Head Lice?

[Naamah D.]

I'm on my way to my career of working with children, but I'm freaking out because I heard that kids of that age group often get lice and adults can get lice as well.

 

I use hairspray and a hair product called Super Skinny as well as blow drying and deep conditioning my hair. I hear those things can prevent lice. What I'm really worried about is if I get head lice, my clothes will get ruined from washing them in hot water and/or putting them in a hot dryer.

 

Has anyone ever had heal lice? Does anyone know if washing clothes on hot water and using the high heat drying can cause clothes to be ruined?

[Mouseykins]

I have had experience with lice and it's not as scary as it's made to sound. It's more of a pain in the bottom. When working with kids and being a parent head lice is just part of the deal. Basically the ideal rule of thumb is not to share hats, hair elastics or anything that comes into contact with your head. This helps stop the spread of the lice. If you do get lice the most important thing you need to do is get the medicated shampoo from a drugstore and treat your head. You may want to do it twice just to be sure, but usually once is enough. Just follow the directions and you're good. Another thing you must do is wash all your bedding, jackets and clothes that have been worn. Now you don't have to clean out your entire dresser or anything, just wash what's lying around. Also anyone in your house would need to do the same, to make sure there are none of the critters in your home. Also if you have blankets and pillows on your couches and chairs it's a good idea to wash them too.

 

You don't need to use hot water or a high heat dry. Just launder your clothes according to the label or how you normally wash them. As long as there is soap in the machine your clothes will be clean and you won't have to worry about the lice. Definitely using hot water and a high heat dry can ruin certain clothes, so always make sure to follow the label.

 

The hair products you use might help to reduce your risk of catching the lice, but it's not necessarily a 100% solution.

[Rebecca~]

I wouldn't worry too much- you may get them, but they aren't that big of a deal usually. For your clothes, I don't remember hearing that they all had to be sanitized- just hats and helmets and stuff. If you really want to be sure that they're clean, and you're concerned about them in hot water, you can place them in a plastic bag in the freezer overnight. That will kill all of the lice, and you can wash them as normal.

[springlaurel]

Working with small children could lead to a chance of lice, but it's certainly not guaranteed. If you're really worried just avoid sharing things like hats. What will happen first if you do get them is you will get eggs (called nits I think), and if you catch them at that stage they're hardly noticeable, easily killed with applications of lice-killing shampoo, and aren't contagious.

I dunno, I wouldn't worry, I have several friends who work as preschool aides and have never in over 5 years had any sort of lice from kids. Schools and daycares are pretty good at catching that sort of thing.

[Relevance]

Okay, here's the thing. I work in a hair salon, so I mean.. I feel I could kind of help more when it comes to the hair? xD Yes, kids, especially young ones get it. Yes, adults can get it too. Lice isn't as scary as everyone makes it up to be, it's just irritating. Lice like clean hair. I'm not saying to keep your hair a filthy mess because you could still get it, but I'm just saying scrubbing the heck out of it every shower won't prevent it. The hair products you're using can help, but only to a small degree. A good way to avoid it, especially if you know kids you're working with have lice, is to use something containing tea tree oil like a shampoo and conditioner combination, or even put a bit of actual tea tree oil in your hair every so often. They absolutely hate it. As the others said, avoid sharing anything that makes any sort of contact with your head. The concerns about the clothes, do as Rebecca said. If you do happen to get it, you're going to want to get rid of the lice first, don't use your bed for a day or two, then wash all the bedding. If you get it and don't really know how to get rid of it, just get a lice killing shampoo, follow the instructions. People get mad and say it didn't work because they didn't follow the bloody instructions. Once you've used that, get a specialized comb to get out any nits that are still stuck in your hair. You'll want to make sure you get rid of all of those, so if you feel you'd need help doing that, just ask someone.

[AJ11]

My kids have had head lice more than once, it is one of those things like catching a cold it happens it is not because you are dirty - on the contrary they like clean heads.

