Hair and Scalp Issues Upon Coming Home

I had been nervous about learning how to do Mita and Enu’s hair before I met them. When I discovered that Mita had a bad fungal infection on her scalp, with multiple encrusted and seeping scabs, my nervousness left me and I went into nurse mode! I quickly got treatment from our agency’s Doctor. I learned that this is a common infection in group home settings and can be hard to keep under control. We started her on pills twice a day for six weeks. I also used a harsh dandruff-like shampoo on both Mita and Enu’s hair for six weeks. Since Enu slept with Mita, I was trying to keep her from getting it as well. I kept hair brushes separate and cleaned them often (not always an easy thing to do with four girls running around!). Washing the sheets and pillow cases frequently also helped and I assigned each girl a pillow case color to help keep the possible cross-contamination risk down.

Something that made our lives easier, especially in Ethiopia with limited water access, was to get the girls’ hair corn-rowed. Across the street from our agency there was a hair salon that would do hair for $2.50 each! I felt it was easier to treat the fungal infections with the corn-rows in, and we left them in for about six weeks. This also gave us a lot of time to bond and get to know each other, without the stress of me learning new hair styles and pulling on tender scalps. I would recommend bringing your girls home in braids or corn-rows when you pick them up from Ethiopia!

The treatment worked well, although Mita does have a bald patch still after being home for ten months. It is growing back, very slowly, but I was told it may never grow back so I am happy with slow growth! I eased up on the harsher shampoo in time and am pleased at how healthy their scalp and hair is now.

Enu did present with symptoms of a fungal infection about six weeks after we got home. We gave her nine weeks of oral treatment and I started using the shampoo on her again. If I had to do it over again, I would have started Enu the oral medication with Mita in Ethiopia. One reason is because fungal infections are stubborn and it was a hassle. The second reason is the cost! In Ethiopia I bought six weeks of pills and shampoo for about $9.00 US dollars. In the states I paid about $75 for the pills, and that is AFTER insurance covered some of it! If you suspect your child of having a fungal infection get your medications in Ethiopia and save some money.

While getting Mita and Enu’s scalp healthy and trying to prevent the rest of the family from getting infected was time consuming, I feel so blessed that all we had to deal with health-wise was a little fungus! I think it also made Mita trust me a little more. Her scalp was really raw and painful and her “new mom” came to the rescue and made her feel better. Both kids loved the attention of getting pills and special treatment on their hair. There is a bright side to everything, even fungus!

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