The head louse is a bug without wings which dwells in people's hair and lives only on our blood. They have infested us for many centuries. The majority of us have personally known how annoying it is to have them on our heads for some period of time, usually in our youth since that is the time when one is most likely to be stricken. Each year, 6,000,000 to 12,000,000 people in the United States must cope with the problem of head lice or body lice.

The diagnosis of head lice is relatively straight forward. You can look for lice bites or the presence of shiny white eggs in the hair, but the best way to determine if somebody has head lice is to comb their hair thoroughly with a lice comb and then examine the comb afterwards for the presence of lice.

As parents, the best way to prevent head lice on our children is to check them regularly. Most schools in the United States have a no nit policy which means that children with head lice are dismissed from class until the problem is dealt with and all lice have been removed.

This can stop lice from being passed between children, yet frequently lice are not discovered until they have been transmitted from one child to another. It is therefore very important to inspect your child's hair on a regular basis, particularly if they are aged between four and twelve.

Keeping your child's hair short will help him avoid picking up nits. If he does become infected, however, you must wash all bedding and towels and treat his head at least once to get rid of the problem. Do not send your child to school while he has an active infestation, because head lice pass from child to child very quickly. The most obvious clue that a child has head lice is if you see him continually scratching or digging at his head and scalp.

Luckily there are several viable options for treating lice in children and adults. There are silicone-based lotions and herbal lotions. The application of heat will also work. While any of these methods will work, they are not one hundred percent successful on the first application of treatment. That is why following the full course of treatment is very important in order to prevent relapses.