This is a public service announcement.
Lice are really really tiny.
Almost invisible.
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Aliya has been complaining for a week about an itchy rash on her neck. I’ve checked her at least 3 times for lice because the rash looked exactly like a symptom of lice that I saw online. I could never find anything on her head. So last night I was online again to research whether she had flesh-eating bacteria or whether there could be another possible answer, and I saw yet another photo that looked exactly like Aliya’s mysterious rash. You guessed it – it was a photo of someone with lice. So…I checked again, and just as everyone was sitting down to dinner, I saw one. Ugh. I had a stash of lice treatment from one of the NGCC scares, so I treated her right away. I sent Ben to Walgreens and proceeded to treat the entire household. Since I had specifically looked for them on Aliya and missed them, I wasn’t taking any chances. By the time we had stripped every bed, plastic-bagged every pillow, and soaked every head, I sat down to dinner at 11:10 p.m. I had lost most of my appetite anyway.
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Today I took the kids to Snip-Its so I could keep a close eye on the situation without all of that hair to distract me. The stylist wouldn’t cut Aliya’s hair because it was too soon after treatment. I think that’s baloney, but whatever. It didn’t help with Aliya’s ultra-sensitivity to the problem. She came to me at bedtime and said that she was worried about her classmates finding out. I’m pretty sure she got them from school, so my guess is that the head-check will turn up some other victims. Aliya probably has the most louse-free head in first grade at this point. I have literally spent hours going through her hair strand by strand. I have not seen anything alive since the treatment, but the nits and eggs are extremely small and don’t come out from shampooing. You have to pick or comb them out. I talked to my own stylist today and she is going to cut Aliya’s hair after school tomorrow. Ginny spent the entire day washing laundry, for which I am eternally grateful.
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Fun Facts About Lice:
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~ The term “feeling lousy” relates to an allergic reaction to lice.
~ A nit was found on a human hair in a 10,000 year old archeological site.
~ Nit combs have been found in Egyptian tombs.
~ Lice outbreaks were uncommon from 1945-1975 because of DDT use.
~ 6-12 million people nationwide get head lice every year
~ Lice prefer clean hair – having lice is not a sign of poor hygiene.
~ Children age 3-10 are most often infested.
~ White people get lice more often than other ethnic groups in the U.S.
~ Girls get lice more than boys (they like the warmth of long hair).
~ One louse can lay up to 10 eggs per day.
~ Lice live about 30 days but only survive 24 hours if they leave the head.
~ Eggs take about 7-10 days to hatch.
~ Natural remedies include a coating of mayonnaise, vaseline, or olive oil.
~ Lice don’t like tea tree oil so shampoo with this may be a good deterrent.
~ Moroccan lice are way bigger than American lice.
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