Head lice are one of many problems that you may find yourself having to deal with as a parent. As with any problem, the best way to deal with it is to try to avoid it in the first place. Along these lines, the following are some things you may want to consider when it comes to reducing the chances that your child gets head lice:
- Realize that both boys and girls are vulnerable to this problem. You might think it would be a little easier for girls to contract lice just because they have long hair, and this increases the chances of it coming in contact with another child’s hair. That said, boys are equally at risk as well because they are also likely to come in contact with others of their age through sports. Girls wearing their hair up reduces their risk of contracting lice and also makes their chances of getting lice about equal to that of boys.
- Make sure your kids know not to share headwear. After head-to-head contact, sharing items worn or used on the head is the other way to pick up head lice from someone with an infestation. These types of things include hair scrunchies, hats, hair brushes and sports helmets. Tell your kids to be very careful about sharing clothes, such as uniforms or ball caps during after-school sports or gym class.
- Check your child’s hair periodically for lice. Doing regular head checks to look for lice is very prudent. You may want to do this about once a week. The best time is when their hair is still damp right after bathing. Use a lice comb, and have a white paper towel handy. Start at the base of the scalp, and pull the comb all the way down a bunch of hair strands, and repeat this across their entire head of hair. Every few strokes, you need to wipe the comb off on the paper towel. If you see little brown or black dots, then this could be indicative of lice.
What to Do if Prevention Fails
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, specific problems will insist on occurring. Figuring out what to do next for effective head lice removal is a dilemma many parents face in this situation. The first thing is not to panic. It’s head lice, not a significant disease or your child flunking out of school. That said, it still needs to be dealt with reasonably quickly.
Over-the-counter products are, sadly, mostly ineffective nowadays. After years of use, most lice have grown immune to the toxins used in these products. Such “super lice” are very hard to deal with. To handle this problem efficiently, you will need to find professional places that get rid of lice.
Lice Removal Salons
Just as there are shops that specialize in repairing cars or beauty salons that specialize in hair care in general, there are lice removing salons that specialize in head lice removal. If you are a parent in the Harrisburg area, you will be happy to find out about one such head lice treatment option that is a short drive away.
At Lice Lifters of Harrisburg, our certified head lice treatment technicians use products that are all-natural and guaranteed to be safe. We start with a head check to ensure a lice infestation is the problem, and then we apply the products mentioned above that quickly kill all the lice. We then finish with a thorough, methodical comb out that gets rid of every last louse and nit, so your child is lice free after one trip.
