Head Lice

Head lice (nits) grip onto hair and move from hair to hair, they can move quickly from one person to another. Head lice inject saliva into the scalp of a person and suck blood which provides them with nutrition. This results in irritation and itching. The lice lay eggs which are called nits, close to the scalp. The eggs hatch in about 8 days and are called louse, louse mature in about 10 days. When mating occurs a female louse can lay about 6 eggs a day, and up too 100 eggs.

It is a common misconception that head lice infect dirty hair. Unfortunately at some time, when your child starts either day care or school, they are going to come into contact with head lice.

Lice are approximately 3 mm in length and you can see them moving through your child’s hair. Once you have identified your child has head lice there are several options available to you for treatment and eradication.

Treatments

Chemical treatments are available, such as shampoo, cream and lotions on the market which you can treat head lice with. These treatments usually contain insecticides which are designed to kill insects like head lice. It is important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using chemical treatments and the insecticides can be absorbed into the body.

You also have the choice of using non chemical products that are on the market and you can also use physical removing methods like brushing and combing out head lice.

Here are some important tips when trying to remove head lice

1. If you are using shampoos etc, you need to treat everyone in the house to prevent re-infection;

2. All bed linen should be washed at the same time;

3. Check everyone’s head regularly;

4. Spray your hairbrushes and combs with fly spray;

5. Not all head lice will be killed with one application, so follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Physical removal

This is easier to do when the hair is wet using a nit comb, however this can be very time consuming and you will need to do this regularly, and several times a week.

My Girls

During my daughters primary school years the head lice infestations hits. I purchased the latest shampoo’s, the combs etc and methodically kept to the schedule of treating their hair and combing their hair to get rid of the nits. I did this again and again and again, over and over, and it cost me a lot of $$$$$$ when I was a single mum and every cent counted.

Nits love clean hair and some children are just more susceptible.

At the end of the year when the twins turned 10 we were moving from the north island to the south island of New Zealand. We were going to Christchurch, where it was very hot, we didn’t know anyone and the twins were starting a new school.

Because my girls had extremely bad infestations, I talked to the girls about shaving their heads; they decided as long as they got a new pretty hat to wear for a few weeks, it would be worth it to get rid of the head lice. When I started to shave their heads, I discovered their heads were saturated with head lice and eggs, right then I knew it was the only thing I could have done. It worked, they NEVER got nits again. The girls had pretty hats to wear, and buy the time school started again their hair was growing.

Short Hair

You don’t have to go to this extreme, for girls you can cut their hair shorter. It is easier to manage the treatment and to remove head lice with short hair.

A few tips to help you manage

1. Shorter hair is easier to manage;

2. Put your child’s hair up for school;

3. Encourage wearing hats during summer;

4. Don’t share hats with other children.