Head lice, Nits, Cooties, louse —
Whatever you call them, they are an absolute menace. Some people use natural remedies while others embark on absolute full scale chemical warfare!
Head lice, or nits as we commonly call them had not entered my thoughts for many years, but I was soon to suffer a rude awakening.
My daughter came home from school with a note from her teacher which I assumed would be in relation to her schoolwork…or even lack of it, but no, it was notification of an infestation of those annoying lice on her scalp.
Why her I thought. her hair was always scrupulously clean.
This started me studying those nasty nits and now I feel like an expert.
I soon found that Head lice ( sometimes also referred to as louse ) are insects that live on the neck and scalp. Although they may make your head feel itchy, they do not usually cause illness. Their main damage appears to be embarrassment and discomfort., however, they do not clear up without treatment.
I was relieved to discover that head lice seemed to like a clean head as their residence just as much as a dirty one.
Head lice are grey or brown wingless insects with six legs and grow to size of just 2mm with a lifespan of around 20 days. The female lays 5 or 6 eggs each day which are attached to the hair near the beginning of the follicle. These yellow or white eggs are referred to as nits and take around 8 days to hatch. They may sometimes be mistaken for dandruff, however nits stick like glue to the hair and prove very hard to remove.
In a child with an infestation of head lice, there are commonly about ten lice on the scalp although there may often be a much greater number.
Head lice may be found in all ages of people, but are most common in children between the ages of four and twelve.
Girls seem to be more likely to suffer from head lice than their male counterparts.
This could be because girls are more prone to put their heads together during activities and lice are usually transferred by head to head contact.
Head lice are found in all lengths and types of hair.
A Head lice infection can result in an itchy neck or head, and even a rash, behind the ears or on at the back of the neck. However, a child may have had head lice for some months before any symptoms are noticed.
I noted that there is no need to worry about delousing bed linen or or hats, as the head lice will not survive away from the scalp and are only transferred between people by head to head contact.
Armed with all this information, I thought it would be easy finding a simple head lice treatment….I was wrong.
“Home” remedies that I had heard of included smothering the affected head with olive oil or mayonnaise
….yes mayonnaise, but I declined to attempt these.
Initially, I tried what seemed to be the easiest, least intrusive treatment which was just combing them out.
Head lice are difficult to locate in the hair but can be removed, by combing them out. The hair should be combed in sections using fine toothed comb or a specific nit comb which is stocked by pharmacists.
I was told that the hair should be combed when wet, preferably with hair conditioner or olive oil, and it was important to comb for the full length from root to tip. After each stroke, the comb was to be examined for lice.
The hair could also be combed over paper, or a bowl of water, so that any lice that results of any lice that were removed which could be seen.
After hours of the laborious process, I gave up, feeling similar to a Chimpanzee preening its partner.
Next I checked the insecticidal head lice treatments which seemed to contain strong chemicals with a risk of side effects like malathion, phenothrin,carbaryl and permethrin with the potential to cause side effects including excema, rashes and scalp irritation.
Imagine my horror when I came across a report stating that the chemicals contained in some head lice shampoos could be factors in an increased risk of childhood leukaemia.
This was from the French scientific research group, INSERM, which examined 280 children diagnosed with acute leukaemia and compared them to 288 children free off the disease.
After interviewing the relevant parents concerning their use of insecticidal shampoos and household chemicals, the scientists discovered that using chemical based shampoos to eliminate head lice appeared to lead to a doubling of the risk of contracting childhood leukaemia. They stated that the risk seemed most acute when mothers used these insecticides while pregnant.
That research groups leader Dr Florence Menegaux, reported in part that “the findings reinforce the hypothesis that household pesticides may play a role in the origin of childhood acute leukaemia.”
“At this stage no specific product can be singled out and a causal link remains questionable. However, the consistency of our results and the results from previous studies suggest that it may be opportune to consider preventative action.’
This was enough for me. The sample study was small, but where my daughter was involved why would I take any risks?
I continued my own research and decided to formulate a head lice treatment based on natural plant products with which I had some experience. After much trial and error, and what seemed countless hours tracking down nit ridden children after my daughters lice infestation was cleared, it all fell into place.
The most effective results came from a combination of Tea Tree Oil, Citronella Oil, lavender Oil and Neem Oil.
I was aware of the properties of the Tea Tree (Melaleuca), and Lavender oil from my landscaping experience in Australia, wheras my research took me to India where the Neem oil from the fruits and seeds of Neem is used for preparing cosmetics and has been highly regarded since ancient times for variety of therapeutic purposes including treating skin diseases, and as an insect repellant.
