How To Kill Head Lice

Head lice are small, no bigger than sesame seeds, yet the havoc they wreck on your head and possibly on your social lives are humongous. These bugs, which feed on small amounts of blood from your scalp, are actually harmless, as they do not spread any disease. They are contagious and easily move from one head to another. This can occur through sharing of combs and head gears. The itching they cause when they bite is a major source of irritation. This could lead you to scratch your scalp, thereby leading to inflammation and sores. But it is the social stigma associated with their presence that is the most difficult to handle. Their presence is mistakenly attributed to lack of hygiene and dirty hair. In short, they are a nuisance that harm your social as well as your personal lives and should be removed as soon as their presence is detected. This write-up helps you discover ways to get rid of the ‘bug-bane’.

Home Remedies For Lice
Over the years, numerous remedies have been employed to counter the problem of head lice. Most of them have proven track records of being effective. Trail to discover some of the effective remedies.

Regular Combing
The oldest and most widely used method of countering head lice is combing. Combing the hair regularly with combs that are made especially for the purpose is just as effective today as they were centuries ago. Search out the nits (lice eggs) from places close to the ear and other areas that tot up as good breeding grounds. This treatment has known no failure! Even if the head lice have grown resistant to many chemicals, physical attacks are still fatal to them.

Chemical Lotions
Hair-care industry has grown to accommodate anti-head lice lotions. These chemicals are made specifically for the removal of head lice. Some kill them instantly, while most only aid in their removal from the head (to be manually killed later). There are many lotions available in the market that have proven to be effective, though there are claims that the lice have grown resistant to many pesticides. It is important that you need to check the lotions for side effect before you start using them. Permethrin, Malathion and Phenothrin are among the many pesticides that are harmful to you if they are not used correctly. Ulefsia (Benzyl Alcohol Lotion 5%) is a product that has recently been discovered as an effective way to counter lice and can be used on children too. This product is a water-soluble gel that kills the lice by suffocating them.

Natural Lotions
Mayonnaise, olive oil and vaseline are some of the most used natural products to counter the problem of head lice. These products are usually applied on the scalp and left for a period before they are rinsed. Though popular, these methods have no expert backing. It is also a fact that they are difficult to remove prompting many to suggest that it is actually the effort involved in removing these substances of your head that actually removes the lice and the nits! There are other natural products that are endemic to different areas. While they are argued to be effective, keep in mind that these are not medically approved methods of getting rid of head lice.

Kill Early And Frequently
Studies have shown that head lice can produce up to 10 nits a day. These nits hatch in about seven days and mature to adult lice in another seven days. Therefore, experts on this subject have recommended that the lice and the nits be killed frequently in a period of not more than a week. This cycle prevents them from breeding and growing.

Far Easier To Prevent Them Early
Though methods and means of killing head lice are many, all of them can be marked in to the above mentioned categories. However, what has to be kept in mind is that like every other problem, it is far better to prevent the growth of lice than to kill all at one go. It should be understood that head lice are not borne out of unhygienic conditions. It can be found on your head even if you pay great attention to personal hygiene.

Some Tips

• Head lice are common in children because of the fact that lice can only crawl and can therefore move to another head when it is in close contact with another, as is the case most often with small children. What you can do is to teach your child not to share combs and headgear that has been used by others.
• Clean their things for them at regular intervals. Also, clean the things that come in frequent contact with their head like car seats, towels, headgears and others.
• Regular grooming should be a given if one is to prevent the growth of lice. This is necessary because you can never be sure to the presence (or absence) of lice on your head. Moreover, regular combing remains the most effective method and the only one that is sure to succeed.
• Finally, do not panic and especially in the case of children, accept that lice are a part of growing up.