Sometimes you would think a person found the creature from “Alien” living on their scalp. Or a tiny zombie that is going to infect all of the other heads so it must be kept a secret so that people will not reject their humanity. Truth is, I might have acted that way a couple of years ago, too. Now I know the limitations of my enemy so I am not really afraid of them. And I am up to my armpits in them sometimes.
A louse has two forms of survival defense, mechanical and psychological.
The lice know how to smell/locate a head, run really fast and hide. That is it for the mechanical part.
The psychological part is via the victim. I doubt that the head lice know about this. They aren’t that bright. And it is probably better this way because the psychological part? Fear? It is their most powerful weapon. It keeps the human from accessing the situation correctly, sometimes denying their existence until there are many generations of head lice on one scalp. It creates an atmosphere in which humans withhold information from each other, enabling infestation among the others that they come into contact with (potentially creating a cycle when those infested can re-infest the original head). It also can occasionally produce a state of such paranoia and irrational behavior that it turns an otherwise organized, peaceful home into a den of misery replete with raw over-processed scalps.
Lice are inconvenient. They don’t kill. They don’t cause major diseases. They cannot fly, jump or use a transporter. The adults can only live off the human head 48 hours (we say 3 days for extra insurance). The eggs and newly hatched nymphs cannot survive off of the human head at all. Your dog cannot give you head lice. They do not roam your house at night plotting your demise. They just want a meal and to make more lice . That is all.
Know that you can get rid of them with a decent lice comb (we like the The Nit Free Terminator Lice comb), elbow grease, cheap conditioner (http://www.liceaunties.com/resources-instructions-for-removing-head-lice-and-nits.php ) and a lot of patience. Or, if you are in Massachusetts, come to us and we’ll send treat you with the LouseBuster™ hot air-flow treatment and send you home usually within two hours with a lice-free head and instructions on how to do light, preventative clean up.*
I would say don’t let the lice win but the lice don’t know that they are in a competition. It makes more sense to say stop getting freaked out by them because it isn’t going to make them any less powerful by expending unnecessary energy. Access the situation, approach it logically and make them go away so you can get on with life.
*If you don’t live in the Massachusetts area, you can find a LouseBuster(tm) treatment provider in your area at http://www.lousebuster.com.
For more information please go to www.liceaunties.com
Original image at top of page by espos.de
The Lice Aunties 