Nits!
by Gaby Spinks

Now that the children are back at school we unfortunately have the return of the dreaded head louse into our homes. Alpa Ghelani, the pharmacist at Lloyds Chemist on Ellesmere Road, has some advice to pass on to everyone:

Head lice are small insects that grow up to 2mm long and live on the scalp. Their legs allow them to cling to the hair while feeding on human blood. They inject a local anaesthetic which stops any feeling of the bite. The eggs are glued to the hair, hatching after about seven days. Each female can lay between 6–8 eggs every 24 hours!

Head lice are caught through head to head contact. They walk along strands of hair from one head to another. They don’t have wings and they can’t jump. Head lice like the warmth. Contact which lasts a reasonable length of time will encourage infestation. They’re most common in ages 4–9 and in girls who tend to play in close proximity with their friends.

What to do…

Check by wet-combing using a fine-tooth metal comb.
Draw the comb down the entire length of the wet hair and wipe it onto a piece of paper. Any nits will show up as tiny white dots.

Don’t use medicated shampoo, it’s the least effective.
Head lice are becoming increasingly immune to medicated treatments. Wet-combing with a conditioner is the best treatment, but you need to comb daily for at least two weeks. If you use a tea tree conditioner, or add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to an ordinary conditioner, the antiseptic qualities will also help.

If your child is infected tell the school.

Wear a swimming cap when swimming.

Don’t share hair brushes.

Tie long hair back.

Avoid head to head contact.

Don’t treat the whole family with shampoo unless everyone is infected.