Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Diagnose symptoms and avoid carriers
• Method 2 of 2: Take practical measures to prevent lice
• Tips
• Warnings

Do you want to know how to prevent lice during a lice epidemic? Or maybe you just don't want creepy bugs in your head of hair? Although the thought of head lice may not be so pleasant, lice are generally less dangerous than is often thought. There are some simple measures you can take to prevent lice so that you don't have to try everything to get rid of them after they appear unexpectedly.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Diagnose symptoms and avoid carriers

1. Recognize the signals. As you may know, lice are small and can be white, brown or dark gray. They feed on human blood and are common in the areas around your ears and the back of your neck. Lice are more visible when you have dark hair.
   • The most common symptom of head lice is itching in the back of the neck.
   • In many children, you will not see any symptoms at all until weeks or months after they are infected. It is therefore very important to check your children's heads regularly and to comb through the hair with a fine comb to detect a lice infection as early as possible.
   • Doctors recommend combing and checking children's hair for lice after taking a shower or bath while their hair is still wet.
2. Teach your kids the importance of not sharing items. Because head lice generally occurs in young school children, it is important to pay close attention to situations where they may share certain objects with each other. Even though you would like your children to share certain things with each other, you probably want them withhold to share the following:
   • Caps or other headgear
   • Hairbands
   • Hair accessories
   • Pillows
   • Combs and brushes
   • Any other object that could cause the heads of a wearer and a potential wearer to come into contact with each other.
3. Be aware of lice carriers. Even though lice are nasty bugs, you don't have to avoid them as if they were a contagious disease. Instead, pay close attention to people who may have had or are currently being treated for lice. Knowledge is power.
   • If someone has had lice and has been treated for it less than two weeks ago, make sure you do not come into contact with their clothing. You don't have to be afraid of the other person, but just happen to avoid situations where you could interact with them, especially if you could get close to the other person's head.
4. Let yourself be checked. Head lice are common in schools and holiday camps. If you do not regularly check for lice at your school, do this yourself. You need not see your doctor if your children have lice.

Method 2 of 2: Take practical measures to prevent lice

1. Do not use chemicals or sprays. You don't need these drugs to kill lice and they often do more harm than good if you inhale or swallow them.
2. Wash items of clothing and nightwear that your child wears regularly if you suspect your child has come into contact with lice. This is what you should do:
   • Wash your child's bedding in hot water.
   • Wash all items of clothing your child has worn in the past 48 hours.
   • Put all stuffed animals that your child sleeps with at night in the dryer for 20 minutes.
3. Soak any items you use on your hair in warm water, isopropyl alcohol, or a medical shampoo solution in water. Items such as hairbrushes, combs, hair elastics, hair bands and hats should be soaked regularly to kill lice. If you are unsure whether an object is infected, you should err on the side of caution.
4. Use the right products for your hair to ward off lice. Whether it is the smell of certain products or an adverse chemical reaction, lice tend to stay away from the following products:
   • Tea tree oil. You can use a shampoo or conditioner with tea tree oil to repel lice.
   • Coconut oil. This is known for repelling lice.
   • Menthol, Eucalyptus Oil, Lavender Oil and Rosemary Oil. Lice probably don't like the smell of these strong oils.
   • There are also special hair products to repel lice. If you don't have lice, don't use lice shampoo. This is bad for your hair.
5. Vacuum the floor and any upholstered furniture that you suspect is infected with lice. Once a month, vacuum your home thoroughly and vacuum all carpeted areas and any upholstered furniture that you suspect reproducing lice.
6. Enjoy life. Don't live in fear for trying to prevent something that might not happen at all. It's not worth worrying about lice until you really start having them.

Tips

• During the school year, do not use scented shampoos and conditioners (for example, with a cherry scent). These shampoos infuse more lice. Use odorless shampoo on school days and shampoo with a nice scent on the weekend. The only exception is coconut shampoo.
• Do you suffer from an itchy scalp? Check your hair and scalp carefully in the mirror. If you think you have lice, have someone else check this out to be sure and find a solution!
  • If you discover that you have head lice, use a dandruff shampoo and conditioner. You can also find special remedies at any drug store. Children should not use Head & Shoulders as it contains a chemical ingredient that is not suitable for them. Adults can use Head & Shoulders.
• Use a lot of hairspray. Lice don't like this because it is sticky.
• When you think about lice, your head starts to itch. So don't immediately think that you have lice when you think about it and your head starts to itch. It could very well be your imagination running around with you.
• If you are under treatment for lice, also perform a two-week follow-up treatment to be able to remove the dead lice and eggs from your hair. If you don't do this, you will continue to suffer from lice.
• You really don't have to stay away from someone you know has lice. You can still interact with the other. Make sure that you do not come into contact with the head and / or hair of the other person.
• Airplane seats, cinema seats and bus seats often contain lice. So take off your jacket and put it over the chair before you sit down.

Warnings

• If someone at your school has lice, don't use scented shampoo.