Archive for February, 2007

Hair Lice Symptoms - Are You Infested? | Conclusion

headlice February 27th, 2007

Another symptom of hair lice is if your head becomes sore from scratching.  This becomes the case when you are constantly scratching the bites, and possibly opening the bites up.  You have to be careful about this and begin treating it quickly, because the bites can become infected.

If you find any louse droppings in the hair, you need to look closely for lice and nits.  Louse droppings look like little black powder that is easy to see on pillow cases or in bed sheets.  You can sometimes find louse droppings on the person's clothes on their shoulders as well.

What is troubling with hair lice is that there are not always relevant symptoms for awhile, if at all.  It is possible to not notice any itching or scratching, or see any louse droppings for months after being infested.  This obviously can make it extremely difficult to treat.  The important thing is that you are aware of your hairs health and take good care of it.  Also, try to be familiar with whether your kids' friends have been infested or not, because hair lice is highly contagious.

While there are a number of symptoms to help detect hair lice, these are some of the more common symptoms found.  There are instances where no symptoms of head lice are found, but more times than not you will notice at least one symptom.  As soon as you find a symptom, it is vital that you begin investigating into further detail.  The quicker you find out whether you or your children are infested, the quicker you can begin treatment.

Hair Lice Symptoms - Are You Infested? | Part 1

headlice February 23rd, 2007

Because of how small hair lice are and how few of them there are to start, it can be difficult to determine whether you or your children have hair lice.  There are a number of symptoms that can help you decipher whether or not you have head lice.  The more you are aware of the symptoms, the quicker you can get to treating the lice if you do in fact have lice.

One of the first symptoms that are apparent with hair lice is constant itching and scratching of the head.  The itching is due to an allergic reaction to the bites from the nits and lice.  If you notice that you or your children are scratching their head more often than usual, you want to look closely for lice.

You can diagnose hair lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for lice, nymphs or nits.  It is difficult to find nits because there are so few of them and they move quickly through the hair.  However, if you find any nits or lice ¼ inches away from the scalp, then it is a confirmation that the person has head lice.  If you have difficulty coming to a conclusion, make sure you see a health care provider to be exact.

The Three Groups Of Head Lice Treatment

headlice February 20th, 2007

Treating head lice as soon as it has been diagnosed is essential because of the rapid rate that lice grow over a short period of time.  There are a number of treatments for head lice, none necessarily being better than another.  However, there are three different groups of treatment that can be used to treat head lice.

Insecticides
Insecticides are available, for people who don't care that they are placing chemicals in the hair to solve the problem.  Insecticides are sometimes effective and can quickly kill lice and nymphs.

There are a number of insecticides that can be purchased over the counter such as malathion, permethrin, and phenothrin.  Other types of insecticides, such as carbaryl, are only available through prescription because of their intensity.  It is important to note that insecticides can have strong chemicals that potentially lead to side-effects such as rashes and scalp irritation.

Insecticides for treating head lice and nits can be purchased in the form of lotions, liquids or cream rinses.  You can also find shampoos, but these are not nearly as effective as the lotions and creams.  However, alcohol-based lotions are by far the most effective form of insecticide out there.  If you are treating a young child, professionals recommend that you stay away from alcohol-based lotions and stick with liquids and cream rinses.

It is important to follow the directions carefully when applying the insecticide into the hair.  Usually they tell you to leave the insecticide in the hair for a certain length of time.  This should kill the living lice. The bottle may also claim to kill the nits, but not all of them. Therefore, it is vital that you do a follow-up treatment a week later to ensure that you get rid of all lice and nymphs that may have hatched in the interim.

For the record, our experience has shown that no product ever "kills" nits, despite the claims of insecticides.

Combing
Combing is by far the most popular and effective home cure of head lice and nits.  This method involves using a fine-toothed comb to remove the lice from the scalp.  This treatment is time consuming and vigorous, but will allow you to avoid placing chemicals on your child's head.  The treatment requires that you comb at least every four days for a two-week span. 

Herbal Treatment
Using herbs to treat head lice and nits is another method that can be used to avoid placing chemicals on your child's head.  The most effective herbs include placing essential oils, herbal extracts, or homeopathic tinctures.  There is no concrete evidence that using herbs will effectively rid your child's scalp from lice, but many people do find it to work just fine.

