Lice Do Not Spread Disease, but They Are Contagious!

Lice aren’t dangerous and don’t pass blood born disease disease, but they are contagious and can just be downright annoying. Their bites may cause your child’s scalp to become irritated, and persistent scratching may lead to skin problems and even infection.

Recognizing Head Lice

Though very small, lice can be seen by the Human eye.

Lice eggs (called nits). These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown sacks before they hatch. Lice lay nits on hair shafts near the scalp, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm until they hatch. Nits appear a lot like dandruff, only they can’t be removed by brushing or shaking them off. Unless the infestation is heavy, it’s more common to see nits in a child’s hair than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks after being ‘nitted.’

Adult and Hatched Lice

Adult lice and nymphs (baby lice). The adult louse is very tiny and is brown-tan in color. Nymphs become fully grown in about a week after hatching. Most lice feed on blood about every 4 to 6 hours, but they can survive up to 3 days off the scalp.

Hair Lice and Scratching

With lice bites come itching and scratching. However, the itching may not always start right away – that depends on how sensitive your child’s skin is to the lice. It can sometimes take weeks for kids with lice to notice the discomfort, meaning the infestation will become more severe. They may complain, though, of things moving around on or tickling their heads as they can feel the lice wriggling near the scalp.

Red Bumps and Scalp Sores from Head Lice

For most children, the irritation is mild; but for others, a more bothersome rash with crusting and oozing may develop. It’s also not unusual for kids to develop some swelling of their lymph glands as a reaction to the bites. Excessive scratching can also lead to a bacterial infection (the skin would become red and tender around the bite area). If your doctor thinks this is the case, he or she may treat the infection with a topical or an oral antibiotic.

Searching For HeadLice

You may be able to see the lice or nits by parting your child’s hair into small sections and checking for lice and nits on the scalp, behind the ears, and around the back of the neck near the hairline). A magnifying glass and bright light may help. But it can be tough to find a nymph or adult louse – often, there aren’t many of them and they’re able to scramble quickly running from the light. It is much easier to find the newly laid eggs attached to the hair shafts.

Are Hair Lice Contagious?

Yes, hair lice are highly contagious and can spread quickly from person to person, especially in group settings (this pretty much means anywhere kids are together such as school, daycare or sports team that share equipment)

Though they can’t fly or jump, these tiny parasites have specially adapted claws that allow them to crawl and cling firmly to hair. They spread mainly through head-to-head contact, but sharing clothing, bed linens, combs, brushes, and hats can also help pass them along.

Can Pets Pass Head Lice

Nope, pets like dogs and cats are NOT prone or susceptible to lice or passing it along. They gotta live with the fleas, but not the lice!

Your doctor can recommend a medicated shampoo, cream, or lotion to kill the lice. These may be over-the-counter or prescription medications, depending on what treatments have already been tried. It isn’t uncommon for treatments to be unsuccessful because of incorrect use or because the lice may be resistant to the chemical in the shampoo.

It’s important to follow the directions completely because these products are insecticides. Applying them too much or too frequently can increase the risk to you or your child. Following the directions on the product label is also important to ensure that the treatment works properly. Your doctor may also suggest a special rinse to use on your child’s hair that makes it easier to comb out the nits using a fine-tooth comb. There are specially designed fine toothed combs that will remove lice eggs from the hair.
A good hair cut is also a good idea after an infestation.

Medicated lice treatments can usually kill the lice and nits, but it may take a few days for the itching to stop. Your doctor may recommend repeating treatment in 7 to 10 days to make sure all the nits have been killed and avoid risk of reinfestation.

What About Lice In The House?

Headlice don’t live very long once they fall off the scalp of the host. So it’s unnecessary to spend a great deal of time and money trying to rid the house of lice.

Following are a few tips for eradicating lice in your house after an outbreak on you or your child’s head.

* Wash all bed linens and clothing that’s been recently worn by anyone in your home who’s infested in very hot water (130° Fahrenheit, 54.4° Celsius), then put them in the hot cycle of the dryer for at least 20 minutes.
* Dry clean any clothing that isn’t machine washable.
* Have bed linens, clothing, and stuffed animals and plush toys that can’t be washed dry-cleaned. Or, put them in airtight bags for 2 weeks.
* Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture (in your home or car).
* Soak hair-care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands, headbands, and brushes in rubbing alcohol or medicated shampoo for 1 hour. You can also wash them in hot water or just throw them away.

Because lice are easily passed from person to person in the same house, other infested family members will also need treatment to prevent the lice from coming back.

