The Great Lice Blindside

• It’s very common to want to know where and when you got lice.  We treated a family in the treatment center today that just returned from Disney World.  The mom was sure her family got lice on vacation.  Just about every family that we treat is anxious to know how long they’ve had lice.  They typically think that they’ve had it for a few days to maybe a week.  When they find out the reality they feel blindsided!

By the time someone in a family is itchy it is likely they have had lice for a minimum of 2-3 weeks.  At the first sign of itching, often mom will switch shampoos or come up with a good reason why they have an itchy scalp.  Commonly, a visual head check may take place at this time as well.  Without knowing what to look for nothing is found.  So more itchy days go by and more family members or classmates are at risk. Them bam!  A bug!   Now it’s obvious why they were itchy.

The 2 kids in this sweet family we treated today had all stages of live lice and hundreds of nits.  When we told mom and dad their kids had lice for 3-4 weeks they were blindsided.  They had no idea that bugs were in their heads and going to town laying and hatching nits to their little hearts content.  This happens too often.  I wish I had video of this moment so I can replay it for the next family that gets blindsided so they know they are not the only lucky ones to get the lousy (pun intended) surprise.

 How to reduce the blindside;

• Do weekly combing head checks
• If you find you have lice get safely and properly treated
• Communicate to school, friends, family, teams, babysitters, carpools, etc…

Be proactive, get educated and I hope your family is never a victim of The Great Lice Blindside!

Ilene Steinberg, CEO Lice Lifters