What have you heard about head lice? Chances are, you’ve heard something false. Head lice facts aren’t common knowledge in society but we are trying to change that. It’s a great idea for parents to be educated on head lice because their child might get it at school or a friends house or at summer camp. Let’s find out if your knowledge of head lice is accurate or not. Here are five myths about head lice, debunked.
This is untrue. It doesn’t matter if you’re a billionaire or just scraping by, your child is just as likely as any to get head lice. It doesn’t matter if your child is dirty or clean, has good hygiene or bad hygiene. Head lice will infest anyone of any race and any social class.
Pets and humans do not contract the same type of lice. You can’t get lice from your pet and they can’t get it from you.
Head lice don’t care what your hair looks like if it’s dirty or clean, long or short, dark or light — they just want hair to live in and a scalp to suck blood from. They certainly can’t infest a shaved head because they need hair strands to crawl on but we don’t recommend shaving your child’s head if they get lice, call us instead.
Lice do not have wings, therefore they cannot fly. They can’t jump either. They move by crawling with their little claw legs. They spread by making head-to-head contact, which allows the lice to crawl from head to head. They move very fast.
Fortunately, head lice have not been shown to spread any sort of disease or sickness. They are a huge nuisance and they are very contagious but they don’t cause harm besides rashes and itching from lice bites. They may cause trouble sleeping because they are so irritable but they do not cause long-term harm.
You may have believed one of these head lice myths. There are so many misconceptions floating around the internet and we are here to answer any questions you may have. Give us a call anytime!