 [ Symptoms ] can i do intervals inside or outside with or without exercise equipment [ Disease ] head lice have not killed anyone but they are public enemy number one in the school system just the mention of head lice will make you scratch i bet you are thinking about scratching your head right now head lice are just trying to survive so they find a nice person to adopt so they can feed on their blood yes head lice are vampires — they drink tiny amounts of human blood but fortunately they do not carry diseases lice mature quickly and are quite prolific in the sex department lice lay dozens of eggs nits eggs that quickly hatch in order to perpetuate their species as you read this blog lice may be drinking blood and having sex on your scalp right now now you can scratch your head it is this hysteria about head lice that drive parents and teachers crazy school systems have adopted questionable no nit policies banning kids from walking through the doors if any suspicious white specks are spotted on their scalp schools must have a team of nit nazis insects are taking over our world actually insects outnumber us astronomically so really we are guests in their world dogs get fleas so we spend millions on ways to eradicate them termites are eating our homes flies are landing on our dinner plate ants and cockroaches show up at night to wander our kitchen looking for morsels and crumbs bedbugs are now permanent residents in many fine hotels kids — even the cleanest kids from the cleanest homes — can get head lice i know my long haired daughter brought some home many years ago girls are much more social and get head lice more often than boys i often see sesame seed sized nits on my little patients it is rare that i see a live louse scurrying around but i have seen those as well i do tend to take a little perverted pleasure in informing a well coiffed snooty mother that her little angel is crawling with bugs “your daughter has head lice ” “what are you sure could it be something else ” “no she seems to be harboring a vibrant colony of california scalp crickets also known as the common cootie you probably have them too ” like most of the species on earth head lice have adapted to treatments which range from insecticides like permithrin products like nix malathion and sulfa antibiotics to the newly tested stromectal — a pill containing ivermectin a drug used to prevent heartworms in dogs people do prefer pills to messy hair products but a heartworm medicine seems like an overkill petroleum jelly mayonnaise and olive oil are sometimes used in an attempt to suffocate head lice but these treatments have not been proven to be effective too bad since a kid with a scalp full of mayonnaise or vaseline is so attractive there is a lice smothering product called ulesfia that does seem to work well as long as the peta