There's a lot of talk about fighting head lice being a real nightmare. Children in kindergarten often infect one another with head lice and thus fighting pediculosis often constitutes a true Sisyphean labour. Although many parents at home try to introduce rules that teach their little ones how to prevent this disease, infestation might occur either way, and hence effective eradication of head lice requires the use of special, dedicated measures.

Strong effects

Special shampoos against head lice are the easiest in use. You just need to wash your head thoroughly, leave the mousse in your hair for the time indicated in the leaflet, rinse off, and thoroughly comb your hair with a thick comb to completely remove both lice and nits...and that is it. The treatment should usually be repeated after a week's time due to the approximately one-week period of parasite hatching. Of course, it is also necessary to thoroughly wash the bedding, caps or mascots that came into contact with the head of the infected person. However, if you know that your child's kindergarten is infested with head lice, it is worth to apply an additional preparation to prevent reinfection.

For sensitive persons

However, medicinal shampoos are not recommended for particularly sensitive people, pregnant women, young children or persons with allergies, for whom products containing dimethicone will be better suited. Such products should be applied to dry hair until complete coverage, preferably strand by strand - similar to hair colouring. Special attention should be paid to the neck area and skin behind the ears. Afterwards, wait a suitable time and comb your hair thoroughly with a thick comb to completely remove lice and nits. Products with dimethicone are not absorbed into the body, so they can be used even in small children and by both pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Head lice are parasites that have accompanied man since the dawn of time. They enjoy large human clusters, which is why it is so easy to get infected in public transport, in kindergartens, schools or offices. Before you check how to protect yourself from infection, let us answer the question where do head lice come from.

Short life of... lice

A single louse lives only for about 32-35 days.

The life cycle of lice is quite simple: the female lays an egg, also known as a nit, on the hair shaft.

Next, after about a week or so, a louse is hatched in the form of a nymph. After several days, the nymph matures, thus becoming an adult.

What is very important is that the female lice are larger than the male and by the time they reach maturity they can lay at least 10 eggs per day, which accounts for even 300 during their lifetime.

Head lice therefore live a short life, but they have an above-average ability to reproduce in huge numbers, which is why it is so difficult to combat pediculosis. Since the old proverb "prevention is better than cure" also applies here, let us see what to do in order to prevent pediculosis.

Healthy egoism

The basis for avoiding infestation with head lice is to use only your own combs, hairbrushes and caps and not to lend them to others.

Therefore, take care of hygiene first and foremost.

If head lice appear in our environment, it would be a good idea to use prophylactic preparations. A good example of such is SORA protect in spray.

Thanks to its coating properties, the product prevents head lice from colonizing the scalp, and the protective layer created on the hair prevents nits from attaching to hair. Moreover, the ingredients contained in the product mask the natural scent of human skin, making it difficult for parasites to orient themselves and discouraging them from settling on the scalp.

Moreover, SORA protect medical device can be used every day. It is not very difficult - just spray it on your hair.

If, however, the disease has already attacked you, you should use a medicinal shampoo or a lice treatment fluid containing dimethicone. The fluid can also be used in cases of re-infestation with lice, as resistance amongst lice does not increase.

Use only proven, reputable preparations.

Head lice prevention is extremely important, especially for children in pre-school age who spend a lot of time together and do not yet understand how diseases are transmitted and why personal hygiene is of such utmost importance. In order to prevent your child from being infected with pediculosis, introduce a few rules at home for your little one to adhere to.

Personal belongings

First of all, it is important to realize that pediculosis is not a disease that comes from dirt. It is not only children from poor families who are prone to this disease for it can affect anyone. Head lice live on the hairy skin of the head, it does not matter whether the hair is freshly washed or dirty. Lice move during direct contact. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain proper hygiene of personal belongings that come into contact with the hair. Every person in the house should have their own hairbrush and towel. Children should be taught to wear only their own caps and glasses and do not allow anyone to wear them. The same applies to all kinds of hair ornaments: hair pins, ribbons, decorative rubber bands, etc. This is usually the way children carry head lice from one head to another. To ensure that the lice are not transmitted to the entire family, the same rules ought to apply at home. Every child and adult should only use their own personal belongings.

What else can you do?

In order to prevent the spread of head lice in your home you should regularly check the scalp of your children. Do this especially when your child has returned from a group trip or a ny other voyage. Remember to wash your child's personal belongings regularly, and if there is a suspicion that head lice have appeared in your home, thoroughly wash the belongings of other adults as well. Special preparations are available on the market to treat, but also to prevent pediculosis. It is worth having them in your household medicine cabinet. If you find out that your child's kindergarten has a case of pediculosis, use lice prevention measures on your child's head as prevention. If your little one has already contracted head lice, use a lice treatment product while ensuring that other household members use the preventive measure as well.

Pediculosis is a common problem, especially in pre-school age children, for they do not yet understand the idea of "hygiene" very well, sometimes they exchange hair pins or hats, so if at least one of them catches head lice, the whole group is immediately exposed to the disease. However, pediculosis, although it seems an embarrassing problem to many parents, is very easy to cure. Therefore, more should be said about it, and instead of being embarrassed, parents should exchange their thoughts on treatment and prevention of pediculosis. How to effectively treat pediculosis in your child?

Diagnose

First of all, make sure you are in fact dealing with pediculosis. If your child is persistent in scratching his or her head, check the scalp for lice or their eggs. Use your fingers or a thick comb to inspect your child's hair. Watch the comb carefully. It will give you a much clearer picture of what is stuck on your child's head. If you find brown 2-3 mm lice and tiny 1 mm white balls in the hair, it means that your little one has actually contracted head lice.

Treat

Treating pediculosis is not difficult. First of all, go to the pharmacy to buy a proper shampoo or anti-lice liquid. The proper treatment measure should be selected according to the age and skin sensitivity, and then applied according to the leaflet. It is also worth checking the hair of other household members, if any of them still have symptoms of pediculosis, they should also use an appropriate medicinal product. Collect all of you child's personal belongings that have come into contact with his or her head. These usually include hair bands, ornaments, caps, bands or hooded sweatshirts. Then wash everything thoroughly at a high temperature.

Prevent

In order to prevent pediculosis, explain to your little one why hygiene is so important. The child should not exchange his or her hat, brush or hair accessories with colleagues. Check your child's hair regularly for head lice anew. Thoroughly comb your little one's hair and wash the child's personal belongings regularly. And if you hear about cases of head lice in your child's environment, use an anti-infection and anti-recurrence product.