Head Lice - Check Yourself Daily
The head louse is a wingless insect that lives on the human scalp and feeds exclusively on human blood. It has lived with us for thousands of years as a species, and most of us have experienced the frustration of having them as parasites at some point in our lives, most often when we were children, when we were most susceptible to being infected. Every year, between six and twelve million Americans deal with having head lice or body lice.
Head lice is fairly simple to diagnosis. When examining the head you will be looking for evidence of bites or white eggs on the hair shaft. You may also come the suspected person's hair and then closely look at the comb. If the person is infected there will be lice visible on the comb.
If you are a parent, be sure to check your child for head lice regularly. Most schools in America have a no lice policy. This means that your child will be sent home if head lice are discovered. They will not be able to return until they have been treated and are lice free.
This can prevent children from passing them on, but sometimes lice are not discovered from a long time, and the child could have passed them on, so it's important to check your own child regularly, especially if they are between the ages of four and twelve.
If your child is doing a lot of head and scalp scratching, it might be a sign of head lice. If your child does have lice, you'll have to clean all bed clothes and towels frequently. Don't send your child back to school until you're sure all the nits are gone because lice are easily transferred to others. Keeping your child's hair in a shorter style makes it easier to check the scalp and may help prevent the problem.
Several options for treatment are now available for removing a lice infestation. If you or your child runs into that problem, you can choose from natural products and hot hair to silicone based lotions currently on the market. Remember though, no one treatment method is always effective to finish the job completely. Prevent a reoccurrence by keeping a close eye on the situation.
Between six and twelve million people in the U.S. alone struggle with infestations of head lice and body lice each year. Lice date back to ancient times, and they have lived as parasites on our bodies and scalps ever since. An adult louse has no wings, so when he finds a head to live on, he's there to stay. His only food is human blood. Most schools in the United States have a no nit policy which means that children with lice are dismissed from class until the problem is dealt with and all lice have been removed.
Published February 16th, 2008