Every parents worst fear…lice!

**Warning – long post ahead**

Today was no different than yesterday except one thing….every parents worst fear….LICE!!!!!!!!!

I picked the kids up at 5:59pm. Literally one minute before after school closes. I knew I was going to get an ear full from both girls! 😤Work was busy and time had gotten away from me. Thank god Kris has handled dinner all week….or we’d all be eating cereal for dinner!

As I pull in to pick up the girls, the curbside pick up guy greeted me with a weary smile. I said ‘cheer up! It’s almost Friday!!’ He said ‘I need to give you a heads up about something….’

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I brace myself for something like your kid is a jerk or has a hole in her head or got in trouble for being rude but what I got was ….’we’ve had an outbreak of LICE!’ I thought ‘oh ok no big deal.’ I said, ‘what does an outbreak mean?’ He said ’15 people were sent home including 3 adults.’ 😳😳

Back story

Let me back up for a minute, I have a younger sister and younger brother. None of us ever had lice. I chalk it up to being greasy whops. Whatever, I can call us that….you CANNOT!

So my medical career has taken me into some pretty strange places, and I’ve seen lots of cases of lice. Infestations, mild cases, over-reactive parents, over-reactive hairdressers, not responsive enough patients….there are all kinds. None of that prepared me for this past winter.

I got a note home saying ‘a student in your child’s class has been diagnosed with head lice…take precautions…blah blah blah.’ Not my kids! We are too greasy. Plus I spray their hair with detangler every morning, and we don’t shower every day yet. They are FINE! Right????

NOPE! She came home the next day scratching like a crack head, and apparently, her teacher noticed too. She was sent to the nurse to be checked. Got the all clear….but her teacher (who knows what I do for a living) said ‘have your mama check you.’ So like a gorilla mama, I checked that child’s head. I saw nothing.

The next morning (it was a weekend THANK GOD!) I was doing homework, and she said ‘my head really itches today!’ I look again and notice the tell-tale sign – red, irritated scratch marks behind the ears.

Crap! I still don’t see live bugs or even the nits. Until she starts to walk away, y’all I freaked out! I caught that bug in my fingers and smushed but inside I was screaming!!!!! Not my baby!!!!!

I ran to one store and bought the last box of treatment…went to the next store and bought their last 2 boxes….and called my mom!!! MOM – buy your drugstore out please!!!!!

When I calmed down and realized that I knew what to do and that my child needed me to reassure her that she was going to be ok (really my mom had to tell me to calm down and relax about 45 million times).

I thought about how those 2 drugstores could be almost out of lice treatment. Obviously, there is an outbreak. OMG what if it’s some super strain and I can’t get rid of it?!? Calm down…..she needs you. I checked the smallest baby and she was good. But I’m paranoid now…so I decided to treat both of them.

I am a medical professional and believe in science. I went for the chemicals!!!! Yup, the organic eating, organic gardener went straight to chemicals! I knew by my reaction that I could not afford to have a house full of these frickin things!

I explained what we were going to do to the girls, and off we went. We spent the better part of the afternoon combing out their hair with that tiny nit comb. Overall, I found only a few live bugs and some nits on one kid. The other was fine but glad I treated her anyway.

I stripped beds, washed pillows, sprayed couches and car seats. Now I looked like the crack head.

The worst part was I couldn’t help but look at the child’s hair. I was constantly on the prowl for bugs. It was disturbing, and I’m sure it has scarred her for life.

2 days after the initial treatment, we combed again. I found nothing. Phew!!! 2 days later combed some more, still nothing. On the 7th day we retreated her hair. It is what the manufacturer recommends, so there has to be science behind it. Still no bugs! What a relief.

Current situation

In January, I started putting tea tree oil in their detangler to prevent any future issues. So imagine my gut-wrenching when I heard him say those words!!

‘We have an outbreak’ while I’m running late and having no desire to be anywhere but my bed….🙄 Please don’t do this to her……..Not again!!!!

She said she was checked and cleared. Phew 🤦🏻‍♀️ but like a mother gorilla, I had to make sure, I had been here before. So every day for 3 days I picked apart her hair looking for signs….🥺 Still nothing.

5 days after the initial ‘bad news,’ we got THE news. She was checked again, because 29 people had confirmed cases….yes I said 29….crazy…they found teeny tiny live lice and a few nits.

OH GOD! I stopped and got more chemicals…..went home and immediately pulled out my gorilla instincts. Even though I still saw nothing……….I treated her.

