Head lice are those pesky little bugs that cling on to hair and seem to multiply uncontrollably. The common giveaway that your child has nits is that they will commonly and noticeably be scratching their head of hair, more commonly behind their ears or on around their crown.
If head lice are left untreated they can multiply very quickly. The average head lice can live on a head around 30 days, but if it falls off the hair it will likely die within 1-2 days. The adult female head lice can lay up to six eggs each day.
It is a common misconception that head lice live in dirty hair, when in reality it does not really matter too much the hygiene of the hair, as lice are picked up and transferred by general head-to-head contact.
If you suspect that your child has head lice, the easiest way to check it to pop to your local pharmacy and pick up a head lice comb. Unlike traditional combs these are very condensed combs and weave between the individual hairs. Ideally you want to wash and condition your child’s hair, and check for nits with the comb before washing out the conditioner. This makes it harder for the nits to ‘cling on for dear life’ to hair follicles and helps to catch the pesky critters.
The bonus of using a nit comb to go through your child’s hair is also that many nit combs are designed to destroy the head lice eggs left on the head, thus helping you combat the outbreak of head lice.
Once you have identified head lice in your child’s hair you will want to pop back to the pharmacy and check with the pharmacist for a head lice treatment suitable for your child. They should be able to recommend a treatment that will work for you and your child.
Prevention is better than the cure.
The old saying that ‘prevention is better than the cure’ definitely rings true here. The head lice treatments are often fairly expensive and if you have more than one child infested the cost can mount up quite quickly.
Not only this, but if you were to miss even a single female lice in the hair, within days or weeks you could find yourself re-treating your child’s hair again. They can be a real pain to eliminate completely, so it is always worth speaking with a pharmacist for a treatment that they recommend that works well.
Tips to prevent head lice in children.
There are ways to help prevent your child getting head lice, but at the same time remember that they are kids, and kids often play together in close proximity, share clothing and more.
Encouraging the following behaviour is not guaranteed to prevent head lice entirely, but does definitely help prevent head lice being spread from person to person.
• If a child knows of another child with head lice, or recently having had head lice, encourage your child to keep their distance when playing with them, limiting head-to-head contact.
• Do not share combs, brushes or even towels. It is recommended if you do need to share, to disinfect the items first by soaking them in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
• Avoid your child or siblings sharing beds, the same piece of furniture and clothing items such as hats, scarves, gloves etc.
• When washing clothing items, use a higher heat (if the clothing allows). You can also use a sanitising disinfectant in the wash to help kill the critters while they tumble around-and-around in the washing machine.
• Spend a little more time on house-hygiene. Disinfectant surfaces, floors and especially any fabric furniture in which head lice could be clinging to.
Our recommendation for preventing head lice.
At Lemon Fresh UK Ltd we stock the Nenuco range of Spanish products. In particular one of their flagship products is the Nenuco Agua De Colonia. It is splash cologne widely-used on babies and adults in Spain to keep critters such as mosquitos and flies away.
You may be wondering what this has to do with head lice? Well there have been quite a few studies which suggest that certain ingredients in over the counter products may repel lice, just like they repel other insects.
Once of those ingredients is citrollena. Nenuco Agua de Colonia is packed with citral as well as limonene. These create a gorgeous Lemon aroma that insects hate but many adults and children love.
Many parents use Nenuco to spray on their children’s hair. It helps deter head lice, since head lice just do not like the smell of lemons! The formula is PH neutral and can be used on babies from just 3 months old, right through to grown-ups who just love the gorgeous smell of Nenuco. Nenuco is independently tested and approved for use by the Spanish Institute of Paediatricians.
We stock Nenuco Agua De Colonia in a small 200ml bottle, 600ml bottle as well as the 1200ml (1.2L) bottle. We also sell the Nenuco Agua De Colonia 240ml spray bottle, which is refillable allowing for easy application to your child’s hair.
We hope this article has helped you in your battle against the pesky head lice. Good luck!
