Head Lice

"Watch Bobby", I say quietly to my classroom aide. "He's scratching his head again." Her immediate reaction is a shudder, and we both suddenly feel itchy. In my career as an elementary school teacher, I've had lots of experience with childhood afflictions, and I'm pretty sure I know exactly what Bobby's problem is. A closer examination reveals the dreaded tell-tale nits, a sure sign of a recent infestation. That's enough evidence for me. Bobby and I take a trip down the hall to see the school nurse, and my suspicions are confirmed...Bobby has head lice.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, head lice are tiny, wingless yellow-gray parasites that easily spread, especially among school-aged children.

Repeated scratching of the head is often the first observable sign that a child has head lice. If the infestation is severe, there may be sores on the scalp as a result of the child having vigorously scratched his or her head.

In bright light or sunlight, divide the child's hair into sections, checking the scalp at half-inch intervals for nits (eggs) and live adult lice. Carefully check the areas at the nape of the neck and around the ear as these are common spots for lice to reside.

The nits are small, light-colored and are cemented to hair shafts. It is easy to confuse nits with dandruff. If you see a small light-colored object in the hair, simply blow on it. If it blows away, it is dandruff or dry scalp. If it remains stuck to the hair shaft, it is probably a nit. Nits observed on hair shafts at a distance of more than one-quarter inch from the scalp are most likely not live and may be the sign of a past outbreak.

Observation of any live lice or even of one nit in the hair calls for immediate treatment. There are several different non-prescription shampoos available for the treatment of lice. The medicated shampoos come with a fine-toothed nit comb which should be used as soon as the problem is discovered and every 3 or 4 days for the following two weeks to remove any stubborn nits that remain after initial lice treatment.

The patient needs treatment, but that is only the beginning. Uupholstered seating in the house and car and carpeting should be vacuumed. Pillows, bedding, hats and clothing should all be laundered in hot water. Hair combs and brushes should be soaked in rubbing alcohol for an hour. Items such as stuffed animals which cannot be laundered should be kept in trash bags for two weeks to avoid re-infestation. These measures are necessary as lice can live off the scalp for up to three days.

Occasionally, treatment needs to be repeated a couple of weeks after the initial treatment.
If the infestation is not dealt with properly, head lice can become a recurring problem.

There are many myths about head lice which have persisted through the years:

Only young children can get head lice. (Teenagers and adults can also get head lice.)

Dirty people get lice. (Lice prefer clean hair.)

Lice can jump from one person's head to another. (Lice are unable to jump but are good crawlers and can spread through close contact and sharing personal items such as hair brushes, pillows, caps and other clothing.)

While the "ick factor" of a head lice outbreak is high, the good news is that a head lice infestation presents no serious medical issues. Proper, diligent treatment will leave everyone in your household with an itch-free scalp, and they'll be back to normal in no time.

(Now admit it - you were just scratching your head, weren't you?)

Source: Mayo Clinic website (www.mayoclinic.org)