How Does Hair Lice Spread?
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Common Problem
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This is a subject that will make your head itch just thinking about it, but head lice is prevalent in a lot of the schools and day cares in our country. These tiny mite like creatures cause considerable itching of the scalp, and are very hard to get rid of once they establish themselves in your household.
Children and Schools
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Children play and bump, fall and crash into each other at school. If just one child has lice in their hair, every child that comes into contact with them runs the risk of the lice transferring onto them.
Articles of clothing are often thrown together in the schools. In smaller grades, children's coats and jackets may hang on pegs, side by side. This is a good place for the lice to run back and forth. You never know what your child's coat or jacket will be contaminated with.
Children are not very careful about using each others combs and brushes. Nor do they think anything about trying on a friends "cool" hat. Then the unsuspecting child that has become infected with the hair lice brings them home.
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Bringing Them Home
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Once at home, anything the child is near can become a target for the hair lice to attach to. Many parents have gotten the bugs from sharing brushes, laying beside the child or sitting in the same comfy chair together. Stuffed animals, pillows and bedding and blankets become a breeding ground for these tiny hair lice.
Often times, parents will simply treat their child's hair with the recommended shampoo and send them back to school. Treating with a medicated lice shampoo is only half the battle. The child's hair needs to be inspected closely. The parent needs to comb the hair with the nit comb that's provided, and make sure that no nits remain. The nits are tiny eggs that will hatch into lice if they are not removed.
If they have neglected to wash the child's coat, hat, bedding or anything else the child has come into contact with, the child will be re-infested. Thus the child will carry the lice back to school, re-infesting other children.
The cycle will continue until the parent diligently gives their home and every family member a thorough cleaning and shampooing. This must be done all at the same time to break the cycle. Stuffed animals and any cloth items that are not washable should be sealed in a large plastic bag for 7 to 10 days. This will smother the lice and avoid the child spreading the lice again.
Avoiding Re-Infestation
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It is important to stress to children not to use any one else's comb or brush. Also the child should not try on a friends hat or coat. Many schools now have the children put their coats and jackets in plastic bags upon arrival. Teachers stand watch to avoid the age old pile off coats tossed off on the playground.
Hair lice do not discriminate. It used to be said that only people with dirty hair will get lice. Hair lice will live and survive in clean hair as well. Regular shampoo will not kill the lice. Medicated lice shampoo, or certain essential oils is the only treatment. A thorough cleaning and vacuuming of the entire home must be done too, or you'll only keep the cycle going.
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