This is a question I get often. Often it’s a call from a Mom who is trying to keep calm but sounds on the verge of a mental break down. It usually goes like this: Caller: “Hello, is the Dublin Lice Nanny?” Me: “Yes. How can I help?” Caller: “I am SO GROSSED OUT! I just found a bug in my daughter’s hair. I think it might be lice. OMG what does lice look like? Could it be something else? Do we really have lice?!” Often I hear the poor child crying in the background saying something similar to this: “I don’t want bugs in my hair, get them out!”
Sorry to say, if you are seeing bugs that are moving in your child’s hair, I am 99% sure you already know the answer to your question. These cases (where you can actually see bugs moving) are the easiest cases to identify. The problem is, that these are the exception. Most children that have lice, do not have a case advanced enough to see multiple bugs with the human eye (this would likely be an infestation at least 6 -8 weeks old –YUCK!.)
So back to the original question-What does lice look like?/Is this lice?/Do I have lice?
So, if picking through the hair is not the best way to identify lice, what is? Tune in tomorrow… 🙂