One of the most common, yet dreaded, infections among school-aged children is lice. The dread many parents of schoolchildren feel about lice is not due to their danger, but their contagiousness and the sheer annoyance they cause.
Signs of Lice Infection
They are tiny insects that are extremely easily spread between kids, generally through close body contact and sharing clothing, brushes, and hats.
Signs of a lice infection include itching of the head, though this doesn’t always happen. Some children might not complain if they don’t have a serious infestation. Your child might also complain of a scratching, tickling, or “moving” sensation. You can sometimes see the adult lice, small brown specks behind the ears and along the back of the neck. Another sign is a lot of white specks attached to the hairs, as these are lice eggs, or nits. They can look a lot like dandruff, except that when you brush or shake the hair, the nits will not fall off like dandruff does.
You can check for lice by parting your child’s hair behind the ears or nape of the neck and checking the hairs and scalp for lice and nits. Be aware that lice move really fast, so you might not be able to catch sight of adult lice.
Treatment of Lice
You can treat lice with a special anti-lice shampoo, like Nix, Ovide, or Lindane. Follow the directions that are printed on the package to the letter, as this is one of the biggest reasons many parents have difficulty eliminating a lice infection. You may wish to repeat the anti-lice treatment after about a week so newly-hatched lice will be killed.
Some shampoos are available only with a prescription from your doctor, so if the problem persists, go to see him.
Bear in mind that this is not the only step in the treatment process — these shampoos will only kill active lice, but nits will not be killed, and will hatch into more active lice unless caught. Untangle your child’s hair and work through, one section at a time, checking again after you’re done, with a fine-toothed comb to remove the little white and brown dots. Repeat this process every night until all the lice and nits have been gone for a few days. Lice are rare in eyelashes, but if they are there, applying Vaseline twice a day for about five to seven days will kill them.
You also have to take care of the places lice might be hiding out, as they can survive for two to three days away from the human body. Make sure you wash all your child’s bedding and recently-worn clothing in hot water, vacuum the house, wash stuffed animals and place things that cannot be either washed or vacuumed into sealed plastic bags for three weeks. Also, change your child’s bedding frequently and soak combs and brushes in hot water after use.
Lice are an annoying infestation, but once you detect them, they are not impossible to treat. With some patience and carefully following your doctor’s instructions, you can eliminate the lice infection as quickly as possible.
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Tags: Children's Lice