 

working with kids you are at higher risk but you can reduce the chances of catching them - they do NOT jump from head to head they must be spread by contact or by being on something that goes from one head to another like a brush or a hat.

 

keeping your hair tied up so its less likely to brush against someone is a good plan, now you know why teachers often have their hair tied up in a bun or something :)

 

you can get a head lice comb and every week after washing your hair put on ooodles of conditioner and gently comb through your hair completely head down with the comb getting into the nape of the neck go slowly and go through ALL of the hair. after the comb goes over the hair each time have a quick look to check for lice and then swish the comb in water to make sure its clean for the next stroke. This will keep you clear of lice because they can not hang on, the eggs may still be there but if you comb regularly they never get chance to relay so you get rid almost immediately and never get a colony going.

 

If you find a head louse just use the conditioner thing every three days til all is clear again and you will keep clear.

 

Using conditioner means you dont have to use nasty chemicals on your head and hair and you end up with lovely well conditioned hair too

 

Bet everyone has a itchy head now yeah lol

[Naamah D.]

I have had experience with lice and it's not as scary as it's made to sound. It's more of a pain in the bottom. When working with kids and being a parent head lice is just part of the deal. Basically the ideal rule of thumb is not to share hats, hair elastics or anything that comes into contact with your head. This helps stop the spread of the lice. If you do get lice the most important thing you need to do is get the medicated shampoo from a drugstore and treat your head. You may want to do it twice just to be sure, but usually once is enough. Just follow the directions and you're good. Another thing you must do is wash all your bedding, jackets and clothes that have been worn. Now you don't have to clean out your entire dresser or anything, just wash what's lying around. Also anyone in your house would need to do the same, to make sure there are none of the critters in your home. Also if you have blankets and pillows on your couches and chairs it's a good idea to wash them too.

 

You don't need to use hot water or a high heat dry. Just launder your clothes according to the label or how you normally wash them. As long as there is soap in the machine your clothes will be clean and you won't have to worry about the lice. Definitely using hot water and a high heat dry can ruin certain clothes, so always make sure to follow the label.

 

The hair products you use might help to reduce your risk of catching the lice, but it's not necessarily a 100% solution.

 

I have looked at the hot water and hot dryer part from various websites, but since you've had experience with it I'm a bit more calmed down about my clothes getting ruined.

 

I consider myself one of those vain, shallow and prissy woman. If a few of my clothes were to get ruined I could always go on a shopping trip :D

 

Besides, I love cosmetics, handbags/purses/pocketbooks/whateveryoucallthem, jewelry and any accessories.I can totally build a collection of those items.

[Ali Cat]

I had lice in elementary school and it really wasn't that bad. The most annoying part was just making sure I followed instructions for the shampoo, the itching, and combing my hair. Nothing really special was done to my clothes because lice won't live on the clothing, so there's no real danger there. If you're worried, though, putting clothes in the freezer was mentioned to kill lice, but so will simply putting them in a sealed bag for 3-4 days to cut them off from any sort of food. That's what my parents did with all my pillows: stuck them in a few trashbags and let them sit. Lice don't last long without a human host (various sites are saying about 2 days.)

[coltom]

Head lice are easy compared to the other lice, and while I have always been an honourable husband to my beloved, riding a USAF cargo back from the Clarke AFB had an unfortunate side effect.

 

Your problem is with nits, the small egg cases glued to your hair. Those will most likely not be killed by simple shampooing, you either can get some specific nit shampoo or you can diligently clean your hair for two weeks. The same with other lice, although removal of hair in the appropriate areas for the appropriate species of lice is also very useful.

 

They did DNA sequencing on lice, and found that the two strains of human lice come from very different stock, the non-head lice's nearest relative lives on gorillas. Make of it what you will that fact.

[MargaretaMcDaniel]

My brother's daughter have a problem of having a lice on her head as she is just 8 years old. I usually avoid to share hats or caps with her. There are some medicines available as a precaution.