Head lice advice for parents

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Head lice advice for parents
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Head lice basics

• Head lice are small, wingless parasites that live
  on the human head, especially near the ears and
  neck
• They are about the size of a sesame seed when
  fully grown
• They have 6 legs ending in hooked claws
• Head lice cant fly, jump or swim, but can crawl
  very fast

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Head lice basics

• Head lice are normally transparent, but turn
  brown/red when they have taken a blood meal
• Head lice can live in short or long, or clean or
  dirty hair
• Although they arent pleasant, they dont carry
  disease
• Head lice are a common infestation, and can be
  successfully treated

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What are nits?

• Nits are not live head lice
• They are empty or dead head lice eggs
• They remain attached to the hair with a kind of
  strong glue deposited by the louse when laying
• Nits can remain for weeks or even months after
  infection

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Is your family at risk?

• Head lice can infect anyone, but they are most
  common in children
• Head lice are spread through head-to-head contact
  during
• playtime
• sport
• working together in the classroom
• cuddles at home

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How can you tell if you have head lice?

• A few people will get an itchy scalp
• You might find black specks on the pillowcase
  (this is the waste product)
• Some people have no symptoms at all
• You should perform detection combing in your
  family if you suspect head lice or know someone
  who has them

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Detection combing

• Prepare by buying a good quality plastic
  detection comb at your local pharmacy
• Remove tangles with an ordinary wide-toothed
  comb
• Wet the hair and towel dry
• You can use Lyclear CombAway (wet combing kit)
  to make combing easier
• Divide the hair into 4 sections

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Easy steps to detect head lice

• Step 1

Work on one section at a time

• With the teeth of the plastic detection comb
  touching the scalp at the top of the section,
  pass the comb through to the ends, keeping it in
  contact with the scalp for as long as possible

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Easy steps to detect head lice

• Step 2
• After each pass of the comb, wipe it on a tissue
  and inspect for lice

• Step 3
• Repeat the process until all sections are
  completed - it will take 1520 minutes to do it
  properly

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Detection combing
Conclusion

• If you find a live moving head louse, you have an
  active infestation
• You must only use a treatment if you find a live,
  moving head louse
• Nits (empty or dead eggs) may have been left by a
  previous infestation, but does not necessarily
  mean there is an active infection

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Detection combing
Tips

• Make sure you have plenty of light, ideally
  natural daylight
• Dont use lots of conditioner as it will make the
  head lice difficult to detect
• Perform detection combing and treatment, where
  necessary, on all family members on the same day,
  in order to greatly reduce the risk of
  re-infection
• Make detection combing part of a weekly routine,
  such as preparation for the school week on Sunday
  evening

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What should you do next?

• Step 1If you find live head lice, ask the school
  nurse or your pharmacist for advice and treatment
  options, or visit www.headliceadvice.net There
  are two types of treatments insecticides and
  non-insecticides
• Step 2Always read the leaflet before applying a
  treatment
• Step 3Treat all infected persons of the family
  on the same day
• Step 4The NHS advises that all treatments should
  be applied twice, seven days apart - many
  people forget the second application

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Head lice a summary

• Head lice arent pleasant, but they are harmless
• You can only catch them through head-to-head
  contact with an infested person
• Detection combing should be carried out every
  week
• If live head lice are found, buy an effective
  treatment and treat all infected family members
  at the same time
• If no head lice are found, make sure you prevent
  head lice by avoiding head-to-head contact, and
  use Lyclear Repellent when there is a reported
  outbreak

• For more expert advice, visit