Table Of Content
The insects usually spread through direct transfer from the hair of one person to the hair of another. In cases where lice return within a month or less, the most likely reason for the comeback is that they never really went away. It's fairly common for people to use an over-the-counter treatment and think that they're finished with head lice, but they are very wrong.
Check if it's head lice
I'd love to tell you lice just prefer one specific blood type and the rest of you are in the clear, but it's not that simple. Any blood type can get lice, but it is most common for people with O+ and A+ blood. Additionally, if you've had lice once, you are more likely to get it again simply because lice obviously like you. For those prone to lice, I recommend using preventative scents sprayed in the hair every day so you smell nasty to them, but (fortunately) great to everyone around you. If faced with the choice, lice most likely prefer clean hair over dirty hair. This specific question, “clean vs. dirty” hair, has not been the topic of any scientific research, but let's talk about the most common theories.
How do lice spread from person to person?
If you suspect a child has lice, preventing close contact with that child helps more to prevent the spread of head lice than having short hair. Swimming or washing the hair within 1–2 days after treatment with some head lice medicines might make some treatments less effective. Seek the advice of your health care provider or health department if you have questions. Natural remedies for head lice involve applying oil, such as olive oil or mayonnaise, or petroleum jelly, to the hair to suffocate the lice. Most people who choose this method saturate the hair and scalp and cover it with a shower cap overnight. Then, they shampoo and comb out the lice and nits in the morning.
Head Lice Treatment
If you want to prevent getting head lice, keeping your hair clean or dirty isn’t likely to make a big difference. And according to Gouge, the idea that school is the primary place for lice infestation has led many schools to implement "no nit" policies. These require children to be sent home from school or kept out of school if nits (lice eggs) are discovered on their scalps. Fifty-two percent of those with children in their household who'd dealt with a lice infestation in the previous five years said yes. The myth that head lice prefer unwashed hair has fueled plenty of stigma. In reality, there’s no link between these tiny parasites and personal hygiene.
Sign me up
This article looks at how hair dye affects lice, how to use hair dye to kill lice, and the safety and precautions of using hair dye. Adult lice will start laying eggs the moment they infest a host. This is one reason head lice inspections are recommended during school outbreaks.
What do the eggs look like?
Parents battle pesticide-resistant 'super lice' as kids head back to school - New York Daily News
Parents battle pesticide-resistant 'super lice' as kids head back to school.
Posted: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT [source]
To determine if head lice are present, look for signs of nits attached to the hair shaft. If it comes off the hair easily, it is most likely not a nit, but dandruff or hair product residue. Head lice are spread primarily by direct head-to-head contact. So the risk of spreading head lice is greatest among children who play or go to school together.
Afterward, people should use a nit comb to remove any dead or live lice that remain as well as the eggs. A nymph hatches from the egg and goes through several stages of growth before turning into an adult head louse. Nymphs look similar to adult head lice but are smaller, roughly the same size as a pinhead. People can treat a head lice infestation with over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medication, which will kill the head lice. Other treatments for lice include silicone-based treatments and insecticide-based treatments. A person will need to comb out their hair using a lice comb and treat their scalp and hair to rid themselves of lice.
Local health departments may have guidelines that address school head lice policies; check with your local and state health departments to see if they have such recommendations. Louse nits can be easier to detect than lice, possibly because they cannot move or hide. When looking for nits, look closely at the scalp, where they tend to stick after lice lay them.
The Kansas Bureau of Epidemiology and Public Health recently changed its policy regarding admission to school with head lice. There are many misconceptions about how lice spread and how they’re treated. These misconceptions only help feed into the anxiety of parents whose children have lice or who have been exposed to lice. Head lice may be spread by sharing towels or other items that have been in contact with an infested person’s hair, although such spread is uncommon.
Nits are often confused with other things found in the hair such as dandruff, hair spray droplets, and dirt particles. There's a major stigma that children with poor hygiene spread lice. While lice don't specifically prefer clean hair, they do have an easier time grabbing on to it and reproducing in it.
Anyone can get lice — no matter where you live, how old you are, or how often you wash your hair. Since lice feed on blood in your scalp, it doesn’t matter whether your hair is freshly shampooed or not. If these methods don’t get rid of head lice, your doctor may recommend trying lindane 1%. As this treatment is strong, experts only recommend it if others treatments are ineffective. If you use too much, or swallow some by mistake, it may harm your brain or nervous system. Both of these treatments kill live lice, but not unhatched eggs.
No comments:
Post a Comment