Here are Some Things You Should NOT Do When An Outbreak of Headlice Occurs

• * Don’t use a hair dryer on your child’s hair after applying any of the currently available scalp treatments because some contain flammable ingredients.
  * Don’t use a cream rinse or shampoo/conditioner combination before applying lice medication.
  * Don’t wash your child’s hair for 1 to 2 days after using a medicated treatment.
  * Don’t use sprays or hire a pest control company to try to get rid of the lice, as they can be harmful.
  * Don’t use the same medication more than three times on one person. If it doesn’t seem to be working, your doctor may recommend another medication.
  * Don’t use more than one head lice medication at a time.

I hope this long article can help you in identifying and eradicating hairlice infestations on you or your children. Now that school is back in session, we will be seeing outbreaks on the rise.

Acne is a condition shared by millions of people around the world. In fact, it is estimated that more than 90% of people worldwide are suffering or have suffered from acne. The most commonly affected by acne are adolescents, those who are between the ages of 12 and 18 years. The adolescent stage is the stage where we are most prone to developing acne. Many acne problems do not respond to over-the-counter acne treatments, and severe cases of acne often require strong acne medications and even surgical methods. Others who have acne require use of acne treatments for months, and even years.

There are literally hundreds of acne treatments available without prescription. Some of these acne treatments are backed by scientific testing and are proven effective in reducing acne, while many of them are sold without any significant therapeutic effects. In most cases, a balance of pimple remedies is usually successful in minimizing the chances of developing acne except for acute cases. In general, there are three acknowledged acne treatments that should be considered and are helpful when dealing with acne.

First, the primary means of minimizing acne is getting rid of bacteria growth triggered by blocked skin pores. Dermatologists recommend acne treatments like antibiotics (tetracyclines) and anti-bacterial solutions like benzoyl peroxide on afflicted areas to kill bacteria. It should be noted, however, that less bacteria doesn’t reduce the amount of oil produced by the skin that is responsible for clogging the pores. The accumulation of dirt, dead skin cells and oil on the skin often results to the same clogged pore problem.

Most of the time, the acne breaks out again as soon as the acne treatments are done.

Another acknowledged way of battling pesky pimples is by taking vitamin A derivatives like isotretinoin over an extended period. This method aims to lessen the amount of oil produced by the glands under the skin. Many literature account for the effectiveness of this acne treatment method and have shown that isotretinoin is effective in decreasing acne incidents in 80% of patients with acute acne. Also, the medication has long term benefits in reducing recurrence of acne than anti-bacterial acne treatments. While effective, taking isotretinoin should be done under close supervision of a dermatologist as such acne treatments have slight side effects like nose bleeding and drying of the skin.

The third acne treatment is regularly exfoliating the skin to help unblock skin pores and reduce acne. Salicylic acid is commonly used in many acne treatments designed to exfoliate the skin. Salicylic acid is found to be effective in stimulating the skin to peel off and prevent the accumulation of dead skin cells that often clog the pores and mix with oil secreted by the skin, thus resulting to acne.

Read more useful tips about health articles and acne free skin care.

Easy Steps

To start of with, there are a few things that all must try to do so that they could get and keep great skin. Consuming a lot of water daily (around half a gallon is a great way to remove impurities from your system, since problems with the kidneys and liver can cause breakouts. Water additionally helps by giving dry skin more moisture, and is also capable of providing the right moisture balance to oily skin.

This is one of the skin care tips that most people miss – get plenty of sleep every night Most people have a hard time getting enough rest, but at least 7 hours of sleep can help the skin to renew itself and ‘destress’ which can reduce and heal blemishes. Rest is in fact one of the most useful skin care regimens available, so this method should be exercised daily in addition to keeping yourself hydrated.

Herbal skin care, as opposed to over-the-counter cosmetics, may also help your skin to get that healthy glow that we all want. You can use tea tree oil on the face and body to get rid of bacteria and reduce breakouts on the skin. The use of Bergamot oil also adds a great shine and luster to the skin (as well as a great smell) so you can use it right out of the shower. Other natural skin care products, such as lotions and face washes made from fruit extracts, oatmeal, and shea butter, are also great for the skin, since they provide moisture and exfoliation without being too harsh on the skin.

Last but not least, moisturizing the skin every day is one of the skin care tips you can’t do without. Even if you have oily skin, you should still moisturize, so that your skin can renew itself after cleansing. And, always remember to use a moisturizer with an SPF of at least 30, no matter what your skin type. Even in the winter time, a good moisturizer with sun protection will help your skin to fight breakouts and the effects of aging on a daily basis.

Keeping your skin healthy really doesn’t take that much effort, regularly following a few simple steps will help you with having healthy skin.