Work, Travel , Smile : Head lice - Comb ! Comb! Comb !

Head lice

Head lice, or commonly known as “nits” are one of the common health condition among children. Other names include “kutu bugs” and “head louse”. Head lice is wingless parasites (I guess less scarier than cockcroach as they can’t fly), that feed on human’s blood on the head ( a few times daily – sounds scary).

Worry not!

Most of the children may experience head lice issue at some point throughout their school life. Bear in mind, head lice can affect anyone as long as they comes into close contact.

Usually, it could be quite frustrating for parents when their kids have head lice as it may affect all the children at home and the children may be re-infected from time to time if the infected children in the child care or schools are not being treated.

One of the common misconceptions is that you are a dirty child if you get infected by head lice. This is not true! It’s not an issue of hygiene. Head lice cannot differentiate clean and dirty hair – they just want a home on your head.

Symptoms and signs

Usually , one of the signs of head lice is the itchy scalp – you can see the child keep scratching it or compaint of itchiness.

Home detection for head lice can be done by using “wet-combing method” - apply conditioner on the dry hair and comb the hair – you can detect the head lice (about 2-3 mm).

Or you can observe the eggs (also called as nits) – white colours spots on the shaft of the hair.

[ to be exact, "nits" stands for the eggs of head lice, but usually people refer "nits" as head lice]. The eggs sometimes could be misunderstood as her dandruff. One thing about nits is they are not as flaky as dandruff and fall off once you scratch your head. The "nits" could only be pulled off by pinching it using your thumb and forefinger.

How can we minimise the spead ?

Once your children got head lice, please tell the teacher or child carer so that the others kid can be checked if they have head lice too.

Treat head lice as soon as possible to reduce the spread.

For those with long hair, tie up the hair whne go to school or daily child care.

Unlike scabies treatment, you do not have to wash your clothing and bed sheets.

Treatment options

The "ultimate power" to treat head lice is THE COMB. COMBING the hair frequently with fine tooth nit comb can get rid of the head lice!

Not only flying, head lice also cannot jump or swim. They hold on to the hair tightly with their claws. Hence, once you comb your hair and break their legs – they can no longer lay eggs (female one, of course) nor infect another people if they fall off the head.

As mentioned before, head lice can’t fly, the only way for head lice to spread around is through close contact. Despite the fact that head lice cannot fly, they can quickly crawl across from one’s hair to another’s within seconds.

Head lice

You can easily get head lice treatment from a pharmacy.

There are different formulations available on the market – head lice shampoo, spray and lotion.

When you apply shampoo or lotion or any head lice products on the hair - make sure that you apply thoroughly , especially hair near the back of your ears.

Pictures below show some of the head lice products

Electrical comb - comb through DRY hair

Suitable for adults and children aged 6-months and over

Some products contain natural ingredients or herbs. Usually, they work by suffocating head lice.

Contains tea tree or eucalyptus oil , organophosphates

The eggs hatched in 7-10 days. Therefore, you can repeat the treatment after 7-days to get rid of any new head lice hatched from the eggs.

There are a lot of products available on the market. If you have any concern, always talk to a pharmacist or doctor for further information.