The Best Tips For Treating Head Lice

If you’re a parent, all you can think of is your child’s safety. You don’t want anything bad to happen to them. So when you come home at night you can’t wait to hear what happened at school. But what if they brought home a louse-y problem aside from their homework? Do you know what to do to tackle this problem? Don’t freak out just yet. Here are some tips that might help you eliminate head lice.

First of all it’s always good to know something about the enemy in this case, the head lice. Head lice are tiny bloodsucking insects that crawl on the heads, even eyebrows of their unsuspecting victims. People who have them may feel something crawling on their scalp and it’s not a good feeling if you’re ticklish or squeamish.

When it comes to their victims, head lice seem to favor young girls aged 4 to 12. Schools are not just the place where kids learn and play but it’s also where they get head lice. If you’re wondering why it’s mostly girls that’s due in part to their long hair. In addition, girls are close with their friends. They like to whisper, brush each other’s hair and share hats and scarves even.

Head lice Myths: Two common ones are people who have head lice have poor hygiene and they can spread diseases. This is so not true. Head lice can’t fly or hop but they can crawl really fast. That’s how they move between heads. They can quickly settle in and almost instantly they’ll feed, bite, mate and lay eggs on the hair strands.

Head lice eggs are called nits. They may be yellow or white but can adapt to the color of your hair. How to spot the nits? If you look closely at a hair strand you’ll notice that there are tiny knots on it. Usually there are a few nits in a single strand. It takes about 8-9 days for the nits to hatch.

Nymphs are what you get from nits. They resemble an adult head louse but are a bit smaller. Consuming human blood is what they need in order to grow and survive. They transform into adult head lice after 10 days of continuous feeding.

When a head louse matures it will remind you of a sesame seed with legs. Their color will vary from light or dark brown to gray. Yet there are a few which takes on the color of one’s hair. They solely survive on drinking human blood. Should they fall off your head they’ll starve within a day or two. Yet if they’re well fed they can live for up to a month.

While most parents are concerned about head lice, they’re common among children. Here’s step to take to prevent head lice.

1. Head lice dislikes short hair so have your child’s hair cut shorter. It’s an extreme step and not one your child will likely embrace.

2. If your child has head lice you can use a fine toothed comb made especially to remove the lice and their nits. There are also medicated shampoos that kill them.

3. Change and wash your child’s pillow cases and blankets every week. Everyone at home should also have their own personal towel.

4. Educate your child about borrowing their friends combs or brushes. Give them their own brush and comb. Caps, headbands even headphones are part of the no sharing rule.

5. Don’t just remove the adult head lice and forget the nits. They’re what will eventually become adult head lice. Also look for signs like an itchy scalp as well as red sores.

Even if your child doesn’t have head lice they happen and in the best of families. Should that time come you shouldn’t over react because you now know exactly what to do. Besides, can you stand to see your little darlings scratching their heads constantly?

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Head Lice Topics

Tags: head lice, home and garden, pest control