Lice in children
Everything you need to know about the appearance of lice on the hair of your sons and daughters, from the causes to their prevention and treatment.
Soon, classes will begin in the schools , the children will see each other again every day and spend the morning together. And although that is always good news, especially for them who will resume the routine again, it also implies certain things that can end up being very negative. Like the appearance of small insects that we all know, called lice .
Lice are very, very small insects that live on people’s scalps; although not always, of course. The usual thing is that they do not have lice . However, once a person has it, it is very likely that they will end up infecting all the people around them. In the case of children, lice are even easier to spread due to the games they carry out, which often involve direct contact.
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We are going to enter, slightly, in the world of lice. These almost microscopic beings live between thirty and thirty-five days , during which they go through three different phases. The first is that of nits, which are the lice eggs themselves. They take a week or so to open, and an adult female can lay more than a hundred in her lifetime; With this in mind, you can imagine what happens if a child spends a lot of time with nits and lice. When these are to be eliminated, it will be very complicated. After being nits, the lice become nymphs for ten days ; at this stage, the human eye cannot appreciate them. Later, after they have grown, they become adult lice.
But why do you get head lice? How do these insects get to our scalp? The first thing you should know is that lice are very contagious, and they can be spread at any time of the year. The form of contagion is very simple: a head with lice comes into contact with another, and these insects jump from one side to the other. In addition, they can also walk through different seats in the school, around the tables, personal items … That is why it is important to disinfect all children’s clothing, as well as their hair brushes, hats, pillowcases and even toys. Any cloth is a good place for lice .
PREVENTION AND SYMPTOMS
Although it may seem like a utopia, it is possible to avoid the contagion of lice in the hair. The first and fundamental thing is to push the child to always use both his towel and his comb individually; You should not share your toiletries, under any circumstances, because this could push the contagion. Explain to the child the risks that sharing toiletries could have. You will probably end up understanding them, and you do not have to repeat it constantly.
There are also colonies and different liquids that allow you to keep lice at bay . These are sold in the pharmacy, and you just have to ask for them. There are different brands, but all of them will be useful to you, since they all do more or less the same thing.
If your child has lice, in addition to eliminating them, you will also have to notify the school so that they make it known to the rest of the parents . Although it may be embarrassing, the best thing you can do is communicate it; Otherwise, even if you clean your child, it will spread again because the other children will have lice.
Knowing that your child has lice (and the consequent nits, of course) is pretty straightforward. Because he will be continually scratching his head ; In some cases, lice may not be itchy, in which case it will be much more difficult to detect them. What you should do if you think your child may have lice is place him under a large spot of natural light, and gradually examine all the hair. It is a tedious but necessary task. To help yourself, you should use a comb, which is a comb with extremely narrow prongs.
HOW TO GET RID OF LICE
Once it has been verified that your child is indeed infested, the next step is to try to eliminate these insects . Do not be overly alarmed, since the fact that he has lice does not imply that you have improvable hygiene habits. It simply means that you have been in contact with someone who had lice and, if they are young, it is probably one of your classmates.
The next thing you should do is go to the pharmacy (or the pediatrician, if you think so) so that they can recommend a suitable treatment. Usually it will be a shampoo and cream, which will have a very strong odor and will be able to remove the lice easily. The nits will kill them, and although they may not be able to detach, you will only have to pass the nitrate.
Once the treatment is carried out for the first time (you will probably have to use it from time to time), notify both family members and the school. As we have explained above , if the infection is not reported, it will probably continue . All your work removing lice and nits from your child’s head will be useless, because you will have to do it again every so often. The parents of your child’s classmates will have to review them and do the same. By the way, it is of little use in these cases to try to find the source of infection. It is very difficult to find out, to know who was the first child to get lice and, if so, to know how they got them. Such trifles are not worth worrying about; the important thing is to eliminate all insects.
Take special care with all the clothes that the child has worn, both those that can be washed and those that cannot . The one that can be washed, put it in the washing machine at a temperature higher than fifty degrees, and thus you will be able to kill even all the nits. The one that doesn’t, keep it in a closed plastic bag for about fifteen days; After those days, it is important to iron all the clothes.
As a last tip: do not use the same shampoos that are used to eliminate lice as prevention. That will only cause more resistance to develop , and it will be more difficult to remove them later.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.