Author Antony Wilton is now marketing the natural Head Lice Solution from his popular site
http://www.headlicenits.com.au
A significant step that takes place before the actual freezing is testing the blood in order to avoid preserving blood infested with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, infant leukemia or other blood disorders and genetic conditions. Another safety measure is to collect the cord blood right after the birth, meaning in maximum 15 minutes. Before storing it, the blood is centrifugally divided into its components through a specialized apparatus. If this procedure is not applied, then a sediment is injected in the cord blood, in order to separate it in its elements.
The basic elements of the cord blood are RBC cells, also called red cells, white blood cells WBC and plasmatic cells. Actually, the valuable stem cells are included in the white blood cells, so the red ones and the plasma are less important. The white blood cells produce protective antibodies that are immune to various kinds of germs and their utility in medicine is very complex. Stem cells are actually those cells which have the ability to differentiate and divide in other cells and due to this property, they have the ability to repair various systems of the body.
After separating the cells, the RBC cells are removed from the cord blood, as in this way, the chances of the stems to be compatible with many people increase considerably. This is due to the fact that patients have different blood types, even if they have the same blood required for the stems transplant. Besides these, the red blood cells of the cord blood can affect different organs of the patient, while the transplant proceeds. After the removal of the RBC cells, the remaining cord blood is deposited for freezing for unlimited periods of time. All these steps must be done quickly, as it is safest to freeze the cord blood after 24 to 36 hours since the actual birth. If the cord blood is processed and kept correctly, its benefits for future patients are unlimited, as it bases efficient treatments and medical operations in diseases like leukemia, various types of cancer, anemia, immune system disorders and rare genetic diseases.
Cord blood family services take into account the age and the health history of the families who want to donate or to bank their baby’s cord blood. There are questionnaires for helping clarifying the family health history and the likeliness of using the umbilical cord blood. Besides, cord blood family services offer information about cord blood in general, about the successfully cord blood stem cells transplantations and about the process of collection, testing and storing cord blood samples. Respectable cord blood family services ensure the shipping and handling process, taking care of all the details for the safe transportation of the umbilical cord blood.
Most of them contract reliable medical courier services and in most cases the clients are informed about the successful delivery.
Some of the existent cord blood family services have proposals for those families who would like to interrupt their baby’s cord blood after ten or more years of storage. Those families may donate it for public usage. In this sense, after the donation of the umbilical cord blood, those families may be refunded with some or even all invested money.
You can get more free articles and updated information on cord blood banking and gather more facts about cord blood stem cells on http://www.cordbloodhub.com
Have you ever heard of the money tree? It’s a metaphor for securing financial success. If you’d like to become wealthy, you need to make sure that your money tree can grow big. To do that, it needs strong roots and a fertile ground to grow in.
It’s really what’s under the ground that creates what’s above the ground. It’s the invisible that creates the visible. So you will have to “grow better roots”, meaning
you have to change the beliefs you have about money. If they are rooted in negativity then it acts like a poison and your money tree won’t bear any fruit (money).
On the other hand, a money mindset rooted in positivity creates a healthy, strong money tree that will bear lots of fruit!
Hey, you are probably thinking that you already feel positive about money. Who doesn’t want more money?
The truth is that we all have some unhealthy issues concerning money - we just aren’t always aware of those issues!
1. Change Your ‘Money Settings’
You were taught how to think about and handle money whether or not you realize it. At the same time, you developed specific attitudes towards money. When you were younger, you had many sources of influences about money; like parents, siblings, friends, teachers, religious leaders, media and the ure we all live in as well.
And this conditioning about money stays with you for the rest of your life unless you do something about it right now!
Once you are aware of your money mindset you can make the choice to change it around to the positive and get you going
towards the riches you deserve.
It’s important for you to take a few minutes to go over these “Money Beliefs”. Did you ever hear phrases like this?
• Money is the root of all evil
• Rich people are greedy
• You can’t be rich and spiritual
• Money doesn’t buy happiness
• And the famous…”We can’t afford it”
• Money corrupts
• Money doesn’t matter
• There is not enough to go around
• You don’t deserve to have that
• Money changes people
• Having lots of money is a hassle
• To be rich, you have to use people
and take advantage of them
• I’m not smart or educated enough
• If you are not born rich, chances are
you will never be rich
and also, if you were rich, then…..
