There are many ways through which a child comes home with an infestation of lice. It might be school, a field trip with a hockey team, or a sleep over. However the children get a lice infestation, the bugs must be dealt with thoroughly and with a lice shampoo.
Head lice are a parasitic bug that infests the body, particularly parts of the body that have hair like the head. Hiding among hair follicles and clinging to them, they are not easy to shake off. They can be as small as a pinhead and hard to find, even if they are known to jump like the types of fleas that afflict dogs and cats.
A lice infestation can come from contact with another person who happens to be infested. A notorious way that lice spreads at schools and among children is by the sharing of head wear such as hats, or of combs and brushes. Many children who go to school share their personal things when adults aren’t looking, bringing home an unexpected case of head lice.
Common places that children pick up head lice are schools, day cares and nurseries. Though each of these places has supervising staff or adults around, it doesn’t take much and it doesn’t take long for lice to spread from one child to another. Simply putting infested hats together will cause lice to jump or for their nits to fall from one piece of clothing to the other.
The only way to truly get rid of a lice infestation is to take care of all of an infected child’s belongings. This will include the child’s clothing that’s been worn around the time of infestation, as well as the bedding, mattresses and outer wear. Sometimes a mattress can be treated with a proper lice killing pesticide, and other times it has to be thrown out. Hot water will help to get rid of any lice in clothing and blankets.
Lice shampoo can do a very effective job of destroying a lice infestation. However, shampoos do not destroy nits. Nits are the youngest or larval stage that lice have, and are attached by parents to hair follicles directly. The nits will not come off with washing. Someone will have to go through the child’s hair to remove them.
Unfortunately, nits can’t be removed simply by washing a child’s hair. They must be pulled off each hair follicle after being seen. That is why many shampoo kits come with a plastic magnifying glass and a pair of special tweezers. These are used by parents to pick through the child’s hair and pull out the nits. Only then will a shampoo be effective.
From the time when humans wore furs and animal skins and huddled together for warmth, to when they moved into tightly packed cities and began to take public transportation, lice have been a part of our lives. It’s important to treat a lice infestation thoroughly, but also to explain to children how necessary it is to not share personal items. A lice shampoo will help but other measures need to be taken, as well.
Find out more about non-toxic lice shampoo choices you have. There are many lice shampoo companies who produce the non-toxic choices. Go online and shop today.
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