Head Lice

Headlice are extremely common - mostly around young children. Despite what you might hear, they are not caused by poor hair hygiene.


	Symptoms
	Most people have no symptoms at all. 1 in 3 may have an itchy scalp. This is not due to lice biting, but due to an allergy in the scalp to the lice. Adults are just as likely to have head lice as children. You find them by looking in the hair. The most common place to find head lice is just above the back of the neck. Look for little white dots on the hair which do not come off, or buy a special detection comb which has very fine teeth. Comb gently from the roots of the hair and then look to see if you can seen either nits, or the little brown lice. Holding the comb over a sheet of white note paper helps you see any lice.

	Causes
	Headlice are spread by close hair to hair contact. Head lice are not olympic athletes and cannot jump or fly from head to head. They simply walk across from one hair to another. They cannot live off the scalp, so you cannot catch head lice from clothing or bedding

	Treatment
	You can obtain some lotions/rinses/shampoos from your chemist without prescription. They are usually water or alcohol based - alcohol is better (though avoid if the patient has eczema, asthma or broken skin).

	Prevention
	It is difficult to prevent headlice. The best way to control them is to perform regular checks so that you can catch them early on.

	Recommended web sites
	Headlice A very useful leaflet from Patient UK Headlice Advice An entire site dedicated to giving advice on dealing with headlice