Oh the shame! You’ve got a call from your child’s school saying that your little darling has head lice. Calm down. It’s not a big deal. Lice are just a bunch of bugs that live on the scalp and lay eggs there. They don’t spread disease and they don’t mean that your kid is dirty or that you are a negligent parent. Lice are equal opportunity pests that cut across social and economic barriers.
Still, you’d rather be spared the call from the school in future. Here's how you can handle lice inspections yourself.
Signs of infestation
One of the major signs of a lice infestation is an itchy scalp. We are allergic to the small amounts of saliva that the insects inject in the scalp to retrieve blood. Sores on the head from scratching, as well as red bumps from bites, which may ooze or become crusty, are other telltale signs.
What your foe looks like
The wingless insect has three stages: egg (nit), nymph and adult.
- Nits are whitish-grey, tan or yellow ovals, approximately the size of a grain of sand. They look a lot like dandruff
- Adult lice are about the size of a sesame seed and are very difficult to see
- Nymphs are baby lice. They look like the adults, only smaller
Your inspection weapons
You should have an ordinary hairbrush, a fine-tooth comb and a magnifying glass. You can check your child’s hair dry or wet after washing. If the hair is thick and hard to pull the comb through, then washing it first and using conditioner will make the job easier.
Your search technique
With your kid seated in a chair, detangle their hair with the brush. Then use the fine-tooth comb to start your hunt, working from the front middle of the scalp back. Comb the hair from root to tip, examining it for lice after each stroke.
Inspect the whole scalp this way and use the magnifying glass to ensure that specks are in fact lice or nits, and not just dirt or dandruff. If the specks move, that’s also a pretty good sign you’ve got a lice problem.
Lice don’t like light, so they’ll skitter away from inspection. Patience and thoroughness are a must. Nits, however, stay in place, making them easier to spot.
Destroying after the search
If you find lice, you have a choice of prescription and non-prescription shampoos that will help you get rid of the infestation. Ask your pharmacist if you want a recommendation.
Make sure to wash all possibly infested clothing and bedding in hot water. (Also beware of sharing hats and scarves with others.)
While lice can live up to 30 days on a person’s scalp, they will die within three days off it. They don’t fly and can’t live on pets. So controlling a lice infestation isn’t too difficult, and it’s worth the effort.
