June 22, 2017
June 22, 2017
The common head louse really is common—a lot more than people would like to think; a lot more than we like.
About 6 to 12 million children are infested every year in the United States. And worst of all: lice don’t discriminate. You might not even know how many people you sit and eat with have head lice! You don’t know who “patient zero” is.
“Your child is has contracted head lice. It is with much dismay that we must take specific actions and disallow (insert name here) from returning to school, until the infestation has been taken care of.”
Adult lice are quite easy to spot, especially on lighter colored hair. Adults are more squeamish about the very idea of head lice and seek treatment earlier on into their infestation.
A head lice infestation in children is another matter entirely. Most kids don’t tell their parents because of shame and humiliation that is associated with having head lice. Some won’t even feel anything is amiss particularly those who aren’t allergic to lice saliva.
Misdiagnosis is also common, especially when spotting eggs of lice i.e. nits.
Check for colored or dense specks attached to the hair. Dandruff appears as stark white. Another way to distinguish the two is by pulling what you find off the hair with your fingers (gross, but necessary!).
The stuff pulled away easily from the hair? This is dandruff. Lice eggs, on the other hand, won’t come away that easily. Nits latch onto hair shafts with the help of a sticky and strong substance!
Un-hatched nits are brownish in color and shaped like a tear drop. They will take about 3-4 days to hatch. This means you have that amount of time to removal all the nits—tough but necessary!
Found something clear and white in color? The egg has already hatched. I repeat, the egg has already hatched. Abort mission!
Time to call in the professionals! You can also visit your nearest Urgent Lice Removal’s lice removal clinic at Weston for a thorough removal of those pesky, annoying and stubborn critters.