What You Need to Know About Head Lice

Not long after the beginning of the school year, the little memos get sent home from school. "This is the season when many of our children experience head lice…." They begin, and go on to suggest some preventive tips that if they worked you would think no one would get head lice again. The whispers start: who has head lice? Who do you think has it? Who isn't in school today? Do you think they have head lice?

My family hasn't had to deal with this common, but annoying and embarrassing problem. Neither of my girls is in school yet. My oldest daughter has a very short Dorothy Hamill haircut, and my one year old doesn't really have any hair, so perhaps we are safe for awhile. But many of my friends and their children have struggled with head lice this year. Lice are not dangerous to your health; they don't spread disease; they are not a result of poor hygiene or dirty hair (in fact, lice seem to prefer clean hair to lay their eggs in). But head lice are very contagious. They do not jump or fly, but they can crawl from one head to another or from one hat to a head. Head lice may cause your child's scalp to become very itchy, and the persistent scratching from the itching can cause irritation and even infection. But the dreaded head lice still holds a stigma, and no family likes to admit that they have it.

Does it seem to anyone like head lice outbreaks are on the rise? Does it seem like they are harder to get rid of once an outbreak is announced? Researchers decided to find out. They decided that yes, head lice are becoming resistant to the chemicals that have been commonly used to eradicate them. Reportedly, a study has shown that only permethrin (used in Nix) was effective; only to have a later study show that head lice were now resistant to permethrin (or Nix). Apparently, all the use of chemical head lice treatments are doing nothing but creating a new generation of "super lice".

Time Magazine stated back in 1998 that head lice in America had risen to epidemic proportions with 10-12 million children affected per year. It is safe to assume that the number has not decreased in the past 8 years. In fact, next to the common cold, head lice are considered to be one of the most common communicable childhood ailments. And like the common cold, there is no known cure.

Also, just like with the common cold virus, children are particularly susceptible to head lice because of who they are. They share things: toys; hats; blankets; biking helmets; they roll around on carpeted floors; girls trade hair bows, barrettes, and ribbons, and comb each other's hair. Because head lice like to live in and lay their eggs on nice, thick, long hair, girls are more apt than boys to suffer from this common ailment.

Aside from the fact that head lice might be more resistant to Pyrethrin/piperonyl butoxide (the ingredient in popular head lice treatment Rid) and permethrin (the main ingredient in head lice treatment Nix), there could be another factor. Way back when I was a kid in elementary school, and up until fairly recently, almost all schools had a "no nit" policy. That was kind of like a zero tolerance policy: one nit, you were out of school until they were gone.

Recently, several associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have stated that there is no reason to keep healthy children out of school just because a louse or two resides in their hair. There is no health issue associated with head lice, and their argument is that the child's time is better spent in school than watching movies while his frantic mom combs his hair with a nit comb. Not to mention, being kept out of school because of head lice is embarrassing and has the potential to disrupt a child's schoolwork. There have reports of children being kept out for weeks because of a persistent head lice problem, and even some absences that resulted in repeating a grade.

No matter whether there are "super lice" that are resistant to the chemical pesticide hair treatments commonly used; or whether children are just passing the lice around by continuing their education while lice-infested, most experts agree on how to get rid of the lice. Persistent, frequent combing with a fine toothed comb is the only sure way to rid your child's hair of the lice, and more importantly, the "nits" or the eggs that are laid on the hair shaft.

Dozens of natural remedies for ridding your child's hair of head lice exist. Some of them range from dangerous: kerosene, a fire hazard to hilarious: mayonnaise as a hair dressing? But since each remedy includes lots of combing, combing, and more combing, eventually the head lice disappear.

The consensus seems to be: any greasy substance that coats the hair, whether that is pesticides like Nix or Rid, or hair conditioner, olive oil, or mayonnaise; and combing repeatedly with a fine tooth comb is the surest way to get rid of head lice. Nit combs are available at any drugstore, and they are metal combs with very fine tines. Using a bright light and a microscope helps, too. And if all else fails, there are professionals who specialize in head lice removal. Yes, professional nit pickers, who knew?

So, if your child comes home from school this fall with the dreaded "nits", take a deep breath and know that you aren't alone. Parents all over the country are battling the same head lice; nit combs were even found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and some scientists suspect that head lice co-evolved right along with humans.