Parents, Children and Head Lice (part 2)
headlice June 19th, 2008
continued from Parents, Children, and Head Lice
When a clinician on a job encounters a problem, LICENDERS support staff is always there to help resolve it. Sarah, a LICENDERS representative was contacted by Angela, as explained in our previous post. Her client, Sharon, was resistant to being treated for the active lice infestation on her head. This was after she had spent time and money to treat her son, David*.
Sarah patiently explained to Sharon why it was so important that she herself be treated for the lice. She pointed out that the reason that Sharon brought in David in the first place, was to ensure that his head lice problem was resolved professionally. Sharon* recognized that Angela did a thorough job methodically combing nits from David's head. The truth is that if Sharon's lice and nits are not properly removed, the lice problem is still active in her home! If Mom has an active case of lice, there is a 99.9% chance that the David* will be reinfested. After all, surely Mom loves him, and is going to hug him, and spend time with him! What exactly is the point of removing head lice from a child, and knowingly giving it back to him a few hours later?? Lice treatment kills lice, and removes lice and nits. But no lice treatment can honestly claim to make a child "safe" from catching it again. The only way to properly treat head lice and nits is to make sure that everyone in that child's immediate environment is thoroughly clean as well. As a caring mother, Sharon* understood that the right thing to do for David* was to be properly treated for the head lice herself.
*names changed to protect privacy