If you have school age children, they are at risk of getting colds and the flu. In this edition of Child Wellness Wednesday, YNN's Marcie Fraser tells us about the risk for lice.
"Any condition where bugs are potentially crawling on you has a freak out effect," said Dr. Tom Portuese, an urgent care doctor.
It does have the ‘ick’ factor. Lice are most commonly found on elementary kids.
"Younger kids get recognized a lot more because nurses are looking in young kids heads but it can happen to anyone," said Dr. Portuese.
Lice can be found in the base of the hair line.
"You will see really small crawling insects in the hair and might see nits, it's the eggs that head lice lay which is tiny ovals at the base of the hair," said Dr. Portuese.
Itching is the most common symptom. Most often, lice are spread through direct contact and can survive off the human body for about 24 hours.
"If you were to fly from here to San Francisco and someone else is flying in the same seat back, you could theoretically get it from you," said Dr. Portuese.
Treatment includes over the counter products. A nit comb may be used as well as medicated shampoos.
"When that doesn't do it, we have a prescription medication that is stronger," said Dr. Portuese.
There are also natural treatments that can be used.
"The evidence for the olive oil and natural treatments are not strong, therefore if you are sure of the diagnosis, use a proven methods," said Dr. Portuese.
It is crucial to also treat clothing and bedding.
"Anything you have been wearing recently, wash in really hot water, anything you come in close contact with, bedding and such, wash again, the same," said Dr. Portuese.
If you have the belief is that lice appear in hair that is dirty, that is not true. Lice prefer cleaner hair, because if the hair is less greasy, their eggs can adhere to the strands better.
Fast effective treatment is essentials to prevent spreading the lice or getting an infection from too much scratching.