Treating Head Lice
Treating Head Lice by Margaret Tye
Your children getting head lice is probably one of the worst
fears of a parent and yet it is one of the most common health
problems. If your children grow up without ever catching them
you are lucky indeed.
Head lice cannot jump, they crawl from head to head which is why
they are so common amongst children who tend to sit close
together. If your child does get infected it is wise to wash all
bedding and treat furniture where their heads may have rested,
but healthy head lice tend to stay on heads rather than move.
However sharing combs or brushes where the lice may have been
removed during combing will spread them.
The life cycle of lice is about a month. The lice eggs or nits
are attached to the hair close to the scalp and are very hard to
remove. They hatch in 7 to 10 days and reach adulthood in
another 6 to 10 days. They then live for another 20 days laying
about 10 eggs a day.
Head lice are difficult to treat and to prevent the infection
recurring, vigilance is needed to ensure that no eggs remain to
hatch. Not everyone actually gets an itchy head so if someone in
the family is infected all heads should be checked. Some people
find the idea quite horrendous, when my granddaughter became
infected my daughter would shake when she was trying to remove
them. As a primary school teacher I had seen so many infected
children I was unmoved.
Unfortunately head lice are becoming immune to chemical
treatment and many parents prefer not to use it anyway. Another
solution is to use hair conditioner, left for a while, then
combed with a nit comb. If you wipe the comb on a piece of
tissue you will see the head lice even if they were invisible on
the head. This has to be repeated every 3 days for at least two
weeks to ensure any newly hatched eggs are caught. Personally we
found that olive oil, which we left on overnight after combing,
worked better and left the hair in a lovely condition. However
the problem kept recurring and finally I bought a battery
operated flea comb designed for pets which we found very
effective. I have noticed that these are now advertised for head
lice.If you decide to use one, check that the manufacturer
guarantees that it is safe to use on a child. You should always
remember that a child's skin is very sensitive. Advice on health
matters should always be confirmed with a doctor and no
liability is accepted for action taken .
Margaret Tye runs the FromTots2Teens website that offers
information on supplies for children of all ages as well as
advice on health and other child and teenage related problems.
You are welcome to use this article as long as it is not altered
and credit is given to the author, with a link back to this
site. FromTots2Teenshttp://www
.fromtots2teens.com Please pay the site a visit.
Whatever method you choose, don't become complacent, keep
checking.