Tips About Lice

Lice are small, six-legged insects that feed on human blood. The three different types of lice are head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Head lice are probably the most common. They can spread easily between people who come in close contact with one another. Head lice infestations are common in children who spend a lot of time together at school or daycare. Though quite annoying, lice do not transmit disease. However, they can cause inflammation and intense itchiness on the scalp.

Preventing Lice Infestation

• Close contact between people causes the spread of lice from one person to the other. Sharing infested objects like combs, hairbrushes, towels, pillows, beds, hats, scarves, ribbons and stuffed toys also results in the spreading of lice. To prevent a lice infestation, it is important to avoid head-to-head contact with other people. You must also avoid sharing personal items with other people. If you have young children who go to school or daycare, check their hair on a weekly basis to rule out an infestation.

Identifying Lice

• The three forms of lice are the nits or eggs, nymphs or baby lice, and adult lice. A person who is infested will have an itchy scalp. To confirm an infestation, you must look closely through the hair and scalp. Any sign of lice, nits or nymphs confirms an infestation. On an infested scalp, you can find nits on the shaft of the hair, close to the scalp. Nits look like small dots that are usually brown or yellow in color. After the egg hatches, the shell is clear or white. You cannot remove nits by combing or shaking the hair. Baby lice and adults are grayish or tan in color and the adults are about the size of a sesame seed. Both move very quickly and it is difficult to get rid of them all by hand.

Treating Lice Infestation

• When you treat a lice infestation, you must remove the current infestation and also prevent it from reoccurring. Purchase lice-killing medication, which is usually available over the counter and is called pediculicide. Never use such medication on a child younger than two years of age. In such cases, you can remove the lice and nits by hand or with a fine-tooth comb. Before application on infested hair, read the instructions on the package. Leave the medication on for the prescribed time and then wash it out. Comb the hair with a fine-toothed comb. This should remove all the dead lice and nits. A repeat treatment after a week will kill any new lice or nits. Wash all infested bedding, linens and towels in hot water. Do the same for toys and stuffed animals. To disinfect hairbrushes, combs, ribbons and hair bands, soak them in medicated shampoo for one hour.