Treatments for Head Lice
Treatments for Head Lice
Once you have determined that your child has head lice, it is time to start treatments for head lice right away. There are several things to take care of in addition to treating the child’s hair itself. You will also need to treat what your child may have come into contact with while they had lice. But the first step is treating their hair.
There are several over the counter shampoos that will kill lice in addition to prescription shampoos, cream rinses or lotions. It is important to follow the directions on the bottle exactly to ensure that the treatment will work properly. With most lice shampoos you apply the shampoo to dry hair, wait ten minutes then lather in the shower and rinse. You will also have to comb out the dead insects and the nits from the hair after that with a fine-toothed lice comb. This is easier to do if the child’s hair is wet. The shampooing process should be repeated in seven to ten days to kill any newly hatched nymphs that hatch from undetected eggs.
Although lice do not survive long if they fall of their host, you will still need to treat some parts of your home as well as determine what things in your home your child has come into contact with since they had head lice. Start by stripping their beds and washing them in hot water. Placing them in the dryer for at least 20 minutes on the hot cycle with also kill loose lice. You can place things like pillows in the dryer if you do not want to run them through the washer machine. You can also dry clean anything that is not machine washable.
Treatments for head lice also includes such things as your children’s plush toys that cannot be washed. With these objects simply place them into an airtight bag for two weeks. If you are lucky and it is cold outside, you can store them in a cold place like a garage for two weeks in order to kill lice. You need to then vacuum carpets and upholstered furniture thoroughly. You should also vacuum your car as well. Then make sure that you soak your hair care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands,, headbands and brushes in rubbing alcohol or just throw them away.
If you have more then one child but only one has head lice, you should treat all of your children as if they have it. Lice do not have wings so they cannot fly and they cannot jump but they can crawl. They are spread form person to person through contact. Because of this it is very likely that other children in the family do have lice as well that have not been detected yet.
Lice need to be taken seriously because if you do not do the necessary treatments for head lice with your children and your home thoroughly, the lice will continue to thrive and turn into an infestation rather than a few nits on one’s hair. Be diligent when it comes to these home remedies lice treatments. Wash bedding everyday and you can throw coats that are too time consuming to wash everyday into the dryer for 20 minutes everyday instead. Do not allow your children to share thing like hats and combs that come into contact with their scalp with anyone and make sure girls wear their hair up when at school during the day.
