Head Lice Prevention & Treatment
I have had requests from several parents asking for educational information regarding prevention and treatment of head lice. Below is some relevant information.
Preventing Head Lice
To help prevent a return of lice or to prevent your children from getting lice:
- Frequently check your child hair for nits/lice. If you catch it early, it is much easier to treat.
- Have your child avoid any head to head contact with other children.
- Remind them not to share hats, towels, combs, or brushes with their friends.
- Make sure they do not lie on beds, couches, pillows, or any other surfaces that have been in contact with an infected person.
- Have girls with long hair wear their hair in a ponytail, bun, or braid.
Treating Head Lice
Here are the steps you can take to handle any lice found in your child’s hair:
- Do not re-wash the hair for two days after the lice medicine is removed.
- Remove nits from your child’s hair with a fine-tooth comb. Most lice medications come with a “nit comb”.
- Soak combs and brushes in a mixture of hot water and the lice removal shampoo for at least 15 minutes.
- Wash clothing, bedding, towels, and other items that your child may have come in contact with using the hot water cycle and the high heat drying cycle. It is a good idea to wash all of the bedding in the house. Lice and eggs are killed after five minutes of exposure to temperatures greater than 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Continue to check the hair and comb through with the nit comb every two to three days after each treatment to prevent a re-infestation. Continue to check for three weeks to make sure all of the lice are gone.
- Check the whole family. Make sure all heads are free of lice-if not, each infected person will need to receive lice treatment.
If you have any questions please call me at (803) 438-8018, or email me at robin.mccutchen@kcsdschools.net.
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