What harm would it do? Well, there were 3 tiny bugs and maybe 10 nits. So we caught it REALLY early! Thank goodness! But she couldn’t go to school, which meant mama had to stay home with her.

This leads me to my current frustration

• Treatments – if your kid has LIVE bugs or NITS…..they need to be treated……………not with mayo, vinegar, or garlic! Use medicines! I’m not saying use the strongest, most potent stuff, but these bugs have been around for 10,000 years! They aren’t going to go away easily! I’m sorry…..I don’t want to put chemicals on my kids either BUT I don’t want them to lose sleep, infect their friends, or miss days of school for something that can be PREVENTED and TREATED! Pyrethrum is actually safe. There are a TON of studies online that prove it has low toxicity to mammals and it highly effective in killing louse. READ THE DIRECTIONS! Dry hair, apply in sections, add water when finished to create a lather, THEN rinse. NO more than 10 minutes!
• COMB – I know, it’s easy to put the chemicals on and be done. But that isn’t the end. You HAVE to comb the bugs and nits out of the child’s hair. Yes, it is time consuming (and to some gross) but it is a necessary part of the treatment process.
• Launder – Wash all sheets, pillows, bed spreads, and stuffed animals in HOT water. No special laundry soap….no special cycle….JUST really HOT water! Lice die after 5 minutes of exposure to heat of 129 degrees.
• Clean – DO NOT spend your life’s savings on cleaning supplies. Just vacuum, launder, and if it can’t go in the laundry, zip it up in an air tight plastic bag for 2 weeks. Lice die after 2 days without human blood. The 2 weeks is overkill but better be safe than sorry.
• Hair brushes/combs – These need to be cleaned too. DO NOT forget them. Pull out all the hair FIRST!!!! HOT tap water mixed with the lice treatment soap in the bathroom sink will do the trick. Let them soak over night, rinse and air dry.
• Isolation – Do NOT send the kid to school or day care if there is an active infestation. I get that it is a pain….you want to treat them and move on, but you need to be sure they are not going to infect their friends or re-infect themselves! This might mean a day out of school or work. DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE! Even though the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is NOT necessary….I promise with the amount of selfies and hugs I’ve seen in these kids….keep them home. Just ONE day! Kill the bugs, remove the nits, and move on. We all need mental health days anyway.
• RE-comb – every 2 days….AT LEAST!!!! Wet their hair and get that nit comb out! You will find dead bugs and nits….they need to be removed or the infection will continue.
• RE-treat – 7-10 days later…..do it all over again! You might not see anything but that doesn’t mean a microscopic nit isn’t in there….DO IT AGAIN!

Now I am wondering…why?!? Why do we have lice? Why does it continue to affect our children? Well, after hours of research (and subliminal scratching my own head) the answer is simple….they are worse than cockroaches. Scientists have carbon dated lice back to 7,000BC?!? Mummy’s have been found with lice and nit combs. So….if they’ve been around this long, chances are they aren’t going away any time soon. What’s our next move?

Prevention!!!!!

Ok – my tea tree oil in the detangler isn’t a horrible idea. And a very wise lady told me hairspray or mousse in the hair will prevent them from sticking. I sprayed the tea tree oil detangler AND hairspray for 5 days (post outbreak) and it still happened!

A friend, who’s child was also a victim of this outbreak, had been washing her kid’s hair with that special lice repelling shampoo….it didn’t work either!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY??????

There is NO scientific proof that tea tree oil prevents lice. There is a SMALL amount of scientific evidence that supports lice dying when exposed to the combination of tea tree AND lavender oil. BUT no one has a way to prevent them.

So……..let’s think about this. My greasy head, tea tree OIL, lavender OIL, coconut oil….all these “home” remedies have ONE thing in common……..SLICK HAIR! If they can’t grab the hair, they can’t lay their eggs. NOW we are onto something.

How do you keep your hair slick enough that lice can’t attach but not so greasy that you look like you belong on Jersey Shore?

Since I already have detangler with tea tree oil, maybe I will add lavender and mint…..I’ll see how this works. Then maybe I’ll market it…..stay tuned.

The next part of prevention is NOT sharing articles related to the head. I have preached and preached and preached some more about not sharing hats, scarves, headbands, ponytail holders, brushes, etc…we don’t try them on in stores, and we don’t share them!

So how does the head to head contact happen?!? They don’t fly or jump….so….stay away from everyone? No hugging your friends? No selfies…..Yeah, good luck with that! I knew I didn’t like hugs for a reason!

Get out the Aquanet!!!