Head Lice Control
Austin Texas
contact@headlicecontrol.com
Head Lice Control.com
For some parents, it is the most wonderful time of the year. For others,
the beginning of a new school year marks the beginning of an unexpected
but common battle against head lice.
How to Check Your Child For Head Lice
Head Lice (plural for louse) are the tiny wingless parasites that love human
heads and feed on the blood provided by the human scalp. They have been a
part of the human experience for 1000's of years and pose no threat of disease.
Statistics show that the greater percentage of children infested are girls because of
their more physical play such as "dress-up" and their frequent sharing of brushes,
iPod ear pods and affectionate physical exchanges. Boys do get lice but not as
frequently. Most are between the ages of 3 to 12.
There are a few ways a child can be suspected of having head less. One of the
most obvious indications is that your child has recently started scratching her scalp
more often then usual.
She may also complain of feelings of something making her head tingle or "it just feels funny". There also may be a small rash at the back of the neck and/or around the ears.
How to Physically Check for Head Lice
If you are uncertain about doing this yourself, check with your child's school nurse or local pharmacist for help. But if it doesn't give you the "willies" to do it yourself here are the steps.
1. Wear tight fitting rubber disposable gloves.
2. Direct sunlight is best, but if you don't have access to day light you will need to find the
most direct and the brightest light to illuminate your child's scalp.
3. Start by removing all tangles from the child's hair with a brush or workable comb.
4. Using hair clips divide the hair into small sectional clumps, similar to how you would
separate for braids. Inspect one separation at a time by carefully and slowly pull a lice
comb through the hair starting at the scalp and moving all the through to the end of the
hair shaft.
5. After each run through, dip the comb in water to check for nits and adult lice.
Continue combing through each section of hair until all sections have been thoroughly
searched.
How To Visually Check For Head Lice
1. Wear tight fitting disposable gloves and use the strong light indicated in the
physical check method.
2. Look carefully at the collar or inside neck line of the child's shirt. Lice drop tiny
black feces that can get stuck to the fabric of the shirt. What you are looking for is not
black spots but small black streak since the feces gets rubbed against the neck due to
constant movement of the head.
3. Look for nits (eggs) that appear as tiny white tubes that are attached to a strand of hair. The ones closer to the scalp are the ones that are more than likely incubating the larvae, since they use the scalps radiant heat to keep warm. The do not move up or down the hair strand so if you find nits higher up on the hair they were most likely laid approximately 2 months prior to your finding them. This could mean an infestation.
WARNING: If you discover your child's scalp has become raw with open sores, it's not from the lice but from the child's scratching. There is a risk of infection at this point; a doctor's visit needs to be scheduled as soon as possible.