If you are looking to avoid placing chemicals in your child's head, try combing or using herbs to treat the problem.  Otherwise, there are a number of insecticides that can be taken into consideration. Whatever treatment you choose to use, it is vital that you begin treating the problem as soon as you have accurately diagnosed it.

Head Lice And Nits A Problem Across The World | Part 2

headlice February 19th, 2007

Lice Nits are the eggs that are laid by female lice.  As soon as the nits hatch, they turn into nymphs.  Nymphs are immature adult head lice that do move, just not near as rapidly as adult lice.  In order to live, nymphs feed on the blood from humans.  This is when you may begin to notice symptoms of itching and rashes.  Just like it takes nits a week to hatch into nymphs, it takes nymphs a week to develop into full adult lice.

The most important thing that should be reiterated over and over is treating head lice immediately.  The reason is that female head lice produce about three to five nits in a 24-hour period.  As more nits are born, within a week the female nymphs will begin hatching nits of their own.  As you can see, this is an ongoing process that can quickly take over your head.

It is vital that you stick with it and don't become discouraged when removing nits.  It can become stressful when removing them because of how strongly they attach to the hair shafts.  However, the quicker you get rid of them and the more on top of removing them you are, the quicker you can get rid of the problem.

Head Lice And Nits A Problem Across The World | Part 1

headlice February 15th, 2007

While head lice continue to be an ongoing problem across the world, it is vital that people are aware of how quickly the problem can spread.  Lice are a problem that can be solved by treating them immediately, but the longer you allow them to set in the hair, the more the lice will increase.  What many people don't realize is that it is nits that can cause the most problems.

Nits are the first sign that the problem is worsening.  Nits are shiny white empty eggshells that are made by adult lice mating.  The eggs laid by the female louse are firmly attached individual hairs, making it extremely difficult to remove.  After seven or eight days, the eggs hatch and out come the growing problem of baby louse.

The one advantage to nits that you have over adult lice is that they do not move.  Head lice move rapidly across the scalp making it difficult to catch and remove.  Nits on the other hand are laid and then set on the scalp without moving.

While it seems as if it would be simple to remove nits since they remain still, they are actually much more difficult to remove than lice.  Nits are extremely small and can often be mistaken for dandruff or droplets of hairspray.  Then, when you do spot nits they are firmly attached to the hair shaft.  It can be painful on your child when removing the nits because pulling may be required to get them to release from the hair shaft.

Remove Lice Nits For Good | Part 2

headlice February 12th, 2007

Once the hair comb step is complete you will apply a small amount of olive oil or hair conditioner prior to beginning.  This will make it much easier for the comb to slide through the hair without pulling the hair or breaking the comb.  Most combs that come in lice killing treatment kits are made of plastic and are much more sensitive than normal combs.

After preparing the hair, you will want to divide the hair into sections.  This will make it much easier to keep track of which areas have been combed and which areas have not.  You will want to comb from the scalp to the very tip of each hair to make sure that you remove every little bit of debris or nits.  This can be done easier by rinsing the comb in a cup of water and wiping it off with a paper towel.

The entire process is discouraging because it takes quite a while to go through the entire head while effectively removing the lice nits.  What makes matters worse is that you will almost never effectively remove all nits in one sitting.  In order to completely rid the effected person of nits, it will take a daily procedure of 10 days.  It is important that you thoroughly wash or boil the comb between uses to kill the nits.  This will eliminate the chance of nits remaining in the comb itself.

Remove Lice Nits For Good | Part 1

headlice February 8th, 2007

Although frustrating and difficult to do, the removal of lice nits is a major step in getting rid of head lice infestation. Nits, which are the yellowish white eggs of lice, attach themselves to hair strands close to the scalp.  Even if you use a lice shampoo and lice comb you must remove every nit. If you leave one nit behind it will mature and lay new lice eggs.

So how do you go about removing all lice nits?

Removing nits is difficult, but not impossible. First off, they’ve evolved and are resistant to most head lice shampoos and treatments. Their small size just adds to the difficulty in removing them. The first part to removing nits is to brush or comb the hair to remove all tangles.  Once the hair is tangle free you can massage in thoroughly a good preferably all natural head lice shampoo. The LICENDERS Professional head lice shampoo works well. After following the directions carefully on the shampoo use a fine toothed lice comb to comb out remaining nits.

