A lot of people think that they should use anti-lice shampoos and lotions to prevent head lice. Remember, these shampoos and lotions contain insecticides and they should only be used when you are 100% sure that you have lice. If you don’t have lice, then you must avoid such head lice treatments.

It’s not advisable to put chemicals in your hair unnecessarily. Plus, using anti-lice products before you get infested won’t prevent you from getting lice, because head lice are not automatically born in your hair, rather they move from one host to another.

So, to avoid head lice, you have to avoid the things from where you can get head lice.

Let’s now discuss how you can realistically prevent head lice:

• Head lice move from one host to another host through towels. So, avoid using the towel of infested person and you will successfully prevent head lice from residing on your scalp.
• Lice move through brushes and combs. So, avoid using the brushes and combs of infested person and you will successfully prevent head lice from residing on your scalp.
• Head lice move through clothing as well. So, avoid sharing clothing with infested person and you will successfully prevent head lice from residing on your scalp.
• Kids get lice when they touch each other with head. They should be educated and asked not to play such games.

Now you know how you can prevent head lice from living on your head and feeding on your blood.

Head lice are not automatically born in your hair. They are your unwanted guests who arrive from the hair of other people whom you have close interaction with.

They are mostly found among children between 4 and 11 and they are rare in adults. So, if you have no head lice in your hair, but a person in your house has head lice, then the chances are that you will get them too.

Remember, you can’t start any head lice treatment before you actually get some head lice in your hair.

How are Head Lice Transferred?

Head lice can’t jump or fly. They don’t have any wings. However, they can move really fast through hair.

Children in school touch each other with their heads when they play. This allows the head lice to make a move from one place to another, i.e. one head to another.

However, we don’t see any adults doing the same thing in office. How do adults get head lice then?

The thing is that the head lice can be transferred to different objects through the head or hair of an infested person and they can survive for as long as 2 days without feeding. Therefore, when you come in contact with those objects, you can catch head lice too.

Other than direct head contact, some of the common objects through which the head lice are transferred are:

• Hair care items like brushes, combs, towels, hair bands etc.
• Shared clothing like hats, scarves, coats, etc.
• Other objects like pillows, beds, carpets, car seats, etc.
• One place that people don’t pay much attention to and that can easily transfer head lice is coat hanging hooks. When people hang coats in offices, they, at times, touch the coats and clothing of others too. If there are head lice in their clothing, then they can be transferred to yours…and from there to your head.

You begin head lice treatment only after you get head lice in your hair. If there isn’t any in your hair, then the head lice treatment is not for you. However, if someone in your family has head lice, then you must ensure that you use all the common items carefully, i.e. brushes, combs, towels, hats, etc.  Prevention is better than head lice treatment… when you don’t have any head lice.

So, the person who has been infested should start head lice treatment and those who haven’t been affected should exercise precaution when it comes to using common commodities.