How to check and get rid of head lice
Head Lice can drive parents to distraction, with some fighting a new infestation every 48 hours.
Nurse Consultant Christine Brown, has wise words for parents to aid them in their battle to keep children nit free.
Christine’s Golden Rules of Head Lice Management
CHECK
Essentially, parents and carers need to regularly check their children’s hair, looking for small insects which can be of any size from that of a full-stop on a printed page to the size of a sesame seed.
• Hair should be checked regularly, ideally once a week – a good way to remember this is ONCE
A WEEK, TAKE A PEEK
• The best way is to use a head lice detection comb every week rather than just looking through the hair. Choose a good quality plastic comb with rigid teeth no more than 0.3mm apart.
• Once the lice have hatched, the empty egg shells remain glued to the hair – they reflect light and stand out as white oval specks which can be felt when two fingers are run down the hair shaft. Finding nits in a child’s hair doesn’t mean they have an active infestation, only if you find actual lice do you need to think about treatment.
• A good time to check hair is after it has been washed, as lice tend to become inactive in water. Using conditioner can ease the combing process.
• Sit comfortably and make it fun, perhaps in front of a favourite TV programme or book. Special attention whilst combing should be given to the back of the neck, top of the head, under the fringe, behind the ears and close to the scalp.
TREAT
Parents should take primary responsibility for dealing with head lice, but pre-schools can support by quickly alerting other parents if there is an outbreak of lice, so they can be extra vigilant and prepared. They can also help by involving health visitors and school nurses in educating parents on how to find and treat head lice. Free educational resources are available from onceaweektakeapeek.com.
There are FOUR types of head lice treatment:
Non-pesticide treatments
These treatments kill the lice by coating and either stripping away their waxy coating, causing them to dehydrate or blocking the opening to their air tubes, disrupting their ability to manage water. These physical modes of action mean there is theoretically no chance for the lice to build up a resistance. There are three main active ingredients currently in use, dimeticone, isopropyl alcohol and octanediol.
Pesticide treatments
Pesticides have been around for many years but there is now strong evidence that head lice already have, and continue to, develop resistance to them. There are two main pesticide treatments available, malathion and permethrin, which both work by poisoning the lice.
Wet combing with conditioner
Some people may wish to use a non-chemical approach, the most established of which is wet combing with conditioner. A number of devices are also available for use on dry hair only, which claim to electronically aid the removal of lice.
Alternative Remedies
Concerns over the use of chemical preparations to treat head lice are common and a number of products based on alternative approaches are currently on the market. Unfortunately many of the alternative products available lack an evidence base or product license on which to assess effectiveness.
COMPLETE
Head lice have been identified, treatment has been applied but there is one final step. It is time to repeat the checking process.
• Check that all head lice have gone within 2-3 days of the final application to complete the treatment
• If the pack instructions specify that a second application is required, repeat the treatment for a second time, seven days after the first, to kill any lice that may hatch from eggs during that time
• Continue to check for head lice on a regular, weekly basis
What if they are still there?
If you still find live lice after you finish the treatment either it has failed or there has been a re-infestation. If the treatment failed you will usually find lice of all life stages but a re-infestation will usually consist of a few adult lice.
You’ll need to treat again so make sure:
• If you’re using a pesticide change to a different type of treatment
• You read the instructions carefully and follow them exactly
• You use enough treatment to cover the whole head and full length of hair
• You leave the treatment on for long enough
• You complete the treatment course
More information can be found online at: www.onceaweektakeapeek.com