As a parent, your kids can be an endless source of worry. If they have the sniffles and are coughing, you may be wondering if they’re coming down with something and how serious it will end up being. The prospect of your children getting head lice is another source of anxiety. While it’s true that they’re not exactly dangerous, head lice are a nuisance and quite contagious especially between young children since they frequently come into physical contact and that’s the chief means by which they spread.
What Exactly Are Lice?
They are parasitic bugs that are tailor-made by nature for living off the human scalp. They derive their nutrients from blood underneath the scalp, and this warm, moist environment also incubates their eggs, known as nits. This is why nits will typically be attached near the bottom of hair strands quite close to the scalp, and you’ll find adult lice either on hair strands or on the scalp feeding. Their six legs are adept at clinging to and moving along our hair. About the only saving grace is that they can’t jump or fly, which is about the only thing limiting their ability to spread.
How To Spot These Pests
If your kid is itching a lot or if they either report having difficulty sleeping or a tickling feeling of something crawling on their head, these are all signs of lice. The difficulty sleeping part is due to the fact that these little buggers tend to be more active in the dark.
Head lice are not the easiest thing to spot since they’re quite small. About the size of a sesame seed, you’ll want a magnifying glass handy if you wish to try to locate them on your kid’s scalp. A lice comb is another helpful tool. This is similar to a regular comb only its teeth are far closer together, so the lice or nits will be caught up in the comb instead of passing between the teeth.
Start by wetting your child’s hair. Then comb a section of hair starting as close to the roots of the hair as possible and then moving out to the ends of the hair strands. You should Google images of head lice and nits beforehand so you’ll know whether what you find are actually lice or not. If found, your next question is what to do about them.
Popular Head Lice Remedies
Remember that head lice are not dangerous, so please stay away from drastic lice remedies such as shaving your kids head. This can make them feel self-conscious and possibly be worse than the lice infestation. That being said, you don’t want to be inactive about the situation either, so it’s a matter of striking the right balance.
Many parents try retail lice shampoos from their local drug store. Unfortunately, these are less effective with each passing year in regard to lice removal. They’ve been used for so many years that some lice have become highly resistant to the chemicals and pesticides in them. Another consideration is that these pesticides are also toxic, and your child might have some allergic or other reaction to them, and the same goes for even stronger prescription varieties. Home remedies are another option but are frequently cumbersome in their application and ineffective as well. An important part of your success or failure is also in the application of any treatment. If you miss one or two nits or a couple lice, the infestation starts all over again in a week or so.
Consider Having A Professional Treat Your Head Lice
As with so many problems, there are specialists when it comes to treating head lice. At Lice Lifters of Tom’s River, our lice clinic has been removing this problem from the heads of Ocean County families for years. We’ve also been doing so using 100 percent safe and all-natural techniques and products that won’t harm your little ones but will decimate the little critters calling their scalp home. If over-the-counter treatments aren’t cutting it or if you’d like to skip right to the best remedy available, then give us a call since we guarantee our results.
