The need to kill head lice comes from a stigma that is as hard to combat as the infestations themselves. For example, a Canadian survey found that more than half of parents, 56 percent, said they would feel distraught, scared it would spread or embarrassed if their child had lice.
The fact is that lice move around with the same ease as the common cold. Any place where children congregate is a breeding and crawling ground for lice including schools, kids’ parties, daycares, play groups, community swimming pools and community centres. The fact is that when children play together, they often come into head-to-head contact.
What else do children do when they are together? Kids share things such as combs, pillows, their stuffed toys, sweaters, the popular hoodies and swap earphones to listen to each other’s music. Among all of this sharing is the ever-present head louse.
Lice are repulsive, however, they are not a health hazard and have never been a factor in the transmission of disease, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
First Step to Killing Lice: Recognize Them
The single greatest method that you can adopt right now is to learn how to spot nits and lice on a human head. If you have children aged 12 or under, get into the habit of checking their heads once a week. Part their hair with a comb and check their entire head. Look for a sand-sized white dot that is about one inch from the scalp and will only come off of the strand of hair with your finger. This white dot is a nit, or lice larvae.
If the nits have hatched, they are now nymphs or baby lice. Full grown lice are about the size of a sesame seed, are whitish-grey, tan or yellow. They are very fast and hard to catch on the human head.
Head lice treatment today is easy, inexpensive and safe. When you spot nits or lice, head to your local drug store and talk with the pharmacist. They will recommend the best lice treatment available, which a shampoo that you leave in for up to 30 minutes before washing out and picking off the dead lice and nits.
Follow the lice treatment instructions very carefully.
How to Get Rid of Head Lice? Try a Short Hair Cut and Lice Shampoo
After treatment, you may wish to consider getting your children short haircuts. If lice are present in their school, it is much easier for you spot them on a shorter head of hair if they make a return visit.
Lice can only live for about three days without being on someone’s head. Bag up your child’s stuffed toys, pillows and any other soft items for at least three days so that you stop the life cycle of your unwanted houseguests. Human lice cannot live on your pets; lice are quite host-specific.
You cannot really prevent head lice and none of the hair care manufacturers who make lice treatment shampoo recommend the use of their products without the presence nits or lice.
Lice have grown up with the human species and are certainly going to be here for the long term. Parents would be well-served to keep a close eye on their children’s hair and educate themselves about the appearance of nits and lice, then take prompt through effective lice treatments and lice shampoo to eliminate them.
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