+

5 things parents need to know about so-called 'mutant head lice'

"Mutant lice" are spreading across the country. Apparently, we're all doomed.

They supposedly look something like this. GIF from "20 Million Miles to Earth"


Somewhere between 6 and 12 million kids get lice every year in the U.S., and now we have even more reason to get the heebie-jeebies.

Researchers from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville just announced that in at least 25 U.S. states, they've found lice that are resistant to over-the-counter treatments.

For parents in the thick of the back-to-school rat race, that's alarming news. My own daughter just started daycare a few weeks ago, and my first urge was to immediately shave her head and barricade our family in an underground bunker.

But after doing some digging, I'm not quite as freaked out about this epidemic. And you shouldn't be either.

Here are five things you should really know about the "mutant lice" outbreak before you do anything rash.

1. Let's cool it with the "mutant" talk.

OK, so here's what lice are: They're tiny six-legged bugs, usually two to three millimeters long, that live and lay eggs in human hair.

Here's what they aren't: oversized flesh-eating monsters.

Over time, yes, lice seem to have developed a resistance to common treatments, which is actually a really normal thing that happens all the time. It just means that the odd lice who just so happen to be immune to our pesticides have a better chance of surviving than their peers, so eventually they become more prevalent.

Sure, the term "mutant" is technically accurate because we're talking about gene mutations, but let's be real — these bugs didn't stroll through a puddle of primordial ooze and grow enormous fangs overnight.

They're still basically the same old lice — gross and super annoying, but ultimately, harmless.

2. Lice may be immune to certain over-the-counter treatments, but there are other options.

You are also free to try whatever this is. Photo by zoomar/Flickr

Most nonprescription lice treatments use chemicals called permethrin and pyrethrin, which are supposed to paralyze and then kill the bugs. The experts are saying that most of this stuff won't work as well as it used to.

But don't worry! Shaving your kid's head isn't the only solution.

The first thing you can do is try higher doses of the standard lice treatments like Nix and Rid. You can also try things like wet combing (apparently vigorous dry combing can send lice airborne via static electricity ... aaaand now you're picturing a bug riding a lightning bolt across the sky) or you can suffocate the lice with an overnight mayonnaise bath (which sounds like it might actually be worse than actually having lice).

If things get really bad, you can get a prescription from a pediatrician for a treatment that uses different chemicals that might be more effective.

CNN writes that these alternatives "would not be a lasting fix" because eventually lice that are naturally immune to those would start to take over the population. But do we care? Pretty sure we just want these creatures off our kids' heads, like, yesterday.

3. You can always hire a professional "nitpicker" for $85 an hour ... or more.

If you get desperate enough, you can actually hire someone to manually comb and pick the lice from your kid's hair. They might first try to drown the lice with olive oil, and then they'll comb out the live ones and pick the eggs (called "nits") with their fingers ... which can take several hours.

Wow.

Monkeys have had it figured out for a while. GIF from WildFilmsIndia/YouTube

Be wary though, a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that the nits, or eggs, aren't necessarily much to worry about. If you've treated and removed the live lice, the infestation is unlikely to spread.

There is a small chance that the lice will come back if there are enough eggs left behind, though. Plus, some nitpickers will even teach you how to delouse your kid's hair yourself next time.

Whether it's worth the money is up to you, and how long your kid can sit still.

4. This is important: Don't freak out!

OK, I'm going to show you a picture of an actual louse. Are you ready? Seriously, try to hold it together.

OH MY GOD. Photo by Gilles Saint Martin/Flickr

OK, phew. We got it over with.

Hate to break it to you, but by the time your kid starts scratching their head, they probably already had lice for four to six weeks.

As horrifying as these things look, your kid isn't in danger and doesn't pose much of a threat to spread lice to others.

Again, lice are pretty much harmless. They aren't known to spread disease or cause significant physical damage. So while they make us squirm and itch, they aren't necessarily a true emergency.

Just don't share a hat or a pillow with him until you know the lice are gone.

5. Kids shouldn't be excluded from activities for having lice.

C'mon, let this kid go out and play! Photo by Juhan Sonin/Flickr

Lice can't fly or jump, so outside of riding waves of static electricity through the air, they really only spread via direct contact, like two kids literally rubbing their heads together (crazier things than that happen at school, I'm sure).

In fact, that's the reason lice seem to gravitate toward kids rather than adults; they're always up in each other's personal space, and it gives the lice plenty of opportunities to travel.

Some schools have a "No-Nit Policy," which means kids with lice can't come back into the classroom until all the eggs are gone from their hair. But we already know that having a few residual eggs likely isn't enough to cause further spreading, which is why, according to the CDC, both the American Association of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses believe these policies should be discontinued.

