What Parents Can Do For Prevention of Head Lice
Lice Clinics are your ultimate source for all things head lice. We don’t enjoy dealing with head lice every day, we enjoy helping people find relief from head lice! Our mission is to support parents in our community who are dealing with this stressful scenario.
One of the best ways to deal with head lice is to try to proactively prevent it. Now, let’s be clear. There is actually no way to guarantee that your family will not contract head lice. However, there are some things parents can do to help fight off the problem.
Help Fight Off Head Lice Infestations In Your Home With These Easy Tips:
- Talk to Your Kids About What Head Lice Are
Sometimes kids come up with wild ideas about the way the world works. It can be easy for their imagination to go crazy. Teaching your kids what lice are, how they live, what they look like and how they are transferred is a good start. Easy Science For Kids is a great resource for basic knowledge about head lice. If kids are informed and understand the problem they might be better at wanting to prevent it.
- Talk to Kids About How Head LIce Are Transferred
One of the biggest mistakes parents make is only telling their kids not to share a hairbrush. Now, while that is an important part of prevention it is certainly not the only topic that needs to be addressed. Did you know that head lice are most often transferred, not from hairbrushes, but through direct head to head contact? Is your kid playing on a sports team and sharing equipment or a locker with another player? Do your kids ever have late nights with friends, laying on sleeping bags enjoying a movie? These are all times when kids are susceptible to head lice. Talk to your teens about not getting too close when sharing handheld devices. If they understand how head lice are caught, it can go a long way in prevention.
- Become Informed Yourself
Many people think that only small children can bring home head lice. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the majority of people who catch head lice are in fact children between the ages of 3-10. However, the rise of outbreaks seen at Jr. High and High schools are on the rise due to the “selfie generation” using handheld devices together, new super lice and ineffective treatments. Parents should be aware of signs of head lice for all ages of kids. Symptoms start about three weeks after the initial infection. They will include itchiness, nits laid near the scalp, red irritations or rashes on the scalp, feelings of tickling on the scalp, and red bite marks on the scalp.
- Check for Symptoms Often
We recommend checking your child’s scalp for symptoms every few weeks. This is a great approach to keeping on top of the problem and not letting it escalate if there is indeed a head lice infection. The sooner the symptoms are found, the easier it is to cure head lice. Lice Clinics of America also offer head lice checks in the clinic that can help determine if you have a problem and how best to eliminate it. Lice Clinics of America professionals can also show you what to look for, give you any advice and answer your questions about head lice. Remember, head lice can happen to anyone! Don’t think it won’t happen to you or your children.