Head Lice

The head lice infestations that have haunted all of us at some stage, especially if we have children, or work in a school environment, can be prevented from reoccuring, and causing all the discomfort that it did the last time around. When you manage to get rid of the head lice, you will need to make sure that you rid yourself, and your home, classroom even your car, of any eggs that could hatch and reinfect you, or anyone else in the house or workplace. There are many ways that you can do this to make sure that you have a nit free environment to live or work in. When you think of all the things that you came into contact with while you had your head lice infestation, then you will begin to understand the rather large area you will have to cover, to rid yourself of the problem once and for all.

So lets start with your clothing. Anything that you have worn, and not laundered, during and since your infestation needs to be drycleaned or well laundered. The next is your bedding, this is a great place for nits to hide out for a wee while to hatch. Washing these things in very hot water, if that is possible, is a good way to kill the eggs, as not using hot water will mean that they just go for a little swim and it does not kill them. Some things can be put into a hot drier and this too will help. Very often you will find that you can leave head lice on furniture such as the couch or an armchair, these can be treated with standard upholstery cleaner. One of the most important things, if you are a parent, are your childrens soft toys. Because your child has more than likely held them, cuddled them, and probably slept with them as well then these are high risk on the list for decontamination. Most soft toys can be washed in the washing machine and then put into a hot drier so that is not so bad, but do make sure that you find any of the things that they have been playing with, because the very last thing that you need is another round of these critters. A very intensive vacuum of all your floors regularly, is a must to keep on top of any nits that may have fallen from the infected person or child. If you have any items that can not be cleaned, laundered or, drycleaned it is a good idea to put them into an airtight bag or container and leave it sealed for no less than two weeks. After this time it is quite safe to bring them out as the incubation period for the nits will be over.

In schools, playcentres, kindergartens and the like, keep floors well vacuumed at all times, sweeping is not advisable, because you are just redistributing all the dust, and whatever is contained in it, around the room to land somewhere else. It is advisable to do this at least twice a day if you are having problems with head lice in your particular area. The toy problem exists here for you also, because you are in an invironment that will see an infestation of head lice really skyrocket if not monitored and, kept under control, the ways to do this is more prevention based than anything and constant vigilance is essential. Results show that an infestation can be contained, where all of the above rules have been put into place and adhered to. If you have an ongoing problem with  head lice infestation then you need to revisit all of the things you have just read. There is one other thing you can consider and that is the people around you. Children especially are prone to becoming reinfected, and this is because in the school, and preschool environment where they spend most of their time, not all parents are as vigilant about ridding there children of this ongoing problem, hence, your child keeps becoming reinfected.