How Do Head Lice Start Growing in Your Hair?
Contracting Head Lice
Head lice are extremely contagious, commonly passed around children in school. You can get head lice by standing next to someone who has the lice or from handling the items that the person with lice used, such as sheets from a bed, a hat or a jacket.
Once Contracted
Once the lice get into your hair, they begin to lay eggs. These eggs can appear clear or white like little flakes of dandruff. They are attached to the hair shafts close to the scalp. They will not come off easily. They could be manually removed, but there is no way to be sure you got every egg. Treatment is recommended for even the smallest case of head lice. If the head is not treated, the lice will hatch from their eggs and begin to grow in to adult lice. Adult lice look like little brown bugs. They are more long than wide. In time, you will begin to see them walking around in your hair.
Personal Treatment
All pharmacies carry an over-the-counter head lice shampoo. The infected individual will need to wash her hair with the head lice shampoo and leave it on her head for the suggested amount of time. Once she rinses the shampoo out, she will need someone to comb through her hair with a lice comb. This comb is provided in the kit with the shampoo or can be purchased separately. The hair must then be combed every day for a couple of days to make sure that all of the lice have been removed.
Household Treatment
It is important that you not only treat your hair but also treat everything you touched. All bedding and clothing should be washed in hot water. All furniture and car upholstery must be sprayed with a lice spray that is also available at any pharmacy. Your stuffed animal and cloth-like toys should also be sprayed and stored away in plastic bags for one month. After that, any lice that were alive will be dead. As a precaution, you may want to treat all other family members with lice shampoo. This should all be done in the same day so that any remaining lice don't re-infest you the next day.
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