Presley woke up the morning of her 13th birthday and asked her mom to blow out her hair. It was her big day.
But her mom, Lowelle, soon made a big discovery. She broke the news to her daughter.
“Presley, I’m a little worried you might have head lice,” said Lowelle.
Her daughter’s shocked.
“She was devastated," said Lowelle."
Lowelle and Presley skipped school and came to Lice Away Today in Tampa.
Lice Away Today owner Michelle Cherry says lice “precaution… has turned into crisis.”
Part of the problem?
“Irma had lice,” Cherry says of the hurricane. “Anytime you have all those people together.”
Prevention starts with:
- If you have long hair, tie it up.
- No sharing headphones, hats or hair ties.
- Careful with selfies and putting heads together.
Dr. Patrick Mularoni at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital says lice evolved by growing resistant to most drugstore medicines and remedies.
Instead, a good inexpensive treatment is olive oil and a nit comb. That’s right. You can get rid of lice for about $13 total.
Soak the hair in olive oil and carefully comb out the nits. Then apply more olive oil and sleep in a shower cap overnight. Make sure your child is old enough to safely wear a shower cap while sleeping. In the morning, shower with dish soap to cut the grease.
