Someone may not think much of an itching sensation in their hair and scalp. People might scratch their heads a few times and decide to wash their hair. But what if the feeling persists?
If someone experiences consistent itching in their hair and develops sores on their head due to scratching, they should consider letting a professional look at their scalp.
Experiencing such sensations can be signs of a lice infestation. Scratching one’s head can cause sores that may become bacteria-infested. For this reason, someone who suspects they have lice should seek professional examination and treatment.
What Are Lice?
Lice, the plural form of a louse, refer to wingless parasitic insects. Adult female lice lay multiple eggs a day. Eggs are most likely to hatch when they are less than six millimeters from the scalp. Within a week, the eggs hatch and produce nymphs. Nymphs molt until they grow to adult size.
These parasites feed on blood. The three most common types of lice are head lice, body lice, and pubic lice. All three of these can live in human bodies.
With their six clawed legs, head lice attach themselves to human hair and live in the scalp. These lice survive in human hosts as they feed on human blood. They are most common in warm places, such as the ears and at the back of the neck.
Head lice infestation occurs worldwide. This type of lice is common among school children in the United States. An estimated 12 million lice infestations impact American children as young as three and as old as eleven. Direct head-to-head contact spreads lice in childcare centers, elementary schools, and homes.
Rather than laying eggs on the human body, body lice lay their eggs in clothes, linens and sheets, blankets, and towels, and live there. They move to the body to feed on human blood. Body lice spread through direct contact and sharing lice-infested items. Storing lice-infested clothes, blankets, pillows, and stuffed toys with uninfected things at home and school can cause the spread of lice. Coming in contact with lice-contaminated furniture such as a bed or cloth-covered chair or couch are other ways parasites spread. These lice carry and spread disease, unlike head lice and pubic lice.
Pubic lice live in the human skin and hair of their host’s pubic area. Sexual activity is the most common way to transmit pubic lice.
Treating and Preventing Head Lice
Getting professional attention is important for pregnant women with lice or people with infections, hives, or skin abrasions caused by scratching themselves. Many people try home remedies or washing their hair with a nonprescription shampoo that claims to kill lice. The best option, however, is to seek professional lice treatment from a lice removal company, such as Lice Be Gone.
Skilled head lice removal technicians remove lice in the most effective way possible: by examining clients’ hair and removing each louse and nit by hand. These professionals know how to eliminate head lice by stopping the entire life cycle of lice and nits. Failing to remove one insect from someone’s scalp can reignite an infestation. Over-the-counter treatments, home remedies, and shampoos may kill live head lice, but they aren’t thorough or effective at stopping the life cycle. Specialists at Lice Be Gone take their time and remove every single louse, and educate clients and their families on delousing their homes and preventing lice infestations.
Someone interested in seeking the proper professional attention for a lice infestation may wonder how they will pay for treatment. Clients who can’t afford to pay for treatment out-of-pocket should consider relying on health insurance. Health insurance plans provide partial or full coverage for emergency care, scheduled procedures, prescriptions, and other forms of medical care.
Uninsured people or people with insurance plans that don’t cover certain kinds of treatment should consider investing in temporary medical insurance. People can find the best temporary medical insurance plans can through Agile Health Insurance. Agile Health Insurance provides individual and short-term health coverage options. Short-term medical insurance is a streamlined coverage plan designed as a safety net in times of medical emergencies or transitions from one coverage plan to another. Temporary coverage is ideal for people who don’t receive insurance and benefits through their employers or don’t want to pay high insurance premiums and deductibles. When using short term medical insurance, someone can seek care from any doctor or healthcare professional at any hospital or medical facility.
Someone in need of emergency lice treatment should consider temporary medical coverage. Having an insurance and payment option that makes professional lice removal affordable is better than wasting money on home remedies and shampoos that don’t cure the problem.
