hair lice

[cucumbers]

I am quite certain this is true and not a pub myth but i was told that adult males do not suffer from hair lice due to something hormonal. they will not take to mens hair. was i mistaken or not. would be most grateful. PS. my 3 year old daughter hasnt but someone at school has !!

[andy hughes]

It's a pub myth. Hair is hair - lice are not fussy. The main problem with lice is that they like clean hair, so parents who look after their children properly are mortified when their children get infected, and are too embarassed to tell anyone - hence the epedemic proportions of infestation in schools. My wife and I both caught lice the two times our oldest girls got them at school. personally, I think of it in terms of any infection - codl, flu, and so on. We got the shampoo, did the treatments, and haven't caught it since. If lice are at your daughter's school - and they are at most schools these days - try a preventative treatment to keep her hair clear.

[camille79]

could it be that older men have less hair for them to hide in??

[andy hughes]

Oooh, how very wounding!

[FP]

I have been reliably informed by someone in the medical profession that older boys and men are very unlikely to suffer from head lice.  They think it is due to hormonal differences.  Having worked in schools for a great number of years, I can vouch for the fact that the older boys were very rarely affected.

 

My son had head lice on several occasions, but never after the age of 13, even when he had been in close contact with a family where several of the children had been infected. 

[Hellion]

In the 19th century men wore their hair longer. During the first world war the men in the trenches suffered so badly from headlice they shaved their heads. All the nice girls love a soldier so the civilians started cutting their hair short too hence the 20th century fashion for short hair.

[EssJay1]

My daughter has been infected several times. As she has sensitive skin and eczema it was recommended that she use a nit shampoo for "sensitive" people . It was pretty ineffective.
I now use a nit comb and conditioner every other day over a 3 week period. It's very effective, less time consuming and far more convenient than the shampoos.