How to Get Rid of Head Lice
Just reading the word might make your head crawl.
Just reading the word might make your head crawl. You can kill lice with shampoos but it helps to know why they often survive. Here are our tips.If you've ever dealt with head lice, you'll know how difficult it is to get rid of them.
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There's a range of products in pharmacies — from special combs to shampoos — but sometimes it's not enough.
You need to understand how they live, spread and survive to beat them to get rid of them once and for all.
What are head lice?
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes head lice as insects the size of a sesame seed.
Lice feed on human scalp blood. When they suck blood, they release a spit that can cause an allergic reaction and an itchy sensation. They live for about 30 days.
Female lice can lay up to eight eggs per day. They crawl — they cannot jump and do not fly.
Unlike body lice, head lice are not dangerous and do not carry diseases.
How do lice spread?
Lice spread through direct contact — they crawl from one head to another.
They can also spread via scarves, combs, towels, hair ties, pillows, sheets, and coats — almost anything that's had contact with an infested person's hair.
"If they fall off a head, they can survive for 48 hours on a surface without feeding. As soon as someone enters the room, they will move toward him or her to feed," said Rosario Melero, an expert in medical parasitology at the Fundación iO in Madrid, Spain.
Can lice survive in water?
Yes, lice can survive for several hours in water. In fact, you can even get them at swimming pools.
"Their body allows them to float," Melero said, adding that they "find it much easier to cling to a head" when hair is wet.
Who is most at risk of getting lice?
Children are most at risk of getting lice.
"[Kids] don't have hormonal changes," said Melero. And lice like that.
They also have much thinner skin than adults, which makes it easier for a louse to bite.
"Maximum efficiency, minimum effort," said Melero. "But it also helps that [kids] have much closer contact with each other [than adults], putting their heads together at school or while playing."
Yael Adler, a dermatologist in Berlin, said that girls, who often have longer hair than boys, are more likely to get them. "Lice have it easier, moving from one strand to the other [when hair] is long," said Adler.
Similarly, in families it is often the mothers who get lice from their kids, not the fathers.
"[Mothers] are usually the ones who delouse their children and often have long hair," said Melero.
But that can be true for anyone — of any gender — with long hair, who helps children with lice.
Does it help to wash your hair more regularly?
No. Melero said clean hair makes it easier for lice to reach the scalp.
Why are lice so hard to get rid of?
One of the main problems is identifying lice and their eggs in the first place — if you can't find any, you might think you're okay.
"There may be only one louse on the scalp that you can't detect. Especially on dark hair. If it lays eggs, it will lay them behind the ears and they are so small that they can be mistaken for dandruff," said Adler.
Melero, meanwhile, said it would help if there was more of a culture of prevention with lice, just as there is with mosquitoes and malaria.
"There are repellents that you can apply to the head to prevent lice from biting or laying eggs. It is also important to use a fine-toothed comb several days after the last time lice were seen on the head to eliminate any hidden eggs," Melero said.
What can you do if you have lice?
The most common treatment is insecticidal shampoos. They need to be applied several times to kill all the living lice. But they are less effective against lice eggs, which are called nits. You can apply a silicone oil, soaking the hair and scalp.
"After ten minutes, all the lice will be dead and you can remove them with a nit comb. The whole process should be repeated after eight days in case there are any nits left. It is also recommended that the rest of the family receive the same treatment to avoid any transmission," Adler said.
Wash clothes that have been in contact with lice at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit).
Put any items that can't be washed at high temperatures in a freezer for several hours, or seal them in a bag for a couple of days.
And always consult your family doctor or general practitioner.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
Sources:
Parasites A-Z Index, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/az.html
Veterinary Parasitology, North Carolina State University https://parasitology.cvm.ncsu.edu/
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2024 08:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).