Have you ever had lice? I did once when I was a kid and let me tell you – it is not fun. This is why I can hardly imagine how horrible it must have been for this teen girl whose head was so full of lice, they were crawling around her body. That’s right: She had so many bugs up there that there wasn’t enough space left on her head.
Teen Girl Has So Many Lice That They Were Covering Her Body
A TikTok user named Rachel posted a video about one of the clients who came into her lice clinic. The 13-year-old girl’s hair was so full of lice that her hair almost appeared as if it were alive. The bugs were crawling down and sucking the blood out of her face and there were even some on her arms and legs. (1)
The young girl had long brown hair. Unfortunately, her hair had nearly turned grey in color due to the number of bugs (called nits) and eggs on her scalp. Rachel’s first thought naturally was how shaving her hair off would be so much easier, however, she understood how important hair is for young girls.
“So my first thought when a client comes in like this is, oh my god. This is a whole dang lot of lice. My other thought is, can we shave her hair? I’m just kidding,” she said in her video. “Sometimes we do shave people’s hair, but I didn’t want to shave this lovely girl’s hair, she’s 13 and she had gorgeous long hair. I just didn’t want to take that away from her.”
@trashywashyy Share this to a friend and say nothing 🥴😳 #licetok #liceasmr #headlice #fyp #viral
♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
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The Treatment
The girl’s neck and clothing were covered in wriggling or dead bugs. They were even falling off onto the floor. The first step was simply to start the combing process. This is when you use a fine-tooth comb to pull out as many of the bugs (and some eggs) as you can.
“So I’m combing through her long hair and just scooping out massive wads of lice, slowly. It was a bit painful process but she was such a superstar.” said Rachel.
The Update
The original video quickly amassed 55 million views, with people asking for an update video on the status of the teen’s hair. Naturally, it took several treatments for a problem of this size. Rachel shared another video of later treatment, proving how much better this girl was doing.
In the second video (see below), Rachel showed how much better the girl’s hair was looking. She wasn’t yet completely lice-free, but now they were less focused on live bugs and more focused on getting rid of the remaining eggs.
“Here is my infested client from last week, and this is what we were combing out of her hair. It’s a lot. But today look how much better it looks! I mean you can see her scalp, it looks so clear,” she said. “She’s still got a few bite marks on there but they’re already healing so it’s all good. We did our usual, we did heaps of combing, we took so much time with this because she obviously has a lot of hair. I also finally got to attack this collection of eggs just in the front of her face.”
@trashywashyy Like nearly 8 hours of work ? Lmk what you think ? 💪🏼 ##licetok ##satisfying ##licepopping ##headlice ##trashywashyy
♬ original sound – Rach
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Tough Times
It was a difficult and at times painful process for the young girl, but she got through it bravely. Rachel went on to explain that she was covering the girl’s treatments, as the family was going through a really rough time. Some commenters questioned the safety of the home, however, Rachel did mention that she always reports cases such as these to a youth service worker team.
“For background info, I have been trying to pay for this client’s treatment myself because this family is struggling. Such a sweet family that insists on paying me at least something but I want to help them.”
She explained that often in situations like this they don’t ask for help out of shame. There is usually also a lack of education as to what they can and are supposed to do when their child has lice.
How To Treat Head Lice
If you have the capacity or are feeling overwhelmed by your child’s head lice, you can take them to a specialist like Rachel. That being said, you can effectively treat and get rid of head lice at home, too. Here are a few things you can do to help solve the problem at home (2):
- Wash and dry all bed sheets, hats, scarves, etc of the infected person in hot water and hot air cycles. The heat will effectively kill any live bugs.
- Vacuum the floors and sofas of the house to ensure any hairs with live eggs are eliminated
- You can purchase over-the-counter lice medications and treatments. Be sure to follow the instructions on the package
- After treatment, use a fine-toothed comb to remove and dead or still live lice from the infected person’s scalp
- Purchase a special nit comb to remove all eggs attached to the hair shaft
- Some prescription medications are available. Talk to your doctor if you wish to explore this option
- Don’t use the same medication more than two or three times if it does not seem to be working
Again, you can go see a lice specialist who can help direct your treatment and help you navigate all of the options. The earlier you start, the better and easier it will be, so don’t wait.
Keep Reading: Mother Can’t Find School For Her 9-Year-Old Son Due To His Hair
Sources
- “Teen Girl so Infested With Head Lice They’re ‘Drinking Blood Out Her Face’.” Newsweek. Rebecca Flood. August 18, 2021.
- “Treatment.” CDC.