Now that Halloween has passed, be careful—your child may have taken home more than just candy.

As the year-end holiday season begins and friends and family gather together more frequently, the chance for catching head lice increases. Halloween is no exception: young children spending time together dressing up, trick-or-treating, and sharing candy creates the perfect opportunity for lice to find new hosts. Get to know the potential ways your child may have been exposed to head lice, and what actions you can take to ensure that they’re lice-free.

(Don’t) Put Your Heads Together

The primary method of head lice transmission is direct head-to-head contact between someone who’s infested and someone who isn’t. This most often takes place when people sit side by side, exchange hugs, and take photos. And for a night full of posed pictures with everyone in costume, that’s a big risk! Squishing into frame together for a selfie may result in a cute photo, but the consequence of catching head lice may turn it into a not-so-cute memory.

“Photos are one of the most common ways we see our clients get infested,” says Ally Anthon, owner of Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land. “They’ll come in saying ‘I have no idea how we got lice’, and we’ll ask ‘have you been visiting friends or family, taking photos where you’re leaning heads together?’ And that’s when a light dawns on them and they realize they have been, and that’s how they got infested.”

Sharing Isn’t Always Caring

While head-to-head contact is the most common way that head lice spread, there is also a risk of infestation from sharing hats and head coverings. Halloween festivities amplify this risk due to the many hats, wigs, headpieces, and costume masks that kids wear and take turns trying on. If a louse happens to take an unexpected ride on a hat or a wig that’s passed from one child to another, it can easily start a new case of head lice. The same is true for hairbrushes and combs that are used on more than one child as parents help kids style their hair for their costumes.

Checking for Head Lice

Even if you feel confident that their friends or family members haven’t passed it on to them, it’s always worthwhile to check your kids for lice. Before you head-check, make sure you know what to look for. An adult louse is only as big as a sesame seed, and their much-smaller eggs blend in very easily to the hair shafts they’re attached to. A magnifying glass may help you more accurately identify what you see. Check the hair at the back of the neck, behind the ears, and around the hairline for nits; check random areas of the scalp to try and spot hatched lice. A lice comb will remove any nits in the hair that you may find.

“Head lice is very often misdiagnosed,” says Ally. “Especially because people don’t really know the facts. They’ll schedule a treatment when they don’t have anything other than itchiness, or they’re convinced they’ve seen lice eggs in their child’s hair when it’s actually just dandruff. And that’s where we come in, to head check and treat but also to help educate.”

Whether there’s a new case of head lice in your family or you just want everyone in your household checked for peace of mind, Lice Clinics of America is here to help. Our professionally trained staff are equipped to diagnose active infestations of lice during head checks, as well as perform thorough treatments using the patented AirAllé device. The AirAllé uses concentrated heated air to kill over 99% of bugs and eggs in just one hour. No matter your family’s situation, we are determined to help you remain lice-free.

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.

When a child has head lice, many parents go into panic mode and will do almost anything to get rid of the lice as quickly as possible. After grabbing the first lice treatment they see at the drugstore, they race home to put a stop to the head lice infesting their child. Sadly, weeