head lice from bedding?

so can you get head lice from bedding? like pillows and such?i have dreadlocks so getting head lice would be the biggest trauma of my life lol.
Jenn xx

Yes you can. Bed bugs are another nuisance as well.

so what can i do about this?

Perhaps not worry about it and enjoy your trip to India?

hi


Asked hotel time the last person left the room as lice die alfter ten hours without mankind contact

If you are really concerned, you couod get rid of your dreads and cut your hair short -- or stick to 5 star accomodation. Its not just the hotel rooms. Lice, fleas, buds and ticks are every where in India.

i guess i could just bring my own bedding. as cutting my hair is not an option. have any of you ever gotten head lice in india?

Where did you get the notion that headlice was a problem?

It is usually passed by direct contact with someone -- head to head -- that's why it is so common for kids to pick it up from class-mates. Like Tony says, they don't live that long away from a 'host'. Head lice are closely related to crabs; you reduce risk for either by being choosy about the company you keep.

I always bring a sheet/bag along, like the kind used in youth hostels, as there are many unsavoury elements to the bedding in some places you might wind up in when choice is limited. But no, I've never had head lice.

-m2-'s suggestion is a good one.

When travelling, I take a pillow case as well and I make sure that both the sheet and the pillow case (and mosquito net) are soaked in a bucket of water mixed with permethrin a few days before I leave. No type of insect will bother you if you do this.

It is also a good idea, with mosquitoes in mind, to soak your socks in the same mixture and, if you are really concerned, your T-shirts and shirts and your trousers as well. Normally I wear sandals and bare feet but around dusk, I slip on a pair of socks. I call this my safe socks routine!

There is a product called Permethrin that you can use to both treat your clothing and bedding and also as a spray/slop (however you can arrange to apply it) that will drastically cut down your chances of bedbugs, mozzies, and lots of others.

Soak your sleep sheet in it, and your clothing, let dry, and it will last your entire time in India (assuming 6 months or less).

How you find this in Ireland, ya got me - it's available in the States.

Whoa! Another Great Potential Indian Danger

Seriously, though, it is not nice having head lice, but it is easily treated. True,you wouldn't be able to comb the nits out of your hair, but I guess you could still wash it with an anti-louse shampoo.

When I caught head lice in Kilburn, London c. 1974 (do the London guide books warn of this danger?) I had a shampoo that I had to apply and leave in for a week. This was fine as long as didn't rain. rain resulted in a headfull of bubbles

oh im not saying that im afraid that im definatley going to get head lice in india. ive gotten it a few times in ireland from working with children. just never when i had dreadlocks. and lp kept goin on about hostels and bed bugs etc. so i was just wodnering if you can actually get head lice from bedding. as the subject suggests. permethrin, must look out for that down at the chemists.

you can get permethrin even at indian chemists
if nothing else, put a dry towel or some other clean thing on your pillow as you sleep, if you have risk at hotels and if you have risks while working with kids, you need to take lot more precautions

In hotel in Amritsar I moved the mattress and found all of these little critters on the bed base, did not catch anything but they could have given us a bad night if they had a mind to I am sure.

Be wary of using chemicals, even permethrin, while it has a low toxicity to humans it is still a chemical and depending on your sensitivity and where it is used can be harmful. Toxicity is measured at an initial contact level and so spraying it or dusting it on bedding or clothing dramatically increases the contact level and where moisture is involved such as in perspiration, breathing and eyes, the absorption is much greater.

A cover sheet of the pillows and hotel sheets may be the simplest solution in the short term or if one is staying for a period get the place thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed; that is shifting the bed and mattress, the works.