I run a head lice clinic – summer is ‘prime time’ for kids getting infested & you need to act now, here’s what to do
WHEN you think of head lice, your head probably starts itching and you likely picture a school classroom.
However, experts have revealed that your child is MORE at risk of catching nits during the summer than at school, but don’t worry, there are ways to prevent them.
Kelly Court, who works as a nurse at The NitNurse Clinic, revealed that the summer break is a crucial time to be paying attention to your children’s scalps.
The Essex-based clinic often sees the most appointments with concerned parents from May through September.
She described the period as “incredibly busy, with things getting increasingly hectic.”
“Many people are booking treatments to ensure they can enjoy peace of mind over the six-week holiday.”
Eileen Hutchinson, Head Lice expert and the founder of NitNot Head Lice products, agreed that the summer months are the busiest time for infestations.
“Summer is always the biggest time for picking up head lice because parents relax and don’t think about checking, thinking they are not at school to pick them up,” she explained.
“But summer is the prime time to catch them, because parents aren’t checking and kids are mixing with kids at camps and other summer activities and sitting head to head playing together.”
She added that hair styles can also play a significant role in spreading nits.
“Kids are also more likely not to have long hair tied back over the holidays, and hair blowing in a light breeze easily makes contact with other kids’ hair and spreads the lice,” Eileen explained.
The expert, whose product featured on Dragon’s Den, broke down how quickly the insects can spread and reproduce.
“After mating, the female louse crawls down the hair shaft, holds onto it, and waits for a strand of someone else’s hair to brush past,” she said.
“Once she’s on the new host’s hair, she crawls up and starts laying eggs about an inch above the scalp.”
Eileen revealed the areas that usually show telltale signs of an infestation.
“They prefer warm, moist areas for laying eggs, so the best places to check for clusters of lice eggs and nits are on the nape of the neck and behind the ears,” she said.
She explained that a female louse only needs to mate once in order to keep laying eggs continuously for her whole life.
Tips for dealing with head lice
NitNot shared their step-by-step guide for avoiding and treating a nit infestation.
To avoid head lice:
Tie back longer hair to avoid direct contact.
How to check:
- Wash and condition hair as usual, then brush out any tangles.
- Use a good quality nit comb on wet hair only. Divide the hair and comb each section in long sweeping downwards motions from the top of the scalp down the hair shaft, starting at the front of the head to the nape of the neck.
- Examine the comb between swipes, wipe it on white tissue to check for small insects about the size of a sesame seed.
- Target key areas by thoroughly combing the side of the head, behind the ears, and the nape of the neck.
“They can lay up to eight eggs a day and keep doing this for about 35 days, that’s over 200 eggs in just one month,” Eileen said.
“These eggs take eight to nine days to hatch into tiny nymphs, so you can see how quickly a lice infestation can go from unnoticeable to shocking.”
The insects have evolved to easily disguise themselves on our heads, with transulecent bodies that reflect the colour of the hair.
Their shells act like glue, wrapping around the hair shaft as a liquid and hardening, making them very difficult to remove.
A bottle of the NitNot Eco Head Lice Treatment is available for £16 from Tesco.
However, simply killing the head lice isn’t enough, you will need to remove the dead eggs and nits from your scalp.
This can be done by pulling them down and off the hair shaft either with your fingertips or a nit comb.
The NitNot Lice Removal Comb is available for £14 from Tesco.
Kelly highlighted the importance of investing in a nit comb for prevention purposes.
“It’s crucial to check your child’s hair thoroughly using a nit comb on wet hair,” she explained.
“Just searching by hand isn’t enough because it’s really hard to spot them.
“Using a comb allows you to swipe what you find onto a white tissue for a proper look.”
She added that combing wet hair is easier and less painful as it prevents snags.
“If the busyness of the clinic already is anything to go by, [infestations] will be just as high in September this year [as 2023],” Kelly explained.
“Parents really need to be checking during the summer holidays.”
Eileen added that it’s “almost impossible” to completely prevent our child from being exposed to nits, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