• I could lose it and be a failure
• I would never know if people like me for myself or my money
• Everyone is going to want a handout
Secondly what are your parents/guardians like in the arena of money? Are they managing their money well? Are they spenders or savers? Does money come easily in your family or is it a struggle?
Is money a source of joy or the cause of bitter arguments? Can you think of a specific incident in your family that had to do with money?
With all these attitudes and influences surrounding you all your life, it is no surprise then that you unconsciously will shy away from having and keeping lots of money, is it?
Wealthy people do not think about money in these negative terms. They know that by having lots of money they are able to
give back to the world in many ways. The best way to help poor people is to not be one of them
2. Take Control
You need to know that now YOU are at the steering wheel of your life. You create every moment in your life, especially your financial life. If you don’t believe this, then you may believe that you have little or no control over your life and that financial success has nothing to do with you. This is very negative; instead of taking responsibility for what’s going on in your life, you are choosing to play the role of the victim. Of course, any victim’s thought process includes thinking “poor me”. The problem is, thinking like that gets you nowhere, and before you know it that’s exactly what you’ll be - a poor you!
3. Stop the Blame
You can blame the economy, the type of business, the government etc. You can use excuses and justify yourself for not doing well financially, for example, “I don’t have the right education” or “I don’t live in the right part of the country”, “I am not smart enough” or “I don’t know the right people” and so on. However, these things aren’t true. You can succeed anywhere, and the first step in that success is getting a better outlook on your situation and environment.
4. Banish Pessimism
Complaining a lot doesn’t help your finances either. While you complain you are focusing on the negative parts of yourself that you may not like. This reinforces bad thoughts you may be having about yourself, and it actually causes you to attract more negativity. So do yourself a huge favor and stop complaining or blaming or justifying. You are only putting yourself in the role of a victim and there is no such thing as a rich victim!
5. Count your Blessings
It’s also important for you to see the blessings around you right now, however small they may seem. Each of us living in North America is actually rich already compared to other parts of the world. We have so much available to us, like roads, towns/cities and stores, public places like libraries, swimming pools, parks, arenas etc.
See yourself having abundance right now and it’s from that standpoint that you can go towards receiving an abundance of money as well.
If only I had changed my “money settings” as a teenager! I would have been financially free a lot sooner. I used to think that becoming wealthy was only for other people. The truth is that you can become rich and you deserve to!
I highly recommend the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, (ISBN: 0446693219) for you to begin understanding more about becoming financially free, using the money concepts rich people use to help you put money in your pocket and not out of it.
It should be available at most libraries.
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Learning to breastfeed can be a difficult and frustrating time
for first-time mothers and their babies. Under the best
circumstances, most of us have patience and determination to
learn a new skill. However, after the physically draining
effects of labour and birth, breastfeeding can easily become
frustrating if the baby is slower to learn to latch at the
breast.
During this period just after birth, your internal resources are
fragile and you can be vulnerable to outside criticism or
disapproval. With respect to breastfeeding, “well intentioned
help” can easily sabotage the breastfeeding process. Many new
mothers are offered suggestions from people who truly believe
that they are providing great advice, when the advice is dated
and can actually interfere with the breastfeeding process. Here
are a few situations that can arise, the problems that they can
create, and suggestions on how to handle them.
The Postpartum Period
“You are so very tired. Why don’t you sleep and let us take care
of your baby?”
Yes, it is true that you are tired after giving birth. However,
if you let your nurse or someone else watch your baby while you
sleep, you won’t know if they decide to feed your baby formula.
The colostrum that your breasts produce just after birth is
extremely concentrated with nutrients, immune factors and energy-
rich natural sugars, and a newborn baby drinks colostrum
approximately a teaspoon at a time. Because her stomach is
extremely small, this amount of colostrum is a normal and healthy
amount for her to ingest per feeding in the first few days of her
life. If your baby is fed an ounce or more of formula, her
stomach will become used to a larger volume and suddenly the
colostrum that your breasts produce is not enough.
To counter this approach, keep your baby in your room with you,
sleep when she sleeps and feed her on demand. If you can sleep
while a family member or a friend is visiting, ask him or her to
wake you as soon as the baby starts to stir so that you have time
to latch her to your breast before she becomes wide awake and
angry.
The baby is losing body weight and we are going to have to
supplement her with formula.
Actually, it is normal for a baby to lose weight after birth.
When a baby is growing inside her mother’s uterus, she is
constantly fed nutrients and liquids through her umbilical cord.
