So you had a phonecall from school or found some nits (louse eggs). What do you do…?
Firstly – DO NOT GO TO YOUR SALON. Legally, a South African stylist may not work on your child’s hair if they have lice – and on discovery of nits or lice, they are obligated by law to ask you to leave the salon. This can be really embarrassing for both of you, so don’t put yourself through it.
What is it – how do I find it? So this small, brownish-grey, wingless insect lives in human hair. It’s called Pediculosis humanus capitus (human head lice – singular = louse), is about the size of a pinhead and has three sets of legs that allow it to cling really firmly to hair-shafts. Even though its legs are strong, it can’t jump.
It attacks and punctures the skin to feed on blood, setting up irritation similar to a mozzie bite. These bites may set off an allergic reaction in some people, showing up as itching – often raised – red marks.
If you carefully part the hair, you may find lice or the skin reaction to their bites. However, you will usually find the hatched, empty pearly-white egg cases and these are often confused with dandruff, which it resembles. These empty shells are sticky and as the hair grows, it is found further away from the scalp than where the lice are.
The actual live eggs are teardrop-shaped and brown. These are laid on the hair roots – close to the scalp – and are called nits. Lice will attack ANY scalp, it does not discern between a clean head of hair and a dirty one. There absolutely no stigma attached to contracting head-lice.
So how do I treat it? The human head-louse is classed as a disease and an infestation of lice is often called a lice infection. Lice are passed by head-to-head contact, or by sharing hats, brushes, combs or towels. Make sure while you are treating the condition that all these items – including all bedding and clothes – are constantly cleaned and sterilised after use and kept separately from other family members belongings.
Get to your pharmacy and buy one of the many delousing preparations available. This needs to be applied at least twice. Although the lice are VERY easily killed, (and don’t live longer than 24hours when separated from its human host) the nits are protected by their tough shells and another application will have to be done within seven days to prevent the freshly hatched lice – of the last nit-batch – from laying any more eggs. The usual method is to apply the shampoo as directed and then carefully use the accompanying fine-toothed lice and nit comb, to remove all the lice and eggs you can find. IMPORTANT: Seek medical treatment immediately should the treatment be ineffective or the scalp becomes inflamed or infected.
Natural Route? Lately a popular alternative has been to apply natural preparations to hair (during a school or family outbreak). These preparations usually contain Quassia bark, tansy, essential oils of rosemary, geranium, lavender, eucalyptus, lemon and tea-tree. This could be used as a treatment or deterrent.
Here’s a local head-lice site: www.lice.co.za
muizenberg hair 
Fabulous, informative and well researched will pass on to moms with kids! Thanx L!!!