What is Head Lice – Know About Prevention for Head Lice

Head lice are parasites that live first and foremost in a person's scalp. They flourish here and lay their eggs and increase their numbers. One should learn how to prevent head lice from infecting a member of your family because the removal of these parasites can be bothersome and may require a long time.

Causes of Head Lice

Causes Personal cleanliness and hygiene have nothing to do with getting infected with lice. It is a myth that being unclean or living in unhygienic conditions puts a person at a risk of getting infected. Lice cannot fly, jump or walk on the ground, and they are not transmitted by pets. The fact is that head lice get passed on from person to person through close body contact or head-to-head contact. You can also get lice by sharing hats, pillows, beds, towels, combs, clothes, headphones and other items with a person who is infected. Anyone can get head lice, but they are more common among school-aged children. Head lice spread more easily among children 3–12 years of age because they share their belongings more often than adults and play close together. Females of all ages get head lice more often than males do.

Symptoms of Head Lice

The main symptom is an itchy head (caused by the louse's saliva when it removes a tiny amount of blood from the scalp), but a person can have head lice and not know it. “The gold standard for diagnosing lice is finding a live one on the head, but they can be very difficult to spot,” notes Will. They crawl fast (up to 12 inches or 30 cm per hour – that's fast if you're the size of a sesame seed!) but do not fly or jump.

Head lice prevention

One sure way to prevent head lice infestations is to nip it in the bud by learning what signs to look for in a child. The signs of a head lice infestation are vigorous scratching of the head, the presence of nits or egg cases and possibly dirty pillows.

Treatments for Head Lice

One of the most popular home remedies for head louse is plain white vinegar, just pour a little onto the head and work through until all the hair is thoroughly saturated, allow it to soak for a few minutes and then rinse and comb using a head lice comb. Also olive oil can be used as well as mayonnaise, all of which work very effectively in most cases.

To treat head lice you can buy a chemical based shampoo that can eliminate the lice. Make sure you follow the application guide to the letter, because incorrect use will not wipe out all of the lice. You will also need to comb through the hair with a fine tooth comb to remove any nits that are not killed by the shampoo.

Modern over the counter treatments have come on in recent years and are a lot safer than they used to be. They are usually a lot quicker and less fiddly to use than natural treatments.

Make a smooth pate with grinded and well blended paste made with the seeds of custard apple and apply it on the lice infested head overnight, in the morning the hairs are to be washed thoroughly. However, the paste in poisonous in nature should never be used with children and take all possible precautions to protect your eyes from this paste or paste infested water.

There is a wide range of treatment methods starting from homeopathic to ultra-modern techniques to deal with head lice. You can be sure of the effect of one of these methods only if you try them out. Normally, certain mixture of chemical washes, combing and cleanliness is sufficient to tackle this problem. It's important to thoroughly wash all linens that include bed sheets and bath towels to kill the loitering pests. Always keep in mind that you're never alone. Your head has got some uninvited visitors called head lice.