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.
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