The Stitch On The Itch

Backpack, pencils, paper… check. Lunch money, new shoes, lice… check? Let’s leave that last one off this year’s list, OK?

Sending kids back to school each fall is an exciting time. Coming home with a case of head lice? Not so much.

Head lice live close to the human scalp and move by crawling. They cannot hop or fly. Head lice spread through direct head-to-head contact with the hair of someone who has lice. Although more uncommon, head lice can also spread via hats, scarves, coats, pillows and other bedding, combs and brushes, and towels. An estimated 6-12 million infestations occur each year in the United States among children ages 3-11. Personal hygiene or cleanliness of a person’s home or school is not related to getting head lice.

Bye Bye, Bugs

The following are some tips for preventing head lice in the first place.

› Items such as hairbrushes, hair accessories, helmets and scarves should not be shared.

› Talk to children about not laying on carpet at school.

› Keep long hair tied up in ponytails, braids or buns at school.

› Use tea tree oil by adding five drops to the amount of shampoo normally used to cleanse your hair. Tea tree oil can dry your hair out, so use sparingly. Tea tree oil is said to repel lice. (Some people also report using tea tree oil as a natural method for getting rid of a lice infestation. A quick Internet search can lead to more information.)

Bugs Be Gone

Lice will not go away without being properly treated. As soon as symptoms of lice are noticed, treatment should begin. All family members should be checked for lice as well. Overthe-counter treatments are available (follow the packaging instructions carefully), and there are even professional lice-removal companies that can help do the deed for you. Visit liceclinicsofamerica.com to see if there’s a clinic near you. Once you’ve begun treating the person, it may be necessary to wash all bedding and clothing the infested person has recently been in contact with.

Lookin’ For Lice?

The following are symptoms of a lice infestation.

› Itching

› Lice bites

› Tickling feeling of something moving on your head, hair or body

› Irritability

› Di culty sleeping (head lice are most active in the dark)

› The appearance of small white objects in the hair that are di cult to brush out.

A form of lice that develops immunity to strong insecticides used in over-the-counter and prescription shampoos is becoming more prominent. In a Harris Poll of 2,000 U.S. mothers, about one-third said they were able to treat their child’s super lice infestation with just one application of an over-the-counter product. Sixty-eight percent reported that treatment required two or more applications or that no over-the-counter treatment resolved it.