Head Lice in Pop Culture
Hollywood is full of glitz and glam. Not all of the scenes in your favorite movie are accurate though. This is especially true when it comes to scenes about head lice. Many media perpetuate folklore especially when it comes to home treatment remedies to cure their lice infestation. Let’s take a look at some of these clips and debunk those Hollywood representations.
I Don’t Know How She Does It: https://youtu.be/jawZFND4Bfc
In this clip the loving mother gets a message from a trusted friend that her daughter has head lice. She immediately becomes itchy and freaked out.
The mind is a powerful thing. The second the word lice are mentioned the entire room erupts in scratching behaviors. In reality though, not everyone itches from head lice. The itching is caused by an allergic reaction to the bug’s saliva!
Thankfully this mother seems like she is going to take all the proper steps and make sure her entire family is checked. This is the best way to ensure you can take care of it once and for all!
The Switch: https://youtu.be/gkEsrZpCdOo
In this clip the mother has a set list of rules for her friend in regard to eradicating the head lice. She tells him to run to the nearest store and pick up a plethora of supplies and gives out instructions on home care.
One of the falsehoods they portray is the notion that all soft objects need to be bagged up for several weeks. In reality head lice are parasites that require the host in order to survive. They cannot live on inanimate objects. Simply put, there is no need to put items in bags. The minute lice leave the head they lose their lifeline and will begin to die. The ability of a louse to navigate back on to a head are close to nil. If you are feeling anxious, you can throw the items in the dryer for 30 minutes.
Another falsehood is that the prescription medication is effective. These medications are full of pesticides and harmful chemicals. Furthermore, they are unable to penetrate the eggshell, so the nits survive the chemical treatment. The adults also show a high resistance to these pyrethroids so unless every tiny egg is combed out and every louse extracted, you are looking at an instant re-infestation.
Speaking of eggs, did you see how large they were in the child’s hair in this clip? In reality eggs are about the size of a poppy seed. They are also brown in color, not white circles.
All in all though, it was a cute clip of a man taking care of his son’s head lice!
The Office: https://youtu.be/k2Wxx6O3nhk
The television series The Office depicts the humorous side of head lice. In this episode, the entire office is in a meeting deciding the best strategy to get rid of these little bugs, but they are not all on the same page!
Erin has a very calm sense about how to tackle the problem, but Dwight can be seen in a hazmat suit. Erin takes the smart approach about being calm but offers up some advice that may not be as effective as it seems.
When Dwight suggests using lye to get rid of the lice (side note: extremely bad idea), Erin chimes in that all they need is mayonnaise. Mayo is one of the more common home remedies that we hear clients tried to no avail. Lice have breathing spiracles along their abdomen, openings through which the insect breathes. It is close to impossible to clog those tiny spaces with mayo. The mayo also does not kill the eggs so without extracting every single one, you are right back to where you started and have only made egg salad.
Keep the mayo for the kid’s lunches. Here at Naughty Nits we have a safe and effective treatment that not only kills all of the live activity but the eggs as well. This will also save you from ending up with a shaved head like Meredith!
Teachers: https://youtu.be/sIOaE0kV46g
Our last clip is just a silly scene of teachers overreacting to their school’s head lice infestation. It is extremely humorous and shows how many people feel when they hear the world lice! Don’t let your child become one of the zombies! Lucky for you, there is a Lice Clinics of America – Naughty Nits clinic near you where you can receive proper treatment.
Call or visit one of our clinics to receive our Signature AirAllé treatment. Save the crazy lice stories like we reviewed above or the many others from South Park, Modern Family, Titanic, and Downton Abbey for your viewing pleasure on our TVs while you sit in one of our chairs and have a certified technician put an end to your lice infestation.
