Wiping Out Head Lice
No one wants to cope with head lice, but these nasty critters can spread quickly. Fortunately, it’s easy to eradicate an infestation as soon as it occurs. Head lice and nits can be killed with products that are available at pharmacies without a prescription, and a little elbow grease will get your home louse-free. We’ll explain how simple getting rid of head lice can be and show you how to keep them from coming back.
If there’s an up side to an infestation, it’s that head lice do not spread disease. The lice and their eggs spread through direct contact or indirectly on items such as hats, combs, hairbrushes and head phones. The bugs can live up to 3 days off the scalp, and head lice eggs need a warm place to develop. Adult lice are usually between two and four millimeters long and are hard to see. Lice eggs are much easier to see and appear as grayish-white and oval shaped bumps on the hair shaft close to the scalp. They may look like dandruff but cannot be flicked off.
Infestations are very common among children in child care centers and schools. To diagnose a case of lice, you need to find live insects because the nits can be found before the lice are actually born. If you do find nits, check again in one week, and then again after two weeks if another child has any. Check close to the scalp, behind the ears, the back of the neck and on top of the head.
There are a number of very effective over the counter treatments. All the treatments contain an insecticide that kills the lice. The three insecticides approved for use in treating head lice are pyrethrin, permethrin and lindane. Lindane can be toxic, so never use a product containing it on infants or young children. Use the products as directed and don’t leave the shampoo or rinse in hair longer than instructed because they can burn the scalp. It’s best to do the treatment and rinsing over a sink, not in the bath or shower so that other parts of the body don’t come in contact with the product. You should repeat the treatment a week later. Do not consider these shampoos a preventative measure, and don’t use them unless you find lice.
Your first instinct may be to scrub your house from top to bottom, but head lice don’t fare well on furniture and carpeting. To kill lice and nits on sheets, towels and clothing, wash the items in hot water and dry them in a very hot dryer for at least fifteen minutes. You can also store the items in an airtight bag for at least two weeks. Your best course of action is treating the infestation with the proper head lice products.
