subject: Head Lice Treatments [print this page] Head lice are tiny greyish-brown insects that are about 2.5mm long. Head lice cling to hair and are usually found on the scalp. They live on blood which they get by biting through the scalp of the host. The adult lice mate and the female will then lay eggs that are firmly attached to the hair close to the scalp and are very difficult to remove. The baby lice hatch after about seven to eight days leaving behind an empty shiny white eggshell (nit) which can be found anywhere along a strand of hair.
Head lice infection is a very common problem in the UK and especially amongst school children. Lice pass from one person to another when two heads come into contact. Head lice cannot jump, hop or fly and can only transfer to another head by walking along strands of hair. Families enjoying a cuddle at home or children whispering secrets at school provide head lice with an ideal opportunity to travel from one head to another. It is a common misconception that head lice are associated with poor hygiene but this is completely untrue as head lice can be found on clean or dirty hair. Head lice should be seen as nothing more than an inconvenience that can be easily treated.
There are three main types of head lice treatments but you must remember that no method is 100% effective. You should only ever start chemical treatment of head lice if you find a live louse on your childs head. If you can only see empty eggshells then this may be a sign of a previous batch of lice that have already been eradicated.
The first method of treatment is an insecticide. Insecticides are available in lotion form and you can buy these from a pharmacy or get them on prescription. For these lotions to work you must follow the manufacturers instructions to the letter. If you do not use the head lice treatments in the correct way then the treatment is likely to fail. Another head lice treatment type is silicone based products. These products are relatively new and have been proved very effective at removing lice without side effects or problems with resistance from the lice. Not all these silicone head lice treatments kill eggs so you should repeat the treatment after 7 days to kill any lice that may have hatched since the first application. The last method is wet combing. This method of treatment removes the lice without using chemicals. It involves wetting the hair, applying conditioner and then combing it through with a fine toothed comb for at least 30 minutes every third or fourth day over a two week period.
There are also a number of herbal products available and you can also buy sprays that prevent head lice, although no medical trials have proved that these head lice treatments are effective.
by: Chandresh
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