Head Lice and Head Lice Treatments

Head lice are a very common problem and even more so in schools with children aged 4-11. It is thought that more than 1 in 3 children in the UK will get head lice at some point during the school year. Head lice are tiny insects with no wings that live in human hair. They are grey-brown in colour and are roughly the size of a pinhead when they have hatched and the size of a sesame seed when they are fully grown.

Head lice cannot jump, fly or swim and are spread by head-to-head contact. They climb from the hair of the person that is infected onto the hair of someone else.  Having head lice does not mean that you have dirty hair or bad hygiene as they can affect all hair types no matter what condition it is in or the length of the hair. Head lice only affect humans and cannot be caught from animals or passed onto them.

Head Lice treatments Guide

Head lice are small insects that live amongst the hairs on your scalp and neck. They are NOT a serious health problem and it is rare that they will cause anything but an itchy scalp. They are on the other hand, embarrassing and extremely uncomfortable and should be treated as soon as possible.

You probably won’t realise you have head lice until your scalp becomes itchy. You will probably get a tickling or itchy feeling and you may develop a rash behind your ears and at the back of your neck which is a reaction to the louse faeces. An itchy scalp does not always mean you have head lice, so do not start with any head lice treatments until you have been diagnosed.