In the next post I will continue to discuss the topic of removing lice nits.

How Your Child Can Avoid The Second Round Of Head Lice In Schools

headlice February 6th, 2007

If you have children around the ages of 4-13 there is a good chance they have been exposed to head lice. Although society tends to stigmatize those who catch head lice, it is extremely common and spreads fairly easily.  Lice prefer clean hair. It is easier for the bug to feed when the hair is clean. Generally the start of every school year coincides with a head lice outbreak. This is due to children returning from summer vacations in which close play is the norm.  What many parents don’t realize is that even after their child is cleaned out they can catch lice again!

While it is troubling to think about, it is possible to be victim of the head lice epidemic more than once.  Head louse are the most common louse problem in the United States and can easily affect a crowd several times.  They are spread by physical contact, which is what makes younger children in school so susceptible.

If it weren’t enough that you can be affected more than once, it is even more troubling that it is difficult to prevent.  The head lice epidemic can hit even the cleanest children in the classroom simply by interaction with other kids.  In fact, in some of the most sanitary conditions you will find head lice.

Although girls do have more cases of head lice than boys, it has not been proven that it is because of the longer hair. It is more likely due to their play habits and social behavior. Boys are just as susceptible to getting head lice as girls, and are equally capable of spreading them as well.  Because of this, it is important that family members and school teachers pay equal attention to boys as girls when checking for head lice.

Having head lice is not a problem if dealt with properly and shortly after diagnosed.  There are a number of symptoms to look for. Head lice will cause more irritation than anything, but they can cause rashes if the child continuously scratch their heads.  This is especially relevant with kids who get head lice more than once.

Since certain strains of head lice are difficult to prevent and sometimes hard to detect. What exactly can you do to prevent getting head lice more than once?  The best thing you can do is contact the school as well as the parents of your child’s friends to notify them in the vent of an outbreak.  By pulling your child out of school until they are treated fully, you will prevent others in the class from getting head lice. In turn, this will eliminate the chance of your child catching it again when they return to school all cleaned out.

It is difficult to deal with the head lice epidemic since it spreads so quickly and easily.  By taking the proper precautions and treating head lice immediately, you can have a better chance at dodging the second round of head lice in school.

Head Lice Products : What To Avoid | Part 2

headlice February 5th, 2007

Continued from previous post

It’s discouraging when you realize lice have become immune to most head lice products, even NIX and RID which contain insecticide. You can tell if your strain of lice are resistant if live lice are found in the combings after the treatment has been correctly applied.  What you want to do, as soon as possible, is wash out the first product you used and begin treatment again with a lice shampoo containing a different active ingredient.

There are hundreds of lice products on the market. A quick scan in a search engine brings up dozens of “Quick fixes”. They all fall within four groups; pyrethins, synthetic pyrethroids, organophosphates and herbal and essential oils.  If you notice that the first product you used does not effectively kill off the lice, you need to look at what the active compound is.  Then choose a product from a different group.

If you have attempted to try several different products from a few different groups, there are a several things that you should consider.  The first thing you want to look at is if you have been using an inadequate application of the product.  Failure to kill the nymphs and lice eggs after the second treatment is one of the most common reasons for failure.  Lastly, re-infection is a possibility.

Regardless of the reasoning for your failed attempts, it is important that you stick with the hair lice products and do not become discouraged.

Head Lice Products : What To Avoid | Part 1

headlice February 2nd, 2007

Although there are several different kinds of head lice products to help treat the head lice problem, completely removing all lice, nymphs and nits is a time consuming process.  The important thing to remember is to be patient with the lice removal process. Sometimes you will have to try out a few different head lice products before finding what works best for you. However, it is recommended that you talk to a physician before experimenting by yourself.

Many people become discouraged when attempting to get rid of head lice. There are several problems with the over the counter lice treatments. Today’s head lice have become immune to most lice shampoos.

The most common problem is that people do not follow the directions correctly with head lice products.  Skipping even the smallest step can cause the entire lice removal process to fail. Most head lice products are laid out with clear directions, along with what tools are required.

Another problem that goes along with following the directions is follow-up treatment.  In almost all cases it will take at least two or three treatments to get rid of all lice.  Generally, the first treatment will kill all of the climbers and the second treatment will kill the remainder. It depends on the head lice product you are using, but typically you should wait a number of days before applying the second treatment.