October 18, 2013 - Pediculous!
I have a phobia about head lice. Germs, no problem. Head lice – just the thought of it makes my skin crawl and my scalp itch. In fact, I got my hubs, Laur, to check out my hairline before I wrote this. Twice.
It’s a fear based on experience. Many moons ago, one of our daughters developed a huge rash on her neck. I took her to an afterhour’s clinic and the doc on call took a quick look at it and prescribed some kind of cream.
I lathered her up but the rash did not get better. Another of our daughters was at nursery school and luckily, or unluckily, someone sounded the alarm. HEAD LICE! Next stop – the pharmacy – where I bought what seemed to be gallons of “Nix.” And I called my two older kids’ schools to have them sent home.
Everyone had to be “Nixed”, including me and my hubs when he got home. This happened during the days when you were told to wash and dry ALL your linens in use, spray insecticide on the couches and chairs, and bag all your children’s fuzzy toys for at least three weeks. Then you had to vacuum the house repeatedly, and immediately remove the vacuum bag and tie it up. To add to the fatigue, I was “great with child.” Gah!
The day this started was – Sigh! – the day my parents were due to arrive for a visit. When they pulled in, daughter Caro went running out to tell them we all had head lice and they couldn’t come in for at least three weeks. I told my mom I was trying to get things under control. They immediately booked a hotel.
Over the years we had more than one round of “cooties” go through our house. My hubs and our son never did get head lice. I ended up getting a short hair cut. Laur was the only one who could comb through my hair and – using the nit comb – he had pulled a good share of it out anyway.
Even today, I cannot sit in a booth if the booth doesn’t go all the way up at the back. Sitting back-of-head to back-of-head with an unknown person makes it hard for me to enjoy my meal. Chances are, if you’ve had head lice scuttle through your curls a few times, you share my discomfort.
Information about head lice has changed over the decades. Apparently...
· Head lice are not nearly as contagious as we used to think. They cannot hop or fly, so you pretty much have to be head to head with a “lousy” person in order to get it.
· Head lice cannot live very long if they are not on a warm body – so there is no need to bag toys. Washing linens is still not a bad idea, just for peace of mind.
· Head lice do not prefer clean hair or dirty hair, long hair or short hair. They just prefer hair on a warm head. They can’t survive a day without it.
*****
Still, when I was doing meditation after Yoga at the gym today, I got to thinking about other possible sources of critter contamination and it hit me... The foam mat I was lying on! I share this blue spongy thing with hundreds of others for Yoga and Body Pump. (Zumba and Darth-Vader-the-Treadmill don’t require mats.) And it turns out these are huge POTENTIAL trappers of disease...but - according to my favourite pharmacist - not likely head lice.
Still, gym mats do sound like the source of “the next plague.” I read on Yahoo Health (so it must be true) that, according to emergency physician Thomas Tallman, “Any high-contact surface is a risk—since 80% of infectious diseases are spread by direct or indirect hand contact—and this can include gym mats.” See http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/7-germiest-places-gym
Gah! What’s a gym junkie to do? Me, I am already a dedicated hand-washer, and I am thinking of bringing in my own yoga mat. But neither of these do anything for head lice prevention. What does? Wearing your hair Mohawk style – I kid you not.
This could be Miley Cyrus’s next big thing!
It’s a fear based on experience. Many moons ago, one of our daughters developed a huge rash on her neck. I took her to an afterhour’s clinic and the doc on call took a quick look at it and prescribed some kind of cream.
I lathered her up but the rash did not get better. Another of our daughters was at nursery school and luckily, or unluckily, someone sounded the alarm. HEAD LICE! Next stop – the pharmacy – where I bought what seemed to be gallons of “Nix.” And I called my two older kids’ schools to have them sent home.
Everyone had to be “Nixed”, including me and my hubs when he got home. This happened during the days when you were told to wash and dry ALL your linens in use, spray insecticide on the couches and chairs, and bag all your children’s fuzzy toys for at least three weeks. Then you had to vacuum the house repeatedly, and immediately remove the vacuum bag and tie it up. To add to the fatigue, I was “great with child.” Gah!
The day this started was – Sigh! – the day my parents were due to arrive for a visit. When they pulled in, daughter Caro went running out to tell them we all had head lice and they couldn’t come in for at least three weeks. I told my mom I was trying to get things under control. They immediately booked a hotel.
Over the years we had more than one round of “cooties” go through our house. My hubs and our son never did get head lice. I ended up getting a short hair cut. Laur was the only one who could comb through my hair and – using the nit comb – he had pulled a good share of it out anyway.
Even today, I cannot sit in a booth if the booth doesn’t go all the way up at the back. Sitting back-of-head to back-of-head with an unknown person makes it hard for me to enjoy my meal. Chances are, if you’ve had head lice scuttle through your curls a few times, you share my discomfort.
Information about head lice has changed over the decades. Apparently...
· Head lice are not nearly as contagious as we used to think. They cannot hop or fly, so you pretty much have to be head to head with a “lousy” person in order to get it.
· Head lice cannot live very long if they are not on a warm body – so there is no need to bag toys. Washing linens is still not a bad idea, just for peace of mind.
· Head lice do not prefer clean hair or dirty hair, long hair or short hair. They just prefer hair on a warm head. They can’t survive a day without it.
*****
Still, when I was doing meditation after Yoga at the gym today, I got to thinking about other possible sources of critter contamination and it hit me... The foam mat I was lying on! I share this blue spongy thing with hundreds of others for Yoga and Body Pump. (Zumba and Darth-Vader-the-Treadmill don’t require mats.) And it turns out these are huge POTENTIAL trappers of disease...but - according to my favourite pharmacist - not likely head lice.
Still, gym mats do sound like the source of “the next plague.” I read on Yahoo Health (so it must be true) that, according to emergency physician Thomas Tallman, “Any high-contact surface is a risk—since 80% of infectious diseases are spread by direct or indirect hand contact—and this can include gym mats.” See http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/7-germiest-places-gym
Gah! What’s a gym junkie to do? Me, I am already a dedicated hand-washer, and I am thinking of bringing in my own yoga mat. But neither of these do anything for head lice prevention. What does? Wearing your hair Mohawk style – I kid you not.
This could be Miley Cyrus’s next big thing!