Lice. Just the mention of it makes me itch. Once you’ve seen those little critters crawling through your child’s hair, the mere thought of lice can send shivers down your spine.
We managed to dodge lice during elementary school, so I thought we were in the clear as my kids entered high school. After all, they wash their hair regularly, and I do laundry almost daily. Who would still be worrying about lice at this age?
I couldn’t have been more mistaken.
One evening, I picked up my daughter, Ava, from rehearsal. She jumped in the car, a bit sweaty and famished, and we began our usual chatter about her day and homework. Then she casually mentioned, “Mom, I’ve picked like five bugs out of my hair today. I even squished one on my notebook at school, and blood squirted out!”
What?!
I nearly slammed into the car in front of us as I hit the brakes. “Are you serious? That’s lice!” I exclaimed. I rushed home, grabbed a flashlight, and, well, turns out I didn’t need it. As soon as I parted her hair, there they were—those creepy little invaders.
Off I dashed to the pharmacy, where I grabbed two boxes of lice treatment and a range of tea tree oil products. By then, Ava was in tears, sitting in an empty bathtub, scratching her head. I frantically Googled “lice treatment” while starting a mountain of laundry, bagging jackets, tossing items in the freezer, and vacuuming until the early hours.
That night, she slept in a plastic bag on her head, covered in coconut oil—just in case.
Now that I’m more knowledgeable about lice, I realize that this was all a bit overboard. Once you’ve treated your child with the right products, they can return to school safely. I used a nit comb on her hair for the next five days, which is crucial. Although I kept finding more eggs and remnants, fortunately, no one else in the family caught them. Lice need blood from the scalp to survive and won’t jump from bedding or jackets. They’re lazy little pests that will perish within 24 to 48 hours without a scalp to feed on. We later figured out that Ava probably got them from head-to-head contact with another kid at a sleepover two weeks earlier, which is the typical incubation period for lice.
In addition to drugstore treatments, there are various services available that will come to your home and handle the problem for you. Many of these services guarantee their work, so if they don’t eliminate all the lice the first time, they’ll return for a follow-up.
The most important lesson I learned during this incident is that lice aren’t picky—they just need a head. So no matter how clean you are, how often you wash your sheets, or how old you are, you can still be affected. If you suspect that you or one of your children has lice, check for nits. They can resemble dandruff, but if you can easily flick them off, they’re not nits. Nits adhere firmly to the hair shaft, while adult lice are brown and look like small sesame seeds. Getting lice is annoying but not a serious medical issue.
If you managed to avoid lice in elementary school, consider yourself lucky, as I did. However, don’t think you’re out of danger just yet. It can happen at any age. Keep an eye out for signs, be prepared, take a deep breath, and tackle the situation head-on.
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Summary:
Lice can affect anyone, even teenagers who seem to have outgrown them. The experience can be alarming, but it’s manageable with the right treatment and knowledge. Regular checks for nits and understanding how lice spread are key to prevention and treatment.