|
My best friend has head lice and gave it to me.
I am 14 years old and my best friend, who i notice, has head lice. She told me that she has nits, but she never said she had the actual lice in her head. When we would hang out, I can see the nits in her hair, and I did see a bug in her hair, which was lice. We had a sleepover and after a few weeks, My head started to itch but I just thought it was dandruff or something. One day, I was messing with my hair and I noticed that It had a nit stuck on it. I had lice before, so i know what a nit looks like. I had my mom check my hair, and she went to the store to get some head lice treatment. When I found out I had lice, I asked my best friend if she has lice and she said no, but im pretty sure I got it from her. I currently finished one treatment, but im going to do another treatment in a couple of days just to make sure I don't have it anymore. I am afraid that I will get it again, because we hang out a lot and I go to her house, but I really want to tell my best friend that I got it from her, just to warn her or something. I just don't know how to tell her? We have been besties for over a year, and I don't want to hurt her feelings.
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Relationships category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Friendship?
If you are going to spend time with your friend, be physically close to one another and sleep-over and stuff then you've got every chance of picking them up again because the treatments don't actually provide a long-term future 'proof' against you picking them up again. You'll really have to have a quiet word with her even though you'll feel awkward and she will feel bad at first. You could maybe say that it's better for her and her parents to sort the thing out without anyone else knowing? Point out that if some other girl or guy (who isn't such a discrete and good friend) or a teacher or something spots them then everyone will know and it will be really embarrassing. A lot of parents find that their children have picked-up headlice at school, especially early school years. It is embarrassing by nature, but it's nothing to be ashamed of and easily cured. They like clean hair, shampooing with normal hair products won't get rid of them. You'll both feel better once you've got up the courage to speak to her and sorted it out.
]
She doesn't have her facts straight regarding lice. If there are nits/eggs present, there was an adult lice present at some point. Just because she has used a lice comb to comb out all adult lice doesnt mean that she wont soon again have hatched eggs presenting more lice, way more than the adults she combed out. My daughters went to a school where I believe even tho they checked all kids carefully, that one of the adults had it and kept re infecting the kids. After having to take a day off to delice a daughter and have to do that 3 times in 5 months, I'd had enough and switched them to another nearby school and no longer had the problem. What I learned is that there are some very strong strains of lice that dont die from use of the lice shampoo now. I finally heard from a mom who'd learned to smother the childs hair in mayonaisse and leave that on for an hour with a shower cap on to prevent drips. Lice can hold their breath apparently but they can't hold it that long. So theres a chance she may be using the lice treatment and think that it killed them all. I once put a live adult lice in a capful of the lice treatment. It swam happily along for hours without dying. So depending on the strain infecting her, the store treatment might be useless on hers.
You cant use the treatment and not wash everything that your head comes into contact with, using hot water. All my daughters stuffed toys had to go into a lawn trash bag to stay sealed up for months so any lice on them die of starvation. Fabric furniture, towels, clothing, pillows and bedding all need to be washed in hot water. So they may want to call in someone to dry their sofa and chairs if cloth.
Using the treatment doesnt kill the nits, only adult lice and any young hatched lice. They mature quickly to start laying eggs too. So even if only one nit survived in the hair, the one could lay dozens upon dozens of nits/eggs. I know a mom who just shaved her boys bald, that was the easy way for her. I had all girls with long hair so that wasn't an option. I will continue with instructions for a bit because you need to show this to your mom and have your mom contact her mom with this information. So how to get rid of nits real thoroughly....its a day long thing. I would set my child in front of the TV so she could stand to sit still for hours. I used hubbys clamp on work spot light to focus on her head for the extra light needed to see some of the more immature, smaller nits. Another Mom told me to keep some tape handy to stick the nits onto, and it can even be worn sticky side out on one wrist. They will need lots of those teeny tiny rubber bands for small bits of hair. Use of a magnify glass helps if you're not sure if you see a nit. Now section off the hair, upper head into 6 smaller pony tails and lower hair the same. If one has fine instead of thick hair, the amount of ponytails will vary. Keep size to a manageable amount. Then the parent must examine a few strands of hair at a time of a section with rubber band removed. Start at the scalp and visually travel down the strand, and whether you think it might be dandruff, dirt or a nit, pinch hair strand between two fingernails as you run them the length of the hair strand, if its a nit, there will be a 'catch' where you have to tug harder to loosen the nit. Pull it to end of hair strand and attach to tape. I always saw nits of varying sizes, some barely visible, but they all will be attached to hair by a glue and wont come loose unless you give a stronger tug with the nails to dislodge it. Once a section has been cleared, re band it and move on to next section. Use of a lice comb will not remove nits, only something larger like adults and a nit about ready to hatch any minute now. Otherwise they must be removed manually. I guarantee if they do this, they will finally be free of nits and lice. However every family member must be checked so to prevent re infection. I had husband check me too to see if I had anything on my hair.
This is pretty complex instructions to pass on so I wouldn't ask you to say something to your friend, your mom needs to. Thats how I learned most my information. I remember sitting in the nurses office with the principal present and they kept telling me I was doing something wrong if my kids still had lice or caught it again. They told me to use lice treatment and wash all cloth items in hot water, and remove all nits from hair. I HAD been doing exactly that and it had not helped because they kept catching it from classmates and friends. I broke down crying. You're made to feel like dirt or stupid and you try to convince yourself and others that your child has no lice because you did everything you'd been told to do but you really know something is very wrong. This compelled me to start calling all the parents on the classroom list and ask the moms if they had at any time had to battle lice with their kids. I found they had the same issues as I, they were told they did something wrong. And I came across 3 moms who had given me the instructions I've shared here. I know it will be hard on the mom. But she'll have to take a day off to do all this. However, if she does so really well, not trying to hurry thru, she should be able to find and remove all nits in one day. And after one day of sacrifice of her time, her child will no longer have a chance of having lices or nits. She might also want to talk to the school nurse and talk to others class parents to see it they are using the lice treatment and its not helping.
]
this is unhealthy and dirty ok, you need to just be straight with her and ask her why her parents havent taken care of this for her.
If he parents wont take care of this problem, then see if you can "help" her by maybe telling your mom and seeing if she will buy your friend some lice treatments.
Tell her that you cant hang out until she takes care of the problem. its serious and hard to get rid of totally. She needs to wash ALL her fabric stuff on hot in the washer, put all clothes or sheets in plastic bags to make sure it all dies, and maybe even consider cutting her hair much shorter then it is now to be sure that if it DOES come back, that it will be easier to get rid of the second time.
tell her that your mom wont let you hang out with her again until you can prove shes gotten rid of the lice because those treatments are expensive and she doesnt want to keep on buying them over and over again.
if shes your best friend she will understand, and its ok to tell someone that you dont know anyone else who has it besides her and that its really easy to catch and that its not her fault but it DOES need to be handled.
good luck, she'll get over it and tell her that you just wanna be honest with her and that its no ones fault and that "it happens"
]
More Questions: |