PTCardiff May 2016 for web

there’s a
louse loose
about the
house!
Iwill never, ever, forget the toe-curling
embarrassment when my small son
announced, loudly, to the hairdresser,
“The last time I came here I couldn’t get my
hair cut because there were eggs in it”. Eggs,
better known as nits. The hairdresser was
extremely reassuring and said that she was
no stranger to nit-infested heads and I had no
reason to be ashamed. But I was.
I never had nits when I was a child and
don’t really remember anyone else having
them. In those days there was still a huge
stigma attached to head lice. They were
something that afflicted dirty people – lousy
people. Since then head lice infestations have
increased significantly and everyone and
their mother says that head lice love clean
heads. In reality, head lice do not care if your
head is clean or dirty – head lice like heads.
All that matters to the average head louse is a
good blood supply as they are essentially tiny
insect vampires who live by drinking blood.
Head lice are small wingless creatures –
therefore they don’t fly from head to head.
Nor do they jump, they walk. Females lay
3 to 4 eggs daily and these are attached
(glued on, if you like) to the hair at the base
of the shaft. The word ‘nit’ officially refers
to the empty egg, but generally these days
most of us refer to lice or any sort of lice
infestation as ‘nits.’
Children aged 4 to 14 are the most
frequently infected group. My son went
to pre-school and despite several notices
about ‘nits’ he never picked them up. But,
in his Reception Year at Primary school,
he more than made up for it. For the first
term I was engaged in a permanent state of
warfare against head lice. Nits, while they
may be uncomfortable, and more than a
bit disgusting, are not dangerous. They are,
however, highly contagious. If a child gets
infected the chances are extremely high
that everyone who they have close contact
with will succumb too. Everyone will need to
be treated.
Treatment can be problematic, because
like any good parasite, lice are survivors.
It’s no wonder British people spend
approximately £30 million per annum on
lice treatments. The problem with lice is that
no matter how assiduously you treat them
with chemicals your efforts will end in failure
unless you remove every single last egg.
Many products claim that they kill
eggs as well as live lice. They may do, but,
head lice rapidly develop immunity to
various chemicals. The best way to find an
effective product is to ask other parents and
teachers. The only sure way to rid yourself
of a nit infestation is to take a two-pronged
approach. Use the louse-killing products on
everybody in the home at the same time.
Then nit-comb.
There are plenty of different nit-combs
available to buy at various prices – again,
ask for recommendations. If your nit-comb
isn’t up to the job you are wasting your
time. Before combing through your child’s
hair liberally apply conditioner to your
child’s head and work through until the
hair is coated. The conditioner has several
purposes – it makes it easier to manage the
hair and divide it into sections. If you’ve used
a chemical product on your child to kill the
lice, it will help recondition hair. Conditioner
eases the path of the tight nit comb through
the hair, making the process easier and less
painful for both you and your child.
Finally, and in my opinion, the best part,
the nits show up better against the white
gloop. When nit combing it’s important to
start at the base of the shaft, as close to the
skull as you can, because this is where the
eggs are laid. I quite enjoyed nit combing as
I got a great sense of satisfaction watching
the black specks pile up on the paper towels
I had for wiping the comb between use. But
then again, I had one small male child with
short hair. I don’t know how soothing I’d have
found the exercise if I’d had more than one
child with medium to long hair.
If you have school aged children the
best way to stay on top of lice infestations
is to keep vigilant. Most kids with lice will
scratch. (Most people only have to hear the
word ‘lice’ and they begin to itch. I bet you
are itchy right now.) However, not everyone
who has lice will feel itchy, so it’s a good idea
to regularly check your child’s head for those
tell-tale black dots. Especially before a trip to
the hairdresser!
treat yourself
When we went through our ‘nit
term’ I had to treat my own hair
as frequently as I did my son’s.
This was a problem for me as I
have dyed hair and despite all
the reassurances on the pack I
was sure the treatment wasn’t
doing my ‘do’ many favours.
Then I came across a nonchemical
treatment – olive oil!
Cover the scalp and hair with
olive oil. Massage to ensure
every hair is covered. Place
under a shower cap and leave it
in overnight. The theory is that
the oil smothers any lice who
are using your head as a home.
This worked for me, but be
warned. You can’t go anywhere
in a hurry the next day as it
takes hours to get all traces of
the oil from your head.
are you a lousy
nit-picker?
Lice have been with us since the
dawn of time. The word ‘lousy’
which originally meant ‘louseinfested’
now also means awful,
terrible or appalling. People
feel lousy if they’re sick, films
are lousy if they’re no good and
food is often lousy. Nit pick is a
relatively recent addition to the
English language and means to
be overly critical or excessively
pedantic.
Article by Anne Marie Scanlon
for Primary Times.
34
Primary Times may half term 2016 | www.primarytimes.net/cardiff