Lice

One of my friends recently had the joyful experience of going through lice with her daughter.  She asked me to share her experience in hopes of helping save someone else's sanity. 

I had called the pediatrician for advice because we were concerned about excessive itching on my daughter’s head, not having a clue about lice. A few days later, we brought my daughter to the office and the nurse confirmed she had lice. (WHAT???!!!)


In extreme panic and lack of education about lice, I researched everything I could have regarding getting rid of the stubborn buggers. Okay, maybe I was a little obsessed, but the thought of lice grossed me out and I feared the world would end if I got it as well. (Okay, a little exaggeration, especially being the date is so close to 9/11. On a scale of 0 to a million, this was .0000000000000000001).

There was a lot of conflicting information so we tried a few of the methods and in retrospect; I have some experience and advice that I’d like to share. I admit it’s partly for selfish reasons, to educate other parents about lice so that my daughter doesn’t get lice again, but also to save parents the same exhaustion I experienced.

I included a link with material that I found that helped me keep my sanity. (although that is debatable at this point.) It’s designed for a skeptic about the effectiveness of the shampoos and a theory of lice that might be immune to Pyrethrum, the chemical in common lice treatments. (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/theprogram.html)

The program talks about the life cycle of lice and why it’s so difficult to get rid of them. It’s a 21 day program, although we won our battle within 10 days. (Thank goodness it wasn’t 3 months like the nurse’s daughter. Again, WHAT???!!!) I believe our experience was shorter than 21 days because I DO believe the lice shampoo killed adult lice, (the ones that can lay eggs) but I’m not convinced it killed the eggs. My husband and I cut out every egg we could find and the material I reference pulled me into reality that I wouldn’t find all the eggs.

Unfortunately, my daughter’s hair is uncommonly thick and after HOURS and HOURS of combing, I found myself thinking for the first time that I wished her hair wasn’t so hair-commercial beautiful and I was no longer extremely envious of her shiny brown silky hair. Along with the shampoo, extreme combing, and olive oil, I had a friend give her a pixie cut. (I couldn’t do it – I cried just watching, although I have learned to like the spunky style that suits her personality.) The haircut was the only way I could manage my time, with all the combing, laundry, vacuuming, and sterilizing I would get awards for.

Here’s our experience:

· Day -4: Itching started

· Day 0: lice confirmed, first shampoo (3 dead adult lice)

· Day 1: treated myself just in case

· Day 2: chopped five inches from her hair

· Day 3: last nymph found

· Day 7: second shampoo

· Day 9: pixie cut, last of eggs found

· Day 10: no eggs found

· Day 11: Back to school, panic gone, nervousness still remained.

· Day 12 forward: brief combing and preventative shampoo each night.

Our experience will likely be different than yours, but the most important things that I walked away with is to trust your instinct, and spend most of your time killing the bugs and combing for eggs in your child’s hair. As a favor, please don't send your child back to school until after at least 10 days, so they don't give lice to other kids.

Good luck!