Lice Create Lousy Situations For Families

Anne Marie Alvarez and her family were visiting a friend's house when she noticed her 6-year-old daughter Daisy was furiously scratching her head.

"We didn't know what we were looking for, and then we saw movement," Alvarez said, recounting the discovery and recreating her audible gasp of surprise.

That was Daisy's first encounter with head lice, the parasites that account for missed days of school, an annoying itch and time-consuming treatments.

"It was shocking and stunning to think, 'How could my kids get lice?'" said Steve, a Los Angeles father of two who asked that his last name not be used. "The kids actually handled it fine. They were troopers."

Households With Lice Come To Halt

Maria Botham is familiar with parents' reactions after they find head lice on a child for the first time. In 1999, she started Hair Fairies, a salon that specializes in head lice and lice egg removal.

"It's the parents that (are) absolutely distraught, because the household comes to a halt," Botham said. "That's a lot of time applying products. The parent often feels guilty because they feel they're at fault."

The patience required to manually remove the infestation has contributed to a strong demand for professional nitpickers. Alvarez treated her daughter's first case of lice at home. When the infestation returned one year later in December 2006, she tried Hair Fairies’ nit-zapping process.

"It's just been a lot easier," Alvarez said. "I felt reassured. You get the heebie-jeebies when you do it yourself. We had no clue on our own."

Steve and his family visited the salon after an outbreak in his school district. He said it was a relief to get rid of the head lice and his misconceptions.

"I learned everybody gets it, everywhere," he said. "At one point, they're all gone and life goes back to normal. I felt much better about the whole situation."

Hair Fairies has locations in Los Angeles and New York City and plans to expand. The salons use an all-natural, nontoxic product line of shampoos, creams, oils, sprays and laundry additives.

Scratching Surface Of Lice Myths

Botham said she wants to wash away the myths about lice.

"It's just part of childhood," she said. "You don't get lice because you're dirty. Head lice do not discriminate."

Six million to 12 million people in the United States are infested each year, according to the National Science Foundation. Anyone who comes in close contact with an infested person -- especially head-to-head contact -- can get lice, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Schoolchildren ages 3 to 11 and their families are most likely to get lice.

Lifecycle Of A Louse

The eggs hatch about one week after an adult female louse lays them. The baby, called a nymph, must immediately feed on human blood to survive. An adult head louse dies within two days if it falls off the head, according to the CDC.

The sesame seed-like head louse is found on the scalp, behind the ears and near the neckline on the back of the neck. They use hooks at the ends of their six legs to cling to hairs. They move quickly, so searching for lice can be difficult, and a small infestation might not be easy to see.

Sores caused by scratching can sometimes become infected, according to the CDC. Although head lice do not pose a health risk, they do cause a major case of frustration that can spread among family members.

Lice A Nuisance, Not Danger

"It's not really going to hurt anyone," Botham said. "It's more of a nuisance."

Nits, or eggs, account for much of the frustration. The nits have a glue-like substance that allows them to stick to hairs, about one-quarter inch from the scalp.

"The first time, we had home treatment," Alvarez said. "We had myself, my mother, grandmother and godmother all pulling nits out for four days. It's time-consuming and really frustrating. At the end of us doing it to (Daisy), we realized what an ordeal it was. The position of her head tilted to the side, two to three hours at a time. It was very uncomfortable for her."

How To Remove Lice, Nits

Several over-the-counter or prescription treatments are available. Some of the common chemical treatments for lice are malathion, lindane, permethrin and pyrethins. The agents are applied to the hair and left on minutes to hours.

None of the over-the-counter and prescription treatments are totally safe or scientifically proven 100 percent effective, according to the National Pediculosis Association, a nonprofit organization. Studies also show that lice might have become resistant to the pesticides in the products.

Manual removal is the "safe alternative and necessary component" of any treatment process, according to the group. A nit comb, which has tines that are narrower than the lice eggs, can be used to remove them.

The removal should be done in a well-lit area with a hand lens. The hair should be separated into sections to keep infested areas separated from treated areas.

Once the comb is run gently through the hair, it should be cleaned in hot, soapy water before continuing. A treated scalp should be checked for 10 days to screen for remaining lice and eggs or another infestation.

Parents who discover an infestation on a child should check their school district's policy. Some districts follow a no-nits policy. Other districts allow students to return to school with nits.

Parents with questions about treatment should consult a doctor.

"Head lice is the No. 1 reason why kids miss school," Botham said. "The problem has become an educational problem because kids are missing so much school."

Parents with questions about treatment should consult a doctor. Steve and Alvarez said it also helped to talk with other parents.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," said Alvarez. "It's just something children get."