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Does Mayonnaise Kill Head Lice?

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Parents who suddenly discover head lice on their kids’ heads often fly into a panic. How did my child get lice? How do I treat it? What if the rest of my family becomes infested? Desperate to get rid of the infestation as fast as possible, worried moms and dads search online for advice and find all sorts of bizarre home remedies.

 

One popular “remedy” for head lice is mayonnaise: coat your child’s hair and scalp with it, and their lice will die. But does the popular sandwich condiment actually have a deadly effect on lice, or is this an old wives’ tale?

 

“It shocks me how many people are even willing to try this method,” says Ally Anthon, owner of Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land. “All that mess and smell, for little to no payoff. Yet somehow it still makes the rounds in Facebook groups, forum posts, and mommy blogs.”

 

Does It Work?

 

Mayonnaise as a head lice treatment aims to work by suffocation. The head louse breathes through respiratory openings called spiracles. If a thick substance covers the louse and obstructs its spiracles, it can die. However, this depends on how porous the substance is. As mayonnaise is actually porous enough to allow head lice to breathe, it must harden inside their spiracles before it can actually obstruct their airflow and kill them. And unfortunately, mayonnaise can take up to eight hours to harden completely.

 

This means a healthy coating of thick, pungent mayo must remain on your child’s scalp and in their hair for eight hours in order for it to have any success in killing their head lice.

 

Yet that will only address part of the problem. While mayonnaise may help kill some bugs, it has no effect whatsoever on their eggs or nits. Without killing or physically removing every nit in the hair, a new generation of lice will hatch, and the infestation will remain active.

 

Instead of slathering mayonnaise onto your kids’ heads and crossing your fingers, pay a visit to the experts in lice treatment: Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land. Our patented AirAllé heated air device dehydrates and kills over 99% of lice and eggs in just one hour.

 

About Lice Clinics of America

 

Lice Clinics of America has successfully treated more than 800,000 cases of head lice. The company has more than 265 clinics in 20 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land is located at 1531 FM-359, Suite 800, Richmond, TX, 77406 and is open 7 days a week by appointment. Call 281-801-4634 or visit https://liceclinicssugarland.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Do I Need to Bug Bomb My House to Stop Head Lice?

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As head-lice treatment professionals, we at Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land receive several questions from our customers about head lice and how to treat them. One frequent question we hear is “How do I treat my home for lice?”

 

It’s a common misconception that head lice, like other pests in the home, can live on clothing, bedding, and furniture. This belief leads well-meaning parents to consider using fumigation and pesticide products such as bug bombs, or foggers, to control their lice infestation.

 

“This is probably the most popular myth about head lice that people believe,” says Ally Anthon, owner of the Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land clinic. “I would say most, or a large portion, of our clients, assume that having lice in the home means having to treat the home itself when that’s actually not the case.”

 

Why Pest Control Tactics Don’t Help a Lice Infestation

 

The consistent warm temperature and protective cover of hair make the scalp the louse’s ideal home. As parasites, head lice feed solely on human blood, which means that they need to remain on their host’s scalp for their entire lives. If a louse happens to come off of its host, its chances of survival are slim to none. The louse’s specially evolved legs make it difficult to move around any surface that’s not a human head. Once it leaves the head, it cannot feed, will become dehydrated, and die—usually within 15 hours.

 

This occurrence is far less common than you think. In addition to being optimized for movement through hair, the head louse’s legs are also good at helping them hold on tight—so good, in fact, that lice will remain on the scalp through swimming, brushing, and bathing. Their eggs (also called nits) are even harder to remove; the glue-like substance that attaches them to the hair keeps them in place until they hatch. A nit will not come off of the hair unless it is pulled off the end of the hair shaft.

 

Now that you know an infestation of head lice has nothing to do with the home but everything to do with the hair on your head, you can see why sprays, foggers, and professional fumigation are not only ineffective, they also add unneeded risk to family members. Those types of treatments use toxic chemicals that require household members to stay far away to prevent inhalation.

 

Safe Solutions that Work

Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on unhelpful and potentially dangerous pest-control methods, visit Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land for effective head lice treatments and gentle prevention products. Using the FDA-cleared AirAllé device, our professionally trained technicians will have you and your family members lice-free in just one hour. We will also help you select the best prevention products for you from our Prevent line, which uses pleasant-smelling essential oils to repel lice from the hair. All of our products and treatments are pesticide-free, so you can leave the bug bombs and exterminators behind!

 

About Lice Clinics of America – West Houston

Lice Clinics of America has successfully treated more than 800,000 cases of head lice. The company has more than 265 clinics in 20 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land is located at 1531 FM-359, Suite 800, Richmond, TX, 77406 and is open 7 days a week by appointment. Call 281-801-4634 or visit https://liceclinicssugarland.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.