It’s one of the great humiliations of a child’s school experience: getting sent home for head lice. It’s also mortifying for parents, who may feel their housekeeping or grooming practices are under the microscope along with locks of their child’s hair.

No one needs to be embarrassed about lice, says Richard Pollack, a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health who has extensively studied lice infestations around the world. “Head lice have nothing to do with hygiene or housekeeping,” Pollack says. “Nor are head lice as prevalent or as contagious as we’ve been led to believe.”

Symptoms of Lice

Children with active lice infestations may have the following symptoms:

• Scratching their scalp due to intense itching

• Reporting a ticklish feeling near the scalp

• Having sores on the scalp caused by scratching

• Having swollen lymph nodes in the front and back of the neck

• Not all children with active infestations have these symptoms

If You Think Your Child Has Lice

If it’s suspected that your child has lice, first reassure him/her that they have done nothing wrong. Then look for live bugs in your child’s hair. If you find a bug or what looks like an egg, compare it with photos on the Internet to determine whether it is a louse. If you aren’t sure, seek advice from a pediatrician or nurse.

• If you see live bugs, try to remove them with a fine-tooth comb or lice comb. If this crosses your personal parental gross-out line, remind yourself and your child that lice are harmless and no big deal. First, focus your efforts on live bugs and then move to the eggs, if present. Sit behind the child and use a suitably bright light to inspect and comb through the hair one section at a time. Repeat until no live lice are observed.

• If this proves ineffective, consider using an over-the-counter insecticide containing permethrin or pyrethrins and specifically labeled for use on people. Read the label and follow instructions carefully. Insecticides should be considered a serious step only for children with live infestations.

• Check your child’s head the next morning and see whether you can spot any more live bugs. Even if the treatment appears successful, you will probably need to treat again in 7-10 days to kill any bugs that hatch from surviving eggs.

• Some lice are resistant to over-the-counter treatments. If you still see live bugs on your child’s head after using a treatment, seek help from your pediatrician. Your child’s doctor might prescribe a prescription remedy. Use with extreme caution and follow directions carefully.

• Do not, under any circumstances, use gasoline or kerosene on your child’s head. Such products are flammable and could cause a serious accident.

• Other home remedies to avoid: bleach, hair dye, and intense heat, such as a hair dryer on a high setting for a prolonged period of time.

• Do not feel compelled to clean your whole house and wash everything in hot water. Head lice cannot survive for long without a host. Instead, focus on cleaning your child’s bedding, night clothes, and towels, as well as your car seat covers.

• Don’t get obsessed with finding out who gave your child head lice. Kids get head lice from other kids, which is why more social children seem to be more vulnerable. Sharing helmets, hairbrushes, and other items poses very little risk.

• Throughout the process of dealing with a head lice infestation, give your child extra hugs. After the 4th grade, infestations are rare, so consider it a parenting challenge that will pass in time. Most children are not bothered by head lice; it’s the embarrassment of being singled out at school that often hurts educationally and socially.