Preventing Head Lice

August 15, 2016

It’s not something that anyone wants to think of having or having to dealing with, but head lice is a real issue. Seeing as how head lice usually affects more children than anyone else (and back to school is just around the corner) it seemed like the perfect time to have a conversation about it and what can be done to safeguard yourself and family.

Here are some important tips for lice prevention:

“Get checked. Lice can commonly occur in schools or summer camps. If your school or camp doesn’t give out regular checks, ask the nurse for one every once in a while. If the nurse is unavailable, schedule an appointment with your child’s general practitioner to check for lice.

Know the symptoms. As you might know, lice are little and can be white, brown, or dark gray. They’re most common around the ears and the back of the neck, and feed off of human blood. They are much more noticeable on darker-coloured hair.
The most common symptom of head lice is itchiness in and around the back of the neck. In many children, lice don’t produce any symptoms until weeks or months after they’ve moved in. For this reason, it’s important to do regular visual check-ups with a fine-toothed comb in order to spot an infestation as early as possible. Doctors recommend combing for lice after the child has taken a bath/shower, while their hair is still wet.

Be aware of lice carriers. Obviously, although lice are irksome, they’re not to be avoided like an infectious disease. Instead, be aware of anyone who may have had lice or is being treated. Knowledge is power.”

Prevention is better than a cure, so use this information to keep your scalp and hair and the scalps and hairs of your family as safe and healthy as possible.