. "Treatment with conditioner reduces the coefficient of friction of undamaged and damaged hair, as a consequence, conditioners will facilitate nit removal."

So, since the chemicals in most "dedicated" lice treatments are harsh on the hair and cost a pretty penny, why not arm yourself with a "nit-picking" comb and a big old bottle of regular conditioner instead?

Now, if they could only come up with a less painful, time-consuming, expensive, pain-in-the-butt way to fumigate the house.

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