Are ‘Selfies’ to Blame for Spread of Lice?

Lice. Nobody wants it, but seems like this winter I heard more and more about Charlotte families getting the dreaded head-scratching infestation.

A new theory is floating out there that kids taking selfies together may be one way that lice is being spread from head to head. All those cute close-up shots with heads touching each other, yep those may just be one more way kids are getting lice.

Sheila Fassler, a registered nurse, and owner of Pediatric Hair Solutions agrees that selfies may be a culprit in the increase of lice in tweens and teens as she’s seen a trend in more cases with older children.

It’s something to think about as selfies are such a common thing amongst kids today. Here’s what I’ve learned about lice, from simple facts to prevention to how to get rid of it.

1. Lice are more attracted to clean hair than dirty hair. So it’s a myth to equate getting lice with bad hygiene.

2. Lice do not jump off a person’s head onto a pillow onto another head. Don’t get me wrong, you need to wash all your bedding and anything a person with lice has layed his or her head on, but lice “glue” themselves onto hair shafts and thrive in a symbiotic relationship with the hair owner, so a pillow just isn’t where they want to be.

3. Special shampoos don’t always do the trick. Seems that lice are becoming super lice and developing resistance to the insecticides in lice-ridding hair products. Best remedy is to comb them out with a fine-toothed metal comb.

4. Lice do not always make your head itch. Just writing that makes me scratch my head, but truly your head may not itch when you have lice, so if it’s going around in your child’s class or other setting, just do an occasional head check.

Find more specific info on the Pediatric Hair Solutions website.