As the saying goes, “knowledge is power,” and this applies to the subject of head lice as much as anything else. The more you know about them, the better you can deal with a lice infestation and perhaps avoid one altogether.
What We Know About Lice
As annoying as lice are with the incessant head-scratching they can cause, they are not actually dangerous. They’re not known to transmit any diseases. About the worst that can happen is that continuous scratching by an infested loved one may cause open sores on the scalp that can become infected.
These pests are common, with about 6 to 12 million children between 3 to 12 years of age picking up a lice infestation each year. Lice are among the top three reasons children miss school. Lice that live on people has evolved to depend on us for their survival, so they can’t live on your pets. They also can’t survive for long away from the warm, moist environment near the scalp.
As far as the spread of lice is concerned, they can’t fly or jump, so they need to crawl to get from a kid who’s already infested to your child. Also, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about if you find your child has lice. They don’t discriminate and are equally happy on clean or dirty hair, so hygiene has nothing to do with it.
How Not to Handle Head Lice
Many parents can overreact at the first sign of head lice. There’s no need to replace furnishings or your mattress since, as stated, they can’t live long away from a person’s scalp. That being said, they can also be quite unpleasant to the child with lice and should be handled as soon as possible.
The problem many parents face is in how they try to handle this situation. Today, there are head lice known as “super lice” because they’ve become immune to the toxins that have been overused in so many over-the-counter lice shampoos. Therefore, you don’t want to waste money on these treatments or unproven home remedies that can be so overwrought in their application process that they almost make you prefer the head lice.
Ways to Handle Lice
Since lice are primarily spread by crawling from one head to another, you want to tell your kids to keep head-to-head contact to a minimum. Kids still need to be kids, so such contact probably can’t (and shouldn’t) be avoided altogether, but this will reduce the chances of catching them.
While lice can’t live long away from the scalp’s environment, they can live for brief periods, so it’s prudent to advise your kids not to share other kid’s items worn or used on the head such as hats, helmets, combs, brushes, and scarves.
Eliminating a Head Lice Infestation
For effective treatment of this problem, it’s helpful for you to be aware that there are businesses out there whose sole purpose is to eliminate head lice. Since this is all they do, they have to be fairly good at staying in business. Lice Lifters of Mercer County is just such a company. We offer the best lice removal service in Mercer County, NJ.
If you’ve received a note from a school nurse saying one of your kids has head lice, or if you merely think they may have them, please call us and make an appointment. From our Hamilton, New Jersey location, we serve families in the entire Mercer County area with a head lice removal remedy that’s 100 percent safe, non-toxic, and all-natural. We’ll also get your family free of these pests in one visit, and we guarantee our results, so what are you waiting for?
