A natural prevention method for head lice

Any parent who has a child at school must have known an abrupt frustration that can come with treating and preventing head louse. If you have-not experienced these ominous critters yet, then do it quickly before it gets worst. If your child has not yet faced a case of head lice yet , you should prepare yourself for this ticking time bomb and it is really hard to escape. Many hairdressers reported seeing head lice on every other child or even adults that comes in. Head lice problems are increasing day by day, and everyone has encountered this problem in some phase of their lives most commonly during their childhood. It is always easier to prepare and to place an importance on prevention rather than need a cure. 

Here are some useful prevention tips for the head louse.

If your child has a shoulder length hair then make sure it has to be tied up every day before she leaves for school. For this reason, plaits or braids are the best option. You can also spray their hair with a hairspray which will make the hair stiff and tighten all day. It will also help in keeping the hair under control as well.

If your child has short hair then you can encourage wearing a hat to protect their hair from coming into contact with another person.

There are many head lice resister sprays in the market which can be sprayed insides the hats of the child which will definitely prevent them from getting infested by the louse.  Louse prevention sprays have essential oils in it like tea tree,lavender, eucalyptus and geranium. They all are effective repellant for louse. 

You need to be absolutely sure before you follow any treatment as per the instructions. There is no such treatment which can kill both the head lice and the nits as well in just one go. You need to repeat the treatment regularly because the eggs will hatch soon after if they are not eliminated properly. So you have to ensure that they are getting out of your head before they get old enough to reproduce. You need to repeat a treatment around 7-10 days, which is the suitable time to repeat a treatment.

You can use a tea tree shampoo or the conditioner for washing your head. There are various options available in all price ranges. There is an adequate amount of oil in each product. You will have to find a suitable range at your pharmacy or variety store. 

No child can get louse free at any point of their childhood. It's better to check their head every day. Once you are done with treatment, you have to be more particular about the pillow sheets, bed linens and covers in order to prevent them from coming back. Remember that prevention is always better than cure. So take precautionary measures always in order to prevent the louse coming back.

Few simple steps for head lice treatment

We all know that head lice are only found on human head or hair only, they do not live on furnitures or bedding anywhere else in the environment. You do not have to look for anywhere else other than human head is the only place where you can eradicate head lice.

Before choosing a head lice treatment, you need to consider the following things

• Assure that the head you are going to treat is overrun with head lice, otherwise there is no need to treat them
• Never use any lice treatment on babies or any other sculp that is irritated or inflamed
• Always protect the eyes during head lice treatment
• There is no preventative treatment for head lice.
• Go through the product labels thoroughly before applying them and always follow the instructions
• Never use natural products for head lice treatment like herbal tea etc.
• You need to apply the product thoroughly into your head and then leave it for 20 minutes. After that comb your hair with a god quality lice comb.
• If you find dead lice during combing that means the product is working. Repeat the treatment after 7 days so that nymphs that come from unhatched eggs.
• If you found live lice, it means that the treatment has not worked. May be the product is not that effective. 
•  You need to change the product or try the comb only.
• It’s a good practice to keep a good quality head lice comb in shower area, so that every family member can use the comb whilst taking a shower.
• Never use insecticides or spirits for head lice treatment

There are small opening on the abdomens of head lice where they can breath, these openings called spiracles. If you apply something greasy or slimy into your head, it will cause these openings to close so that they will be having difficulty in breathing. You can use a simple hair conditioner instead of applying any lice product.

The application of thick and slimy product into the head will not kill the lice but it can slow down their breathing process so that they can be caught easily by head lice comb.

There is another well known process for eliminating the lice is nitbusting. This process is really time consuming but its simple so well.

You need to do the following steps for nitbusting

• Always wrap a towel or kitchen paper around the child’s shoulder so that it will be easier for you to catch conditioner’s spill.
• Apply conditioner to the scalp and massage it for a few minutes. Make sure that the head and hair are fully coated with a liberal amount of conditioner.
• Lice stay closer to scalp so assure that you have put a sufficient amount of conditioner into the head. You do not have to work for the whole length of the hair just give more emphasis on the scalp. 
• Use a large comb to part the hair into smaller sections, if your hair is tangled and unmanageable, use a fine lice comb and comb it out on each section through several times.

Expert simple tips to get rid of head lice

Many experts have figured out that it takes more than using an anti-lice shampoo and combing to get rid of head lice. Lice cannot fly or jump, so they can only be spread when the kid’s head are close together. 

Anything which is in contact with the infested person’s head whether its clothes, hats, sheets, pillow covers  and blankets, must be washed in hot water. Other non washable items must be sealed and the carpets should be vacuumed several times in a week.

To get rid of the head lice, parents must check their child’s head regularly in order to recognize the problem. This task is easy but a little time consuming as well. See your child’s head under proper light, it's better to see it under the sunlight. Divide the hair into short sections so that it will be easier for you to examine the scalp properly.

Search for nits and lice in each section of hair. The nits look like tiny seeds which are attached to the hair. The nits are somehow looking like dandruff but they are hard to remove.  Live nits are more visible and they usually found close to the scalp. Nits are usually yellow, brown or tan in color. They are usually found in hair near your ear or the neck.

Parents who find their child infested with head lice, they should wash their child’s head with an anti-lice shampoo according to the condition of the lice in the head. Leave the shampoo on the head for about few minutes so that it can work better. 

The lice products vary in their severity of chemicals according to the condition of the head lice in the head. Parents have to use the directions before using the products and follow them carefully. 

Once the hair is washed, it's time to comb the hair with specially designed lice comb that is easily available in the market. The combing has to be continued for several weeks until all the lice and nits are gone.

 After the first wash the hair has to be washed again for a few days so that the medication in the shampoo will keep on working. About 10 days the process has to be repeated for any remaining nits that may have hatched afterwards.

Avoid using lice killing sprays; they enclose chemicals in it which will harmful for your child.

Every family member should avoid sharing the hats, and combs. These are the common practice which makes lice keep coming back.