With the start of kindergarten and school, it is high season for the little insects. And that is why many people are now concerned that parents must check their children for lice. – Then people get together more and the children are closer to each other, says infection control specialist Eli Sagvik. Can get bacteria in the bite – Head lice bite the base of the scalp and sip the blood that oozes out, and then it can start to itch. That’s according to senior researcher at the Institute of Public Health, Bjørn Are Rukke. Photo: private – When you scratch, you can get bacteria into these bits, so you shouldn’t walk around with lice over time. Should one be unlucky enough to get lice in the house and on the head, fortunately there are good solutions to get rid of them again. What are head lice? Head lice are small insects that live in human hair and can cause itching and irritation in the scalp. They can be transmitted through direct hair-to-hair contact or by sharing personal belongings such as hairbrushes or pillows. Head lice can be very troublesome, but luckily the lice can be removed with products that can be bought in the shop or at the pharmacy. Source: Lusfrinorge.no The best check trick But before you can start removing lice, you have to make sure you have them. FHI has no doubts about which is the best trick. – Combing wet hair with a lice comb is the gold standard for checking for lice, says Rukke. He adds that it is also possible to look for lice and eggs in the bottom of the head. – The lice comb is a fine comb that can be bought at the pharmacy. It has little distance between the “teeth”, and some people have hair that can be difficult to get through. According to Rukke, when checking for lice, you should have good access to light, preferably have it magnified and work systematically from the base of the head and all the way to the lengths. Helsenorge’s lice check step by step Moisturize the hair and add conditioner. Place a clean towel over your shoulders. Use a lice comb with fine, dense teeth. Be systematic and brush carefully through all the hair from the scalp to the tip. Wipe the comb regularly on a paper to check for lice. After a couple of minutes, you will see that any lice are moving. Also check both the towel and the comb for lice and eggs. Feel free to use a magnifying glass. Then it is easier to detect both lice and eggs. Source: Helsenorge.no Contagious – It spreads quickly through head-to-head contact. The lice can quite quickly crawl from another person’s hair to yours, so it spreads quite effectively. Rukke says it’s a problem that people don’t check themselves often enough. This means that many people can walk around with head lice without being aware of it. – An important point is that there is a part that does not itch when you have head lice, so the lice check is important. He further explains that the itching is an allergic reaction that does not need to occur until you have had the lice for several weeks. FHI therefore believes that a lice check should be carried out at least once a month. Photo: Wikimedia/Gilles San Martin What does one do? If you have lice, you should start treatment as soon as possible. Normal hair washing unfortunately does not help, so according to Rukke, most people use lice medicine to get rid of the insect. – Preferably those lice remedies that contain dimethicone, there are good indications that it works well. Another option is to comb your hair every other day for a 14-day period. – Then you will be able to sort out all the lice one after the other, says Rukke. And if you want to go ahead with a more drastic measure, you can shave your hair to half a centimeter in length. Then the lice will not thrive in the scalp and they will gradually disappear. Don’t wear yourself out – It is important not to wear yourself out. Many people think that you have to wash everything you have, but there is no point in that. He says that head lice will primarily be on the head, and that the most important thing is to get checked often enough and receive treatment. – There is no shame in getting head lice, anyone can get it.
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FHI asks people to be better at checking themselves for head lice – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
