The WM Parenting Connection

By Stacey Celaya - Single Parenting



This week our house was invaded by a VERY unwelcomed visitor. This visitor wreaked havoc in my home and will cause paranoia of the highest order for at least another month.

What visitor could disrupt a household so quickly and completely? It goes by the name Pediculus humanus capitis, more commonly called head lice.




Now I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that every single one of you that just read the previous sentence has now begun to itch. I know just typing that sentence caused me to itch! The very idea of lice is enough to make most of us cringe with visions of poor hygiene and poverty overwhelming our thought process.


Having had the pleasure of handling this 6-legged hitchhiker when my teenagers were toddlers enabled me to take action and cut this head hitchhiker off at the pass rather quickly. Knowing the true facts about head lice makes dealing with it much easier – so how ‘bout I give you a crash course in how-to of head lice?


Here are a couple things I would bet you didn’t know – and quite frankly, neither did I until I decided to do a little research to write about our unwelcomed guest.

According to the CDC:

• Head lice infect 6 to 12 MILLION children each year mostly between the ages of 3 and 12
• Head lice do not spread disease
• Head lice cannot hop or fly
• Most commonly transmitted by head-to-head contact
• Transmission by shared clothing or other personal items (including combs, brushes and towels) is uncommon
• Dogs, cats, and animals CANNOT become infected by lice
• Lice are most active in the dark
• Lice prefer clean hair – they “glue” their eggs to the shafts of the hair and clean hair is more conducive to this
• Lice prefer round shafted hair so African Americans are less likely to have head lice because their hair is usually oval shaped which results in curly, course hair
• Head lice is the number one reason for absenteeism from schools across the country
  

A little about this week’s house guest:


Lice have three stages, the nits (eggs), the nymph and the adult. The nits are laid by the female louse and attached to the shaft of the hair about ¼ inch up from the scalp with a glue-like substance. They are very small and are often confused with dandruff flakes, scabs or hairspray droplets. They are yellow or white in color and about the size of a knot of thread so they are hard to see!


The nymph is an immature louse that hatches from the nits – this is the teenage louse. It looks just like the adult louse but smaller. Like the adults, the nymphs feed on blood from the scalp. They are mature about 9-12 days after hatching. The fully grown adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed. They are incredibly adaptable creatures and appear darker in color on a dark haired person and lighter on a lighter haired person. To survive, they get nourishment from blood and can live about 30 days on a person’s head but hey will die in only a couple of days if they have no human host.

They are most commonly found on the nape of the neck and behind the ears although they can be found anywhere on the scalp.

How do you know your little one has a hitchhiker in their hair?

• They tell you they have a tickling feeling in their hair
• Their head itches – this is an allergic reaction to the saliva of the louse
• Your child may be irritable and have difficulty sleeping – remember they are most active in the dark
• There may be sores on their head from scratching

So what do you do if your child has head lice?

• If you’re not sure if they have lice you should check with someone familiar with them – your family doctor, the local health department or the school nurse are all trained in identifying head lice
• Treat with an over-the-counter or prescription medication for lice
  o RID, Pronto, R&C – should not be used on persons allergic to chrysanthemums
  o NIX – kills only the live lice but not unhatched eggs; retreatment may be necessary
• After applying medication according to directions, it is important to comb through the hair with a nit comb removing the nits and lice from the hair
• You should comb through the hair every 2-3 days for the next 2-3 weeks
• Retreatment is recommended 7-10 days after initial treatment to kill any surviving hatched lice before they produce any more eggs
• You should wash and dry all bedding and clothing that could be infected with water at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit or seal items that cannot be washed in a plastic bag and store for 2 weeks
• Soak combs and brushes in hot water (at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit) for 5-10 minutes
• Vacuum the floor and furniture that may be infected (don’t forget to toss the vacuum bag or washout the canister)
  

Understand that lice are not picky – they do not care which tax bracket your in, whether you drive a Navigator or a Nissan or if you live in the penthouse or the projects.



Finally, if your child comes home from school or daycare with that hated hitchhiker – please, please tell the school or the daycare. Children often engage in activities where head to head contact is involved so if your child has lice, then chances are so does at least one of their friends and that increases the chance of a new unwelcomed guest finding their way to your little one’s head and having to start the whole treatment process over again. And after having had to go through it once this week already – trust me when I say I do not have the time or the desire to repeat it any time soon!!

For more information:



http://www.cdc.gov/lice/

Who's That Knocking On My Door??