Many parents panic over an outbreak of head lice. One of the main reason for this is the stigmas that people place on getting head lice. There are MANY myths about head lice. This article will help dispel some of those myths and talk about the truths of head lice.
Head Lice are a Result of Not being Clean
This is a total myth! Anyone can get head lice no matter what socioeconomic class you are from, no matter what neighborhood you live in, and no matter how many times you bathe yourself each day. Children especially transfer head lice to each other via sharing combs, sharing hats, sharing bedding at naptime or having their coats next to the coat owned by someone who has lice.
Lice Can Jump From One Person’s Hair to Another
Again this is false information. Lice cannot jump. They crawl. A lice bug can fall from someone's head onto another, but the bugs absolutely do not jump! Head lice are about the size of a grain of rice and are typically a light brown color but can be white or dark grey. Lice are usually easy to spot either by the actual bugs or the eggs they lay on the hair shaft.
Treating Only the Hair will Get Rid of the Bugs
This is false as well. Lice can live off of the human body for about 24 hours. If your child is sent home with lice, you must remove the child's clothing, coat, scarf, hat, etc. and place these items in a garbage bag for 48 to 72 hours if you can’t launder them immediately. All bedding, teddy bears, stuffed animals – anything with fake fur or baby dolls with fake hair, must also be bagged up and laundered for the same amount of time.
If All the Bugs are Out of the Hair, the Treatment is Done
Many parents make this mistake and then get angry the next day when the teachers call and say the child has to come home because the eggs are still in the hair. You have to make sure you remove the eggs as well. The main tool for doing this is a very fine tooth comb. These come with over the counter lice treatments. Ask the pharmacist if there are combs sold separately from the kits. The lice lay eggs on hair shafts all over the head but main areas to look in are where your child has warm spots such as behind the ears, the nape of the neck, the side they sleep on, and in little girls where you put barrettes and ponytails.
Any Kind of Shampoo Will Get Lice Out as Long as it Cleans the Hair
A shampoo with a chemical called permethrine in it is needed. This is a pesticide so check with your child’s doctor about any precautions that should be taken. Please note here that a child under 2 cannot have pesticides used on his hair for lice treatment. These special shampoos usually only kill the bugs and some eggs. This is why combing the eggs (also called nits) completely out of the hair is extremely important. The eggs can be hard to remove.
It is also recommended to saturate the hair with white vinegar and letting it sit for about 5 minutes before attempting to comb the hair out. The white vinegar is believed to loosen the glue lice use to attach eggs to the hair shafts. Other people have recommended using mayonnaise and Dawn dish liquid to loosen eggs.
While there is no sure-fire way to prevent head lice, remind children not to share hats, naptime bedding, combs, etc. Lice can occur anytime of the year but winter months seem to be predominate in breakouts. In the classroom it may be on the safe side to put dress-up clothes away until lice breakouts are done.
More Information
For more information on head lice and treating it, see HeadLice.Org.
The Center for Disease Control has some good picture illustrations and good information as well!
Jeanette Norman - Jeanette Stingley has loved reading and writing since she learned to read in kindergarten. She had a dream of one day becoming a writer ...
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