Head lice: get rid of them now
By Claire Laurent
Think of creepy crawlies lurking about your kids. Not a pleasant thought, but a fact of school life nowadays. From head lice to nits, bugs of some kind will probably infest your child at some stage, so be prepared and brush up on some bug-busting tactics now.
What are they?
Head lice are wingless insects with six legs which live on the human scalp, where they feed on blood and lay their eggs. Full grown they are about 3mm long - the size of a match head. They're infectious and are caught by close head to head contact. They can't jump, fly or swim but spread by climbing rapidly from head to head.
Nits are egg cases laid by the lice. They're smaller than a pinhead and pearly white. When you have got rid of the lice, the nits may stick to the hair until it grows out.
There's no need to wash or fumigate clothing or bedding that comes in to contact with head lice because they only live on the scalp.
Symptoms and detection
Lice aren't fussy if hair is clean or dirty, long or short. It takes about two months of infestation before your child starts to itch - the only symptom.
To determine, for sure, if your child has head lice you should:
- Wash your child's hair in the usual way with an ordinary shampoo
- Use lots of hair conditioner and while the hair is very wet, comb through it with a fine toothed plastic nit comb (available from pharmacies as well as some schools)
- Check the comb for lice after each stroke. Wipe the comb clean on a piece of kitchen paper
Treatments
You should only treat your child if you find live, moving lice in the hair.
The conventional insecticide lotions have been around for a long time and there is concern that head lice may be resistant to them.
Most health authorities recommend a combination of chemical (pesticide medication) and physical (combing) methods for effective treatment. "The best treatment to use is a lotion, not a shampoo, combined with the bug busting method (see Bug busting,below)," says Finola Murphy, an infection control nurse with Oxfordshire Health Authority.
Whichever method you use, unfortunately, it won't protect against re-infection.
Bug busting
Promoted by voluntary organisation Community Hygiene Concern, and by the Department of Health, bug busting involves physically removing the head lice from hair soaked in conditioner at four day intervals for two weeks to capture lice at all stages of their life cycle. Lice can't move when they're wet and the conditioner means they're easy to comb out. Directions are as follows:
- Wash hair. Apply conditioner and comb through it with a plastic fine toothed comb. Metal combs are not so effective and are likely to hurt the scalp
- Wipe the comb on kitchen paper after every stroke
- Poke off any remaining lice from the comb with a cocktail stick. After rinsing the hair, comb through while still dripping wet, to get rid of any stragglers
Conventional insecticide medication:
Lotions are better than shampoos because they stay on longer and are less diluted. Frequent repeated use is not safe because the lotions contain organophosphate pesticides. Some are also unsuitable for young children, those with asthma, if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Check with your GP or pharmacist.
The PHLS advises the use of aqueous-based lotions rather than alcohol-based, as they're less irritating to the scalp. It advises against trying another lotion if one doesn"t work because they contain the same active ingredients. Lotions are not cheap although some can be obtained on prescription.
Natural medication
It is illegal to label 'alternative' remedies as suitable for the treatment of head lice but there are several that are known to be effective.
Quassia bark bought from health food shops works by boiling the bark and straining off the liquid to rinse the hair with after bug busting.
Essential oils
Try this homemade mixture: Six drops of rosemary, bergamot, eucalyptus, geranium and tea tree oil to two tablespoons of sunflower oil and massaged thoroughly into the hair and scalp. Cover the head and leave for several hours before shampooing and combing through with a fine toothed comb.
Ready made products include Nitwit shampoo and Nitwit oil from Comfort and Joy.
The Community Hygiene Concern, however, warns against repeated use of essential oils on young children. Joanna Ibarra, programme co-ordinator, at Community Hygiene Concern says essential oils may be dangerous on young children because they are absorbed into the skin, and advises the bug busting method only.
Tea tree shampoo Available from many chemists and health food shops is said to be helpful in keeping lice away.
Claire Laurent specialises in writing on health and parenting issues. She is married with three children aged 10, nine and six, and lives in Oxfordshire.
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