At Lice Lifters of Tom’s River, our staff realizes that finding lice on your child’s head, or having their presence brought to your attention by a school nurse, can be disconcerting. The first thing to realize is that a reaction of embarrassment is not necessary. Catching a lice infestation does not mean there’s anything wrong with your kid in terms of hygiene or anything else.
This Is A Common Problem
Head lice are fairly common with about 6 to 12 million infestations a year in the United States alone. You also need to realize that lice are not considered dangerous since they are not known to transmit disease. That being said, they’re still a nuisance that is best avoided if possible. As a parent, you want to know how to prevent lice.
How Lice Spread
One point that should bring you some relief as far as the contagiousness of lice is that they can’t jump or fly. This limits them to having to crawl from one person’s head to another. This is one reason that head lice are more common among kids from 3 to 12 years old. Children, especially young children, are more likely to come into close contact while playing. Head-to-head contact enables lice to reach another child’s head. It’s also possible, though less likely, for them to spread by a kid putting on or using an infested child’s hat, scarf, comb, brush or other item worn or used on the head.
Since head-to-head contact is the main way they spread, you should advise your kids to minimize such contact with their friends. Also, tell them not to share headgear and not to put their coat or jacket in a pile with others and instead hang them on their own hook.
Kids being kids, they’re not always going to listen. So, you may want to check your child for lice periodically. This is especially important if they display any symptoms of an infestation. These can include frequent scratching of their head, them telling you of a tickling or moving feeling on their scalp, red bumps on the scalp and difficulty sleeping since lice can be more active at night.
You should do a Google image search of head lice and their eggs, or nits, so you know what you’re looking for when checking your child’s scalp. The lice are about the size of a sesame seed and tan to light brown in color and will be hanging out very close to the scalp since this is where they feed. Their nits will be fastened securely to the base of hair follicles and may look like dandruff except they won’t fall off so easily.
Head Lice Treatment
Let’s say you’ve taken steps to prevent lice, but the little pests are just determined to enter your life anyway. If you spot them on one child, treating the issue becomes job number one before they spread to any other children you may have or to other kids at their school. Unfortunately, lice shampoos that many buy at the store for this problem use toxins that lice have grown immune to because of their overuse. Some children may also have a reaction to these toxins. Fortunately, there is an effective and natural remedy available to you and your entire family if you need it.
Our compassionate, certified lice technicians at Lice Lifters of Tom’s River know how to spot if lice are on your child when you bring them to our professional lice treatment salon. If they’re discovered, we’ll utilize a combination of meticulous combing with a specially-made nit comb and applying a 100 percent safe, all-natural and non-toxic killing solution that quickly ruins the celebration of any lice or nits that may have avoided the comb. Best of all, we can treat your entire family at one time and get them lice free in one visit, so they’re ready to get back to their life without the itching and discomfort of these parasitic pests.