Personal Health Care in the Philippines
Written on May 4, 2026
While there are numerous health care issues in the Philippines, I'm only focusing on two areas of personal health care; delousing and pedicures. I've never seen delousing carried out in practice anywhere else.
Lice is where the terms "lousy" and "nit-picking" come from. "Louse" is the singular form of "lice", and "nit" is the egg from a female louse.
Removing Head Lice
I've personally seen head lice removed by hand, which is the only method I've ever witnessed. I've seen mostly women removing lice from girls of all ages, using both their fingers one strand of hair at a time and a "suyod" (lice-comb).
Although I'm sure it's a false impression, they seem like they enjoy doing it. The only thing Filipinos spend more time doing (in general) is gambling, drinking, karaoke singing, and playing basketball.
It's amazing to me how many people can get head lice. They spread in many ways, and it seems to me that no one wants to put any effort into preventing it from happening.
If children are playing together and one child has head lice, all of them will have it. If two or more children sleep in a bed and one child has it, all of them will have it. The solution is to treat an entire group for it, not one at a time. I know for a fact they can buy lice shampoo.
Many years ago, one of my oldest nieces had a horrible case of head lice. No one wanted to work on her head because it seemed fruitless. I went to a drug store and asked for kuto shampoo, but they said they didn't have it.
A relative was with me and repeated it as lice shampoo, and they suddenly had it. Apparently, not everyone in the Philippines knows that kuto translates into lice.
Schools and Children With Lice
The children in the Philippines go to school whether they have head lice or not. The private and public school systems don't seem to have a problem with it.
When I was growing up in the United States, parents had to treat their children's lice before they could send them to school. I understand some school districts now allow them to go. I wonder how long it'll be before they declare it as an epidemic or something.
Pedicures
Most women in the Philippines will get a manicure and a pedicure simultaneously. Usually, the person doing the job is a woman from the same neighborhood. She's both the manicurist and the pedicurist. It's a lot less expensive than going to a nail salon.
My wife, Josie, gets her manicures and pedicures this way when she's in the Philippines. Every time she suggests I get my nails done that way, I adamantly refuse. I've seen them done so many times that I know I should groom my nails myself.
The Tools of the Trade
When the pedicurist uses one tool and one tool only, it's a good idea to stay away. I'm talking about a cuticle nipper. Maybe they use nail clippers too, but I've never seen them during any session I've observed.
Maybe it's because they're using the cuticle nipper as both a cuticle nipper and a nail clipper. I really don't know. The one thing I do know is that they shape the toenails just like fingernails, and that's wrong.
My Own Routines
I use fingernail clippers for my fingernails and toenail clippers for my toenails. I'll use the file attached to the fingernail clippers to dig any crud from under either set of nails. I'll also use it to clean up the cuticles on my toes. My fingers never have problems.
One woman or another is always complaining about a pedicure she just had, including Josie on occasion. The pedicurist will dig into the flesh (not intentionally, I'm sure) while shaping the toenails. I see women using candle wax to ease the pain.
I'm good, thanks. I'll do mine like I've always done them. I never have issues with my nails, other than not wanting to cut my toenails. As I get older, it takes longer and longer to cut them correctly.
I don't have issues with head lice because I keep my hair short, usually cutting it to 1/8 of an inch every four to six weeks. Besides, I stay away from people when they're getting deloused. Lice can jump.
Image by Gilles San Martin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons