A Lousy Introduction

This is NOT the way I wanted to introduce myself to you. I would have much rather regaled you with a couple of funny anecdotes about what it is like to be raising 2 sets of twins under the age of 7. Or what it is like to live in Fairfield County after having spent 45 years in the Midwest. Or ANYTHING other than the fact that I have been battling lice for the last 3 weeks.

YEP!

LICE!

I thought we made it through kindergarten un-infested. And then, 6 days after school ended, my sister in-law found a bug on one of my daughters. So rather than get into the blow by blow nightmare of boiling laundry and combing and screaming and yelling, I will summarize what I learned, advice that I can offer, and the happy ending I am still hoping for.

Based on my experiences, here is what I recommend.

PREVENTION

1. Use a mint-based preventative spray. You can either buy one or make your own using high quality essential oils, glass spray bottles and distilled water.
2. Have a talk with your kids about not sharing hats, combs, brushes, or bedding.
3. Have your girls wear their hair up or in a braid anytime they are going to be around a lot of other kids.
4. Comb through their hair regularly with a lice detection comb.

TREATMENT

1. If you have the means, proceed directly to a treatment center like Hair Genies in Norwalk and Greenwich. Is it expensive? You bet. You can expect to pay $125 per hour per person treated. For me and my 2 daughters it cost almost $500 (including some prevention spray) and we were there for 2 hours. HOWEVER, I could use my FSA card and you can even submit the receipt to your insurance.
2. If you cannot manage the above step, call your pediatrician immediately. Mine recommended a treatment called NUVO which is considered a very effective treatment. I found the staff at the local pharmacy was not very well informed and I wasted several days using store bought treatment kits that are not effective against some strains of lice (CT is one of 24 states plagued by super lice).
3. Follow directions EXPLICITLY. Whoever you are seeking advice or directions from, do exactly what they say. I think that part of the reason the NUVO treatment did not work for me was that I was not able to do exactly what they said to do. Part of the reason for this is that I lacked some of the essential items (a condiment bottle for distributing the Cetaphil for the NUVO treatment).
4. If you are not a patient person, and/or your kids are the kind of kids that will not sit quietly and calmly while you spend hours working on their heads, you are much better off seeking additional help. I have even been told that you can actually hire someone to come to your house to administer a treatment. As you can imagine, this is exponentially more expensive than even going to a treatment center.

All things being equal, if I had immediately gone to a treatment center, I would have saved myself hours of hassle, a lot of hot water, (because I did so many loads of laundry in hot water) and my second daughter MAY NOT have gotten infested too.

I would not wish lice on my worst enemy. I would, however, advise that, if it happens to you, you notify anyone that you might have exposed, and try to stay calm. You will get through it. And there is NOTHING to be embarrassed about. Lice is an equal opportunity pest. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m looking forward to my next post that will, I hope, be a lot more fun for all of us!

Have you ever had experience with lice? How were you able to get rid of it?