Aussie Head Lice Technician Opens Up About The Worse Case She's Ever Seen

A head lice technician has opened up about the worst case that came through her door.

Rachel Maroun has been in the job for six years after first getting into it when she was just 15 years old.

In that time she has seen her fair share of noggins covered in lice, which are tiny wingless parasitic insects that infiltrate a person's hair, lay eggs and keep that cycle going for as long as possible.

It's not uncommon for there to be lice outbreaks at school however these can be fixed with a bit of social distancing and a nice lice removal shampoo.

However, Rachel said there was one girl who came into her clinic for treatment and she could tell the young one was infested from a mile off.

Speaking to news.com.au, the 21-year-old said the situation was so bad that she had to call child protective services immediately.

"Her whole head was basically an open wound," she explained to News Corp. "The hair was like a helmet about to just be pulled off. There was no point in combing it, we needed to get it off, start fresh.

"That's always very heartbreaking. I think it would have just caused way more pain than good. I think even the process of just brushing it, let alone treating the lice, would have been hell."

Rachel said the lice were 'falling onto the floor' when the girl arrived and her hair was deeply matted.

She uploaded a video of the girl's hair when she arrived and it was an absolute mess. It clearly hadn't been washed or brushed in a long time and the lice technician said the hair was coming out from the scalp.

Rachel explained the girl's matted hair was so bad the lice couldn't actually penetrate down to the scalp, so they migrated to the back of her neck and hands, where she suffered some pretty bad bites.

The 21-year-old said the girl had to be taken to hospital to have her head shaved off professionally and revealed she's 'in a much better environment now'.

She added: "Lice is one thing. But neglect is another. I see both at work but nothing compares to this."

While it must have been confronting for the girl to have her head shaved at such a young age, Rachel said it will give her a 'fresh start'.

Topics: News, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie