How to Bond Over Head Lice Removal

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Meanwhile, public health officials point to a new pediculosis (the formal name for a lice attack) "epidemic." Because most cases are diagnosed and treated by parents, few reliable statistics are available. Children ages 5 to 12 are particularly vulnerable, since they often put their heads together during play. As a result, thousands of parents are learning the power of a fine-tooth comb. It's how you delouse. Endlessly.

Deborah Altschuler, founder and president of the National Pediculosis Association (NPA), says today's epidemic is a matter of louse laxity. Our grandparents were practically always on lice alert, using whatever folk remedies were available. My mother vividly remembers the tiny raindrop sound of lice hitting the newspaper beneath her head as my great-aunt carefully combed her hair every Saturday night.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the fear of communicable diseases had in fact pushed hygiene to the forefront of the public health agenda. Children knew about germs and were taught how to wash their hands. But in the late 1960s, Altschuler says, young people began rebelling against their parents' ways and congregating and living in groups. Hygiene habits relaxed, casual intimacy boomed, and head lice began roaming free.

Today, children come together in groups—such as day care—earlier and more frequently. Yet they receive little instruction in basic hygiene. According to Altschuler, that means we're missing a golden opportunity: "When they are teenagers, the issue is herpes or AIDS. Why not prepare them for these facts of life? Why not model good lifetime habits of hygiene, beginning with head lice?" she suggests.

The day I stared at the nits in my daughter's hair I registered the typical stirrings of shame and realized that I, too, had internalized the social stigma. Rushing forward in a blind counter-attack, I shampooed all three of my daughters with an over-the-counter product that made our eyes burn and our noses sting. I wish now that I hadn't. The NPA fields an average of about 50 calls every day from parents and health professionals reporting that treatment-resistant lice have survived bombardment with these shampoos, such as Nix and RID. "These are very strong pesticides," warns Altschuler.

Today, after three full pediculosis bouts, I have come to accept that head lice, like temper tantrums and sleep deprivation, are part of living with children. Like my grandmother, I have even developed a sense of humor about the little bloodsuckers. She claims to have made money selling live lice to other youngsters who wanted to be sent home for the day. All they had to do, she chuckled, was place the critters in their hair and scratch their heads in front of the teacher.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print