Gross, to be sure.
They are perfectly adapted to living on our heads: Their little feet hook onto strands of hair.
When they lay eggs, they glue them to individual hairs, right next to the scalp.
Thats all they do, though.
They dont transmit disease, or cause any major health problems.
A case of head lice, on the other hand, doesnt mean youre living in filth.
Head lice can survive shampooing, so they can end up on any head, no matter how clean.
Kids often arent diagnosed with lice until a parent or teacher sees them scratching their head.
The same would be true of any kind of scratch or cut, though.
She asked me to like stress…that lice are a nuisance, not a life-threatening condition.
A few years ago, hard-to-kill super lice began making the news.
Head lice live on human headsthats it.
In fact, youre not likely to get lice from a hat or pillowcase at all.
Transmission this way ispossible, but rare.
Instead, lice move from head to head directly.
Lice can be hard to see, so this isnt an easy job.
While Devore recommends it, I dont see myself taking time out for regular inspections of my kids hair.
You could also let the hat sit in a plastic bag for 72 hours.
Adults can get them, too.
If you do end up with head liceon your kids head, or even on yoursdont give up hope.
TheNational Association of School Nurses agrees.
The school nurse should then inspect the childs head for lice daily for two weeks.
Some schools demand that children stay home until the treatment is finished and the eggs are gone.
The best treatment for lice is to use an insecticidal shampoo, but there are some caveats here.
First, you may want tocheck that your child actually has licebefore dousing their head in pesticides.
Instead, youre looking for actual living lice.
The comb catches nits and lice and removes them from the hair.
They can also hook you up with prescription strength shampoos.
(Heres ahandy chartof the different treatments that are available.)
The prescription strength ones have a higher price tag, up to $250, according to Devore.
Besides resistance, there could be other reasons a treatment doesnt work.
Its worth double checking that youve followed instructions perfectly to avoid having to do the treatment all over again.
Take a chance on them, if you like, just be aware of the uncertainty.
By the way, if your kid really wants to shave their head, thatisan effective treatment.
Its by no means necessary, though.
If thats not their preferred hair style, stick with the shampoos and such.
Theres one more option: a professional head lice removal service.
Its sort of like a low temperature, high-speed hair dryer.
AirAlles makerlists removal services that use their product here.
In case there are a few lice on shared pillowcases or hats, just wash or dry them.
Temperatures above 130F will kill lice.
