Head lice

We have all heard the horror stories of dealing with head lice. Some parents think ‘Oh my child won’t end up with it’ but then it pops up in their class and your child is at a greater risk of catching it.

What is lice?

The head lice is a tiny, wingless parasitic insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on tiny amounts of blood drawn from the scalp. It’s very common problem, especially for kids. They're contagious, annoying, and sometimes tough to get rid of (Gupta). The important thing to remember is that even though dealing with lice is time-consuming, they don’t spread disease.

Signs of head lice

Lice eggs (called nits). These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. Lice lay nits on hair shafts close to the scalp, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm until they hatch. Nits look sort of like dandruff, only they can't be removed by brushing or shaking them off. Unless the infestation is heavy, it's more common to see nits in a child's hair than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp. Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they're laid. After hatching, the remaining shell looks white or clear and stays firmly attached to the hair shaft. This is when it's easiest to spot them, as the hair is growing longer and the egg shell is moving away from the scalp.

Adult lice and nymphs (baby lice). The adult louse is no bigger than a sesame seed and is grayish-white or tan. Nymphs are smaller and become adult lice about 1 to 2 weeks after they hatch. If head lice is not treated, this process repeats itself about every 3 weeks. Most lice feed on blood several times a day, and they can survive up to 2 days off the scalp.

Scratching. With lice bites come itching and scratching. This is due to a reaction to the saliva of lice. However, the itching may not always start right away — that depends on how sensitive a child's skin is to the lice. It can sometimes take weeks for kids with lice to start scratching. They may complain, though, of things moving around on or tickling their heads.

Small red bumps or sores from scratching. For some kids, the irritation is mild; for others, a more bothersome rash may develop. Excessive scratching can lead to a bacterial infection (this can cause swollen lymph glands and red, tender skin that might have crusting and oozing). If your doctor thinks this is the case, he or she may treat the infection with an oral antibiotic.

You may be able to see the lice or nits by parting your child's hair into small sections and checking for lice and nits with a fine-tooth comb on the scalp, behind the ears, and around the nape of the neck (it's rare for them to be found on eyelashes or eyebrows). A magnifying glass and bright light may help. But it can be tough to find a nymph or adult louse — often, there aren't many of them and they move fast (Gupta).

Treatment

There are a couple of ways to help treat lice. There is medicated shampoo, cream rinse, or lotion to help kill them. By using the medicated treatments, it will usually kill the lice. Itching may stop a few days after using the treatment.

References

Gupta, R. C. (2015, June). Head Lice. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html