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Heads Tales

Effectively Treating Head Lice – How To Kill Lice In 20 Minutes Or Less!

There are quite a few misconceptions that are associated with treating head lice.  If you discover that you have a lice problem within your home, it's important that you treat it seriously and take steps to deal with it in the correct way. There are also a lot of "old wives tales" about lice and the ways they can affect people. Let's blow some of them out of the water right now!

Do Lice Carry Diseases? No. Head lice do not carry diseases and therefore do not transmit any diseases.

Do Lice Fly or Jump? No. Lice are a wingless little parasite that can not fly or jump. The way they that get around is by crawling.

They are passed from one person to another either through direct contact or through contact with infested articles such as clothing and hair products like brushes and combs. They are also passed via bedding and towels.

How Long Do Lice Live? Another misunderstood theory is how long they can survive when not on a host.  Head lice depend completely for nourishment and warmth on their host.  They draw their only source of food which is blood, from the human scalp.

The typical life span of a louse is around 30 days but if they have no host on which to feed and keep warm they can only survive for up to 24 hours.

I've Got Short Hair – I Won't Get Lice! Another wrongly believed tale is that people with short hair are immune from getting head lice - this simply is not true. These parasites have no preference as to who they decide to take up residence with. Age, sex, race, personal hygiene or even length of hair makes absolutely no difference to them. Just warmth and small amounts of human blood is all they need!

Head lice are not transferred by animals; they are purely a human parasite.

Treating head lice needs to be approached by taking into account what the person who is infested has had contact with.

Once you have treated the hair with a lice shampoo and combed out the nits and the lice, you need to carefully consider what this person has been in direct contact with. Items such as clothing and bedding that are easily able to be washed should be washed in very hot water.  Lice or nits that are exposed to temperatures above 125 degrees F for more than 10 minutes will die.

Items that are not safe to put in the washer can be placed into a dryer on a very hot program for at least 20 minutes to obtain the same results. Another option is to get your things dry cleaned or put them in an airtight plastic bag for at least 2 weeks.

If you heat a pan of water to 150 degrees F you can clean brushes and combs by putting them in for 10 minutes. You could alternatively place them in a phenol solution such as Lysol and soak them for an hour if heating them in boiling water may damage them.

Getting Rid Of Head Lice. Carpets, furniture upholstery, car seats and car interiors should be carefully and thoroughly vacuumed.  The mattress of the person with lice needs to also be thoroughly vacuumed.

There is no need to fumigate your home with insecticidal sprays on your carpets and furniture to kill any head lice.

It is important to treat lice in the correct way in order to deal with the problem sufficiently, but unfortunately many people do not.  By not treating the problem properly it can lead to a total infestation.  If you follow some of these basic guidelines and take proper steps to get rid of the lice from your home you may prevent the problem from even starting!

 

About the Author

Andrew Martinson is a concerned parent and an author. His latest book is an essential requirement for anyone wanting to quickly and easily rid their family of lice. For more great tips on treating head lice and to get your FREE mini course visit => http://www.headlicetreatmentsguide.com

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