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By Diane Hanson
Last summer, I received a note from my daughter's teacher that head lice is circulating amongst the kids and that really got me panicked, perhaps a little over paranoid. When the note came, I looked through her hair, behind her ears and at the base of the skull. Thankfully, I did not spot any.
So I thought it would be interesting to do a bit of research on head lice in young children and write about home treatments for head lice removal.
What Are Nits and Head Lice?
Nits are the empty white egg shells which are left when
the lice hatch, they resemble dandruff.
Unlike dandruff, a nit sticks strongly onto hair and will not blow around or move with a rub of your finger; they must be pulled down off the hair shaft itself. Whereas head lice are tiny grey or brown bugs about the size of a sesame seed and cling to hairs staying close to the scalp which they feed on.
Regardless of the amount of lice in your kid's hair, it is critical that these parasites be killed and removed as quickly as possible. A single adult female can lay up to 200 eggs per month. Once hatched, this single female and her offspring will be responsible for almost 2 million eggs at the end of 3 months.
Who Gets Head Lice?
Although head lice is not life threatening, it is highly contagious
and especially common on young kids. This explains why it remains as the number one
reason for absenteeism in schools. Head lice can affect people of all ages.
Kids are vulnerable to infestation because they play in close physical contact with each other. It is downright uncomfortable for kids – their bites may cause a kid's scalp to become itchy and inflamed, and persistent scratching may lead to skin irritation and even infection.
Your kid lose a good night's sleep, become grouchy and a never ending nightmare for
parents as we desperately work overtime to remove these detestable critters. Lice
do not fly or jump from one person to another and pets cannot catch head lice and
pass to humans or the other way round. They spread mainly through head to head contact
and sharing of personal items like clothing, bed linens, combs, brushes, hair bands,
caps and hats.
How to Treat Head Lice?
There are many lotions with active ingredients like malathion
or phenothrin to treat head lice. Carbaryl is another insecticide lotion that is
only available on prescription. Shampoos, mousses and cream rinse preparations of
these insecticides do not work as well as lotions.
Water based lotions are usually recommended as they are safer for kids and some people
with asthma, eczema, or broken skin cannot use alcohol based lotions. Use properly
as per instructions on the bottle to have best results.
Wet combing is a way of removing
head lice without having to use a lotion to kill them. You can get a wet combing
kit which includes a fine-
Dimeticone, a silicone based product and is not classified as an insecticide
chemical, has a good safety record for treatment and is widely used in cosmetics
and toiletries. Dimeticone is applied in a similar way to insecticide lotions.
There
are many quick and easy
What Can You do to Prevent Head Lice?
You can prevent a potential problem early by
talking to your kids about head lice. Teach them on the dangers of sharing personal
items such as combs, scarves, helmets, ribbons, barrettes, bandannas, hats, hairbands
and adopt preventive measures to avoid a head lice infestation.
Tell them to try to avoid head to head contact at school and while playing at home with other children – not to lie on bedding, pillows, cushions, and carpets that have recently been used by someone with lice.
For protection, your kid's hair should be pulled back and longer hair should be braided.
Good hair hygiene during hot summer months should be practised, daily shampooing
with a good mint based shampoo like rosemary mint or spearmint is recommended.
Here are some other ways to get rid of head lice and their eggs, and help prevent
a lice re-
1. Wash all bed linens and clothing that has been recently worn by an infected person in very hot water about 130° Fahrenheit or 54.4° Celsius and then put them in the hot cycle of the dryer for at least 20 minutes.
2. If stuff animals and plush toys cannot be machined washed, have them dry cleaned or put them in airtight bags for 2 weeks.
3. Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture both in your home and cars.
4. Soak hair accessories like combs, barrettes, hair bands, headbands, and brushes in rubbing alcohol or medicated shampoo for 1 hour. Alternatively, soak them in hot water for a good 30 minutes.
Prevention is better than cure. By protecting your kids against head lice infestation,
you save yourself money and countless hours of unnecessary detective work.
How to Treat and Prevent Kids Head Lice
4 Mom-
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