BMJ  2003;326:1258 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1258-a

Commentary

A parent's story: "I felt lost and hysterical"

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A mother describes her experience treating her two daughters' head lice. Her daughters were 6 years old and 3 years old.

My older daughter had long hair and had severe itching by the time we realised what was going on. I tried over the counter remedies, but the lice did not go away. My younger daughter and I also developed lice, and the treatment [permethrin] didn't work. My paediatrician (who I really like) had no suggestions. I felt lost and hysterical. I did things that I now know were a bad idea, like treating furniture with insecticide spray, re-treating my children with medication that didn't work, and trying herbal remedies. The school kept sending my daughter home and instructing me to treat her again. We ultimately cut her hair (and mine and my other daughter's) and used mechanical techniques to remove the eggs. The process went on . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Head lice: boring for doctors, important to patients

Richard Smith
BMJ 2003 326: 0. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pearlman, D. L. (2004). A Simple Treatment for Head Lice: Dry-On, Suffocation-Based Pediculicide. Pediatrics 114: e275-e279 [Abstract] [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

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Humiliated, isolated, lost and hysterical??

baker david
bmj.com, 7 Jun 2003 [Full text]

Headlice treatments

June Thompson
bmj.com, 8 Jun 2003 [Full text]

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