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How can you tell if your child has head lice?

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Average rating: 4 out of 5 star rating

How can you tell if you have head lice?

Head lice are difficult to find just by looking in the hair. If you suspect that you child (or you yourself) have head lice, it is best to do 'detection combing'. Some people advise that you do this to children's hair regularly, about once a week.

Detection combing:

*Wash the hair in the normal way with ordinary shampoo. *Rinse out the shampoo and put on lots of ordinary conditioner. *Comb the hair with a normal comb to get rid of tangles. *When the hair is untangled switch to a detection comb. This is a special fine-toothed comb that you can buy at pharmacies. (The teeth of normal combs are too far apart.) *Slot the teeth of the detection comb into the hair at the roots so it is touching the scalp. *Draw the detection comb through to the tips of the hair. *Repeat this in all directions until you have combed all the hair. *Check the comb for lice after each stroke. A magnifying glass may help. *If you see any lice, clean the comb by wiping it on a tissue or rinse it before the next stroke. *Comb over a white surface such as white paper. This is so that any head lice that are flicked out by the comb are easy to see. *After the whole head has been combed, rinse out the conditioner. *While the hair is still wet, use an ordinary comb to get rid of tangles. *Repeat the detection combing in the rinsed hair to check for any lice that you might have missed the first time. *It takes about 15-30 minutes to do detection combing, depending on how thick the hair is.

Average rating:

4 out of 5 star rating

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