After birth, the constant stream of food and drink ends and
breastfeeding begins. However, a baby can be really tired after
birth, and it can be difficult for her to stay awake long enough
to have a good feed. You might want to wake her every two hours
to feed to ensure that she’s getting a good supply of breast
milk. Keep offering the breast and encourage her to suckle even
if it is a gulp at a time. Once your milk comes in, it will be
easier for her to get more fluids and nutrients in each
breastfeeding session. It can take up to three weeks for a
newborn to regain her birth weight.
There is a point, however, when a baby can become dehydrated and
that is cause for concern. At 7% loss of body weight, your
health care practitioner will want to monitor the baby’s
breastfeeding times and whether or not she pees and poops
regularly. Supplementation may become necessary, but offer the
breast first and then supplement afterwards. This allows your
baby to continue to practice learning a proper latch and helps to
establish a good supply of breast milk. It can take time for the
baby to learn the physical act of breastfeeding, and once she
does, supplementation will no longer be required.
Once You Are Home
“You should feed your baby on a schedule.”
Our mothers and grandmothers were advised since 1946 by Dr.
Spock’s Baby and Child Care book to bottle-feed their babies and
put them on rigid schedules because it was “more sanitary and
more scientific.” At that time in history, scientists and
pediatricians did not realize how much more breast milk offered
besides nourishment. Breast milk includes immune factors coat
the lining of the baby’s intestines to provide better immunity
from bacteria, viruses and parasites; natural fats that promote
brain and nerve development; and the exactly perfect proportion
of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that the
baby needs.
Breastfed babies are supposed to eat often—the baby leads the
“breastfeed on demand” process because her sole purpose at this
beginning stage of her life is to ensure her survival by
establishing a good and abundant milk supply. While ill-advised,
it is possible to achieve a schedule for a bottle-fed baby
because the cow’s milk proteins found in formula take more time
to digest than the proteins found in human breast milk.
You always get to feed the baby and I can’t. Couldn’t you let me
give her one bottle at night?
The problems with introducing bottles into a baby’s schedule when
she is busy establishing her milk supply are twofold:
First: a newer baby can become confused with the two different
types of feeding. Breastfeeding is a very active process. A
baby draws a good amount of breast tissue into her mouth (more
than you realize) to form a teat. She has to suck for quite a
few seconds before the letdown reflex begins and the milk begins
to flow. When a baby is feeding well, the rhythm that develops
is to suck a few times and then to gulp the milk that pools in
her mouth.
Bottle-feeding is a totally different process. A bottle-fed baby
doesn’t have to work at all to get milk. The milk dribbles from
the nipple of the bottle and the baby gulps away to her heart’s
content. If a breastfeeding baby encounters two types of
feeding, one that she has to work at and one that is incredibly
simple, she might just opt for the easier one, especially if she
is having difficulties learning how to latch.
Second: it is the physical act of sucking at the breast that
stimulates the brain to increase milk production. If a baby is
using one of her feeds to drink formula, the mother does not get
the stimulus to produce more milk. This results in less milk
available for the baby, which causes her to be hungry and fussy.
The same problem arises when soothers are introduced into a
newborn’s life before the breast milk supply is firmly
established. A soother can provide comfort, but it interferes
with the baby sucking at her mother’s breast. Soothers and
bottles should only be introduced after the breastfeeding process
is comfortable for both mother and baby, not before.
One way to satisfy the needs of your partner, your parents, your
in-laws and other family members who want to feed your baby is to
give them an activity to do that is special just for them.
Partners can take over bath time and actually climb into the bath
with the babies to enjoy skin-on-skin closeness. Other family
members can be shown infant massage techniques, or suggest that
they hold the baby on their chests and drape a warm blanket
around the two to provide the satisfaction of a good cuddle. Be
creative, there are lots of ways to show love that don’t involve
bottle-feeding.
In Conclusion
It is important to remember that learning the skills of parenting
a newborn take time and quite a lot of energy. Breastfeeding is
one of these skills and if you can remain as calm as possible,
you have a much better chance of success.
Breastfeeding can be frustrating to learn for some women and if
you find that you and your baby are struggling, get help
immediately! The help of a positive, knowledgeable person could
make the difference for a new mother to be able to successfully
breastfeed her baby.
About the Author:
Dr. Melanie Beingessner is a chiropractor, a breastfeeding
counsellor, an infant massage instructor and the mother of three.
She is the author of The Calm Baby Cookbook and offers additional
information about pregnancy and breastfeeding on her website:
http://www.drmelaniebee.com