YIKES! LICE!
YIKES!! LICE!!
Unfortunately, I've had to learn A LOT about lice during the last 24 hours since discovering one in my daughter's hair. I've never had lice nor have I known anyone that has had lice... so although the possibility of my daughter having lice crossed my mind when I would see her scratching her head... but I was ruling out other possibilities first... sunburn? shampoo? dry scalp? etc.. Well, now that I have plenty of knowledge (again, unfortunately) I would like to inform you as to what you should look out for, and how best to treat it.
Lice eggs look very similar to dandruff... so when we saw these tiny white things in her hair, we (my husband and I) figured they were dandruff from her scratching her scalp so much...
"Nits are often difficult to distinguish from normal dandruff in the hair shaft. One way to tell is that dandruff will easily slide off the hair with your fingers, whereas nits are glued to the hair shaft and are not easily moved." -Dr Sears
So... if you see these stinkers.. you know that the lice has laid eggs and you need to get moving!
Another thing to look for (other than, ITCHY and NITS) are the actual LIVE LYMPHS or ADULT LICE. For some reason, I thought lice were almost microscopic, but they can be easily seen with the naked eye (we found an adult lice and compared it with the photo above).
"Although they may sound gross, lice (the plural of louse) are a very common problem, especially for kids ages 3 years to 12 years (girls more often than boys). Lice aren't dangerous and they don't spread disease, but they are contagious and can just be downright annoying"- Kids Health from Nemours.
Thankfully, lice doesn't survive long once it falls off a person. "Adult lice can only live 1 or 2 days away from a warm body, and the eggs must be close to the warm scalp in order to hatch. They feed on human blood through tiny bites in the skin"-Dr Sears. It's not necessary to spend a great deal of time and money trying to rid the HOUSE of lice, but you still need to wash/clean all clothing, stuffed animals, upholstered
TREATMENT:
-Over the counter medicated shampoos that are safe to use on children....see site.
-Homeopathic/non-medicated treatments (olive oil, mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, vinegar) that are messy so may not be suitable for young children.
-Nit removal combs. These are the BEST and NECESSARY to remove all lice and lice eggs from hair.
TRUTH ABOUT LICE & PREVENTION:
- Lice are not a sign of uncleanliness – it does not matter how often you wash or brush your hair because normal shampoo does not kill or prevent lice.
- Lice does not only occur in lower socioeconomic classes or in certain minority races. If fact, some minorities are much less likely to get lice than Caucasians.
- Long hair does not increase your chance of catching lice – the only difficulty that long hair poses is that it is harder to find lice and nits in long hair.
There is no real way to prevent your kids from getting lice.. they can easily get it from hanging around other kids at the park, church, etc (it's like catching a cold). This is why it is BEST if you know WHAT to look for, when your child is scratching his/her head (we learned our lesson).
Dr. Sears-Head Lice
Kids Health- Head Lice