You have contracted head lice and tried to treat it properly. You use over-the-counter medication, avoid direct contact with people, and clean your home. But you realize that, after a few weeks of comfort, your head lice are back.
Head lice are really stubborn pests. Here are the major reasons why your head lice keep coming back, even after you have done all your best to get rid of them.
1. You don’t use the treatment frequently enough
Getting rid of a head lice infestation is not that simple. You don’t just go to the pharmacy, buy some over-the-counter medication, and expect good results. If it is that easy, head lice infestations wouldn’t be that prevalent.
One reason why your head lice keep coming back is that you only undergo the treatment once. Many treatments only kill the adult head lice. So, if you are undergoing the treatment only once, you are only killing the adults and leaving the nits behind. The nits will one day hatch and turn into adult head lice.
If you really want to get rid of these pests, you have to undergo treatment multiple times, usually two or three times. This way, you can kill all the pests in all its life cycles.
2. You keep getting head lice from your family
One of the most common ways to spread head lice is through head-to-head contact. It’s not surprising to have head-to-head contact with your family constantly, because you all live under the same roof. Due to this, there is a big chance that at least one of your family members have already contracted the pests from you. It’s fairly common for mothers to get head lice from their children.
It doesn’t matter if you have indeed undergone treatment multiple times and have successfully eradicated the pests from your head. You will not completely get rid of them if you have already transferred some of them to your family. The entire family will just pass them back and forth.
To prevent this from happening, avoid sleeping on the same bed with your family. Also be careful when lying down in the sofa and putting your head on throw pillows. You may leave some head lice there. These wandering critters can be transferred to the next family member who makes contact with the sofa.
3. You keep getting head lice from your friends
Aside from your family, your friends are the ones you will likely have contact with. They may give you a welcome hug when they see you. They may lean over and peep into your phone. There are just so many ways for you and your friends to have head-to-head contact.
This is one of the reasons why your head lice keep coming back. You keep getting it from your infested friends. If you know or suspect that one of your friends has these bloodsuckers, avoid having direct contact with this person for the mean time.
But also remember that head lice can’t jump or fly. So, you don’t have to avoid this person like the plague. You just have to avoid direct contact to avoid transmission. Also avoid sleepovers and other activities where direct contact is inevitable.
4. You share items with someone who has head lice
Don’t underestimate the grip of head lice in your hair. Their strong grip is actually one of the reasons why they are hard to completely eradicate from your head. You can’t just simply comb or wash them away.
But from time to time, these pests lose their grip and end up in various places, such as the sofas and throw pillows that have been mentioned earlier. They can also end up in combs, hats, towels, and other personal items that touch the hair.
Stop sharing items with someone who has these pests. Also avoid placing the infested person’s items near others’ items. For example, put the infested person’s towel in a different towel hanger, separated from the rest of the family’s towels.
5. You don’t clean your home enough
Head lice are parasites. They suck on their host’s blood several times a day. This means that they are very vulnerable without a host. The weak ones can die in less than a day and the strong ones can survive for only up to two days.
But this doesn’t mean that those without a host are not a threat. As long as they are alive, they have the potential to latch onto your hair and start an infestation. Don’t take your chances. Kill these parasites even if they are without a host. Don’t wait for them to die off in a day or two.
Always vacuum surfaces, especially hot spots like beds and sofas. Isolate items that make contact with hair, such as combs. You can wrap them in plastic bags for a few days, so any head lice in them can surely die of hunger and dehydration. Also wash your clothes properly and make sure you heat them in the dryer. Let them stay in the dryer for about 40 minutes, just to be sure.
6. You are dealing with super lice
You can follow all treatment instructions, avoid contact with others, and clean your home, but you can still fail in completely eradicating your head lice problem. If this is the case for you, you may be dealing with super lice.
The world has been using the same insecticide ingredients against these parasitic insects for decades. They have already developed some kind of resistance against the most common treatments, particularly against the over-the-counter shampoos.
This is also partly because of misuse. For example, if an infested person has used the shampoo only once, he may only end up killing the weak adult head lice. The strong ones can survive and may breed a stronger generation of the pests in the infested person’s head. The shampoo that has been used may become ineffective.
If over-the-counter medication doesn’t work anymore, seriously consider going to the doctor and get stronger prescription medication.