Having lice as a kid probably really sucks; let's not make them feel even worse about it by shunning them from society.

There, don't you feel better? I know I do.

Joy

Owner of plus-size dress shop gifts $700 prom dress to 'shy' teen after watching her light up

Creating moments like these is why she opened her store in the first place.

@juicybodygoddess/TikTok

Elyse Monroe found the perfect dress, then found out it costs nothing.

Adolescence is a harrowing time for body image and self-esteem all around, but few milestones are as universally daunting as finding a prom dress. Whether it’s due to budget constraints, not being able to find a dress that fits, or both, what should be a fun event is often viscerally dreaded.

This was certainly the case for Summer Lucille. Lucille told Today.com that growing up, “if you weren’t skinny, there weren’t many options, and it was devastating for me because I’ve always loved fashion.”

She recalled, “I went to my prom looking like a church lady in a suit dress with a jacket because it was the only thing that fit. It was a very sad period in my life.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Democracy

A police officer makes a profound statement after pulling over a Black teen

The teen’s emotional response hit him like a punch to the gut.


“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."

In October 2016, that was a quote from Albert Einstein that sat atop the Facebook page of Tim McMillan, a police officer in Georgia.

McMillan become a sensation after a post he wrote on his Facebook wall went viral in 2016. In his post, he explains how he pulled over a Black teen for texting while driving:

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Relationship expert shares her advice on how to 'stop an argument in its tracks'

She has the perfect question to ask once your partner gets defensive.

Therapist Lauren Consul has one trick to stop arguments before they begin.

Arguments start to take off when one partner begins to get defensive. So, therapist Lauren Consul shared her relationship-saving tip to "stop an argument in its tracks" when one partner goes into self-preservation mode.

Lauren Consul is a couples and sex therapist who’s developed a following of nearly 160,000 people on TikTok and has received over 5.4 million likes. She is an infidelity expert and hosts retreats to help people "survive and thrive" after one partner has strayed.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

Childless people over 50 discuss their decision.

People who decide not to have children are often unfairly judged by those who chose a different life path. People with children can be especially judgmental to women who’ve decided to opt out of motherhood.

“You will regret it!” is one of the most common phrases lobbed at those who choose to remain childless. Why do people think they’ll have such awful regrets? Because they often say they’ll wind up “lonely and sad” when they’re older.

They also say that life without children is without purpose and that when the childless get older they’ll have no one to take care of them. One of the most patronizing critiques thrown at childless women is that they will never “feel complete” unless they have a child.

However, a lot of these critiques say more about the person doling them out than the person who decides to remain childless. Maybe, just maybe, their life is fulfilling enough without having to reproduce. Maybe, just maybe, they can have a life full of purpose without caring for any offspring.

Maybe the question should be: What’s lacking in your life that you need a child to feel complete?

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad's video sharing 'hardest part of co-parenting' has other separated parents relating

"I wish for peace and quiet, as does every parent when they’re overwhelmed. But then I hate it when I have it.”

@ainjole/TikTok

“Now I cherish every scream, every dirty hand print, and every spill.”

Very often, the right choice isn’t easy. Co-parenting is a prime example of this—no matter how amicable a break-up is, single parents inevitably lose time with their children after a divorce and must deal with the resulting loneliness that happens once the child leaves to spend time with the other parent. Knowing that you’ve made the right decision doesn’t necessarily take away the pain.

That’s why one dad’s video sharing his own experience of his child’s empty room is resonating with other single parents over on TikTok.

The dad, whose name appears to be Angel but goes by @ainjole on the platform, confessed in his video’s caption, “I think the hardest part of coparenting (for me) is dropping my daughter off with her mom and coming home to silence.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Science

Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life with a prosthetic beak

The parrot could not survive in the wild without its beak, which is used to build nests, fend off predators and eat.

Brazilian veterinarian gives parrot a second chance at life.

A parrot in Brazil got a lucky break when it was rescued after someone found it with a severely damaged beak. In fact, most of its little beak was completely gone. Birds use their hard beaks to eat, fend off other animals and build nests, and their mouths are essentially their hands while their feet are busy walking, scratching or holding twigs.

Plus, I don't know if you've paid much close attention to birds, but they don't seem to have a lot of dexterity with their tiny little bird legs. They sort of walk around like peg-legged pirates even though I'm pretty sure birds have knees. (I'm not a bird scientist or a zoologist if that wasn't clear.)

Luckily for this parrot, Renascer ACN, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility in Planura, Brazil, had a doctor on staff who not only knows if birds have knees but also knew how to make a prosthetic beak.

Keep ReadingShow less