Finding out that one of your kids has come home from college with a new infestation of head lice isn’t something which you truly wanted to hear. This might be the first time you’ve encountered lice and with all the crazy stories you have learned about them it can definitely be a bewildering experience. There’s no need to panic, because in this report we’re going to uncover some crucial head lice facts to rapidly help get you on the path to treating those small parasites quickly.
Lice Infestation
The issues you face if it’s your first experience with lice, are that you might have missed the early signs and might already have a complete infestation before realising. The typical signature left by lice bites is a continuous desire to scratch your head. This itchy feeling is a result of the residue of saliva the lice leave following the have fed on minute amounts of your blood which then creates an allergic response. But sometimes these symptoms do not show for many weeks when the host shows no reaction to the bites. By which time it could too late for a simple treatment.
Early Detection
Detecting lice early on is the secret to a quick and effortless removal. If you can find only one or two and destroy them before they can lay any eggs it is often very easy get rid of these. But if the lice are left to go unattended they could replicate at quite an alarming rate. A female louse can live for around a month and at that time can lay up to 60 eggs. These eggs (also called nits) stick firmly to the hair shaft, are off white in color and hatch in approximately 1 week.
Adult lice look virtually identical in size and color to a sesame seed. They have six legs which have tiny claws at the end to help them cling onto the hair. They require the heat of a human host to survive and a continuous supply of food – that would be your blood! If they drop out of your hair they could only survive for up to 48 hours with no heat of a host.
How To Prevent it
The way to prevent catching lice is to be certain that you don’t share any things that could come into contact with your scalp or hair. Items such as hats, caps, headbands, combs, brushes and individual headphones. They’re transmitted through direct contact rather than, as many people wrongly believe by jumping from 1 person to another. Lice don’t have wings so they can not fly . Children are more likely to catch lice because of them quite often having close head to head contact through play with other kids.
Treatments for lice are wide and varied but shampoo and lotions which can be bought over the counter or on prescription are the primary weapon of choice for many years for caring but “uninformed” parents. I use the phrase uninformed not in an insulting manner, but since recently some people have become conscious of the possibility that several of these chemical based shampoos may have possible health risks. Also, with over use of those pesticides, the lice have started to develop immunity to them and therefore are not as effective.
Ok, so what other options do we have?
Everybody appears to be crying about using home remedies and remedies but just what are they? Quite simply; they’re safer natural alternatives which you can use rather than pesticides. Essential oils blended with lavender oil are terrific repellents as lice hate the smell of lavender. A little dab behind the ears and on the back of the neck can work really well. Olive oil and white vinegar are very popular and very effective products that could kill and eliminate them. Tea tree oil is also proving to supply some very positive results as a result of natural occurring fungicide it comprises.
A little knowledge can be quite powerful if used correctly and this certainly applies to such simple head lice facts I’ve shared with you. Knowing what you’re up against is just half the battle. Whatever way you choose, you have to be methodical when treating an infestation and sometimes you’ll have to be ready to the repeat the procedure many times so as to completely rid yourself .
