The first thing that you might want to know is, exactly what is lice? Lice are small insects that live in the hair of humans and only humans.
These insects are small parasites and feed once a day.
They feed on blood that they suck out of the scalp of your head.
A single female louse can lay up to ten eggs in a day.
These eggs known as nits are glued to a strand of hair near the shaft.
Nits will hatch into lice in ten to fourteen days.
Once hatched the lice will grow for nine to twelve days, when they finally mate and start the whole process over again.
Though adults can get head lice, they are not a very high percentage of people that have this problem.
Children between the ages of three to twelve is the highest percent of people that have this problem.
Lice can be contracted by sharing hair grooming items, physical body contact and by sharing bedding or sitting arrangements.
When it comes to treating head lice, there have been many different methods applied.
Some of these methods work and some do not.
You should never try to use any of the home remedy methods for treatment.
These treatments have never been proven to be effective and are often very hazardous to your health.
There are however, several medicated treatments that you can purchase over the counter that work well with lice treatment.
You may also want to consult a doctor for lice treatment.
Your doctor can prescribe medication treatments that will help get rid of these pesky insects.
Whether you use over the counter medicines or medicines that are prescribed, you should always follow the directions exactly.
Too little or too much treatment can be ineffective or harmful.
There are other preventive steps that you can take also.
After using medicated treatments, you want to wait about 2 days before washing your hair.
This will allow the medicine to take effect and kill of any lice or nits.
Once you have treated your hair and waited to wash, you can then wash and condition your hair.
Once this is done, take a fine tooth comb and comb your hair thoroughly.
This will get out any dead insects or eggs.
You want to remember to never use any treatment more than twice.
If after this many attempts, it has not worked, then try another treatment.
The itching effects and irritations may continue for about another couple of weeks.
After a few weeks these annoying symptoms will go away.
Once you have treated head lice, there are a few ideas to help to keep them from returning.
First you want to let your children know that they should avoid any type of activity that might involve head to head contact.
Secondly, children should not share any hair care products such as combs, hair brushes, hair berets, bandannas and other such items.
Thirdly, you want to wash and dry all bed linens, blankets, pillows and pillow cases.
After you have washed these items, place them in the dryer and set to high heat and dry for about twenty minutes.
Fourthly, you want to vacuum sofas, chairs and any vehicle upholstery.
Lice can not live very long when not in contact with humans.
Steps will aid in preventing head lice from spreading and returning.
It is important to understand that having head lice does not mean that you are unkempt or that you are a bad person.
It just simply is something that is very annoying.