A Few Answers About Nits And Nit Nurses Prompted This Memory.

[sandyRoe]

Some children in a poor, inner-city, school had their heads shaven and a blue coloured ointment applied.
Was this a treatment for ringworm many years ago?

[boxtops]

Yes, it certainly was - and the school nurse would put iodine on our bruises too. It was purple and yellowy, I remember it well.

[sandyRoe]

I wonder how it would be treated now?

[anneasquith]

was it not gentian violet ?

[Mamyalynne]

C&P


How is it treated?

Ringworm of the scalp or beard is easy to treat. Your doctor will prescribe pills that will kill the fungus. And you can use special shampoo to keep ringworm from spreading to others.

Ringworm can come back, so be sure to throw away your combs and brushes and buy new ones that won't spread the infection. Try to keep your skin clean and dry. Don't share hats, combs, or brushes. If you treat ringworm early, the hair in the bald spots will probably grow back. If you don't treat it, the bald spots could be permanent.

A child who has ringworm can still go to school, as long as he or she is taking pills to kill the fungus. You do not need to shave your child's head.



A bit more civilised now Sandy.

[sandyRoe]

LOL. It was back in the dark ages I was remembering.

[sandyRoe]

anneasquith, maybe it was. The other kids didn't want to get close enough to see if it was ointment or something painted on.

[Psybbo]

Well, you learn something new everyday

[aelmpvw]

there wasn't a stigma attached to having nits 60 years ago, we all had them at some stage :-)

[tonyav]

Our nit nurse ( infant school ) also used to inspect our finger nails ?.

[sandyRoe]

When my brother and I were little our mum used to 'look your head'. She'd pull a fine tooth comb through our hair and if she found anything she'd crack it with her thumbnail.

[maggiebee]

We had our hair checked with a fine tooth comb every Sunday - over newspaper. Impetigo was treated with gentian violet. Can't say I remember ringworm.

[Robinia]

It seems to be far more common to have nits nowadays than it did 55 years ago when I first started school. The nurse came into school regularly & I don't remember anyone having them, if they did it was never mentioned.

[theprof]

The chemical compounds were called Gentian Violet, Crystal Violet, Methyl Violet etc often with a number such as "2B" or "10B" as a suffix. They are are closely related dyes.

These dyes pretty ineffective against nits apart from the fact that they are all mild antiseptics and will prevent infection to a degree. However, they are still reasonably powerful antifungals and would kill the ringworm fungus, if only on a temporary basis.

[woofgang]

aelmpvw...not stigma in nits? Not in my school, it was very shameful indeed and that is around 55 years ago.

[tonyav]

I can't ever remember anyone having nits when I was at school, yet it does seem quite common these days.

[Tilly2]

never mind nits. What about worms?

[tonyav]

What about them.

[Tilly2]

They are prevalent, Yont. Horrid things.

[mintymow]

Lice are very clever, the nits (that is the eggs) are laid close to the scalp for warmth. The best way to get rid of lice is to condition hair after shampooing and use the fine toothed comb to thoroughly comb the hair, do this every time the hair is washed. Some of the shampoos for head lice contain nasty chemicals. As a school nurse I have checked many heads. Years ago the child involved was sent home immediately, now they just send a letter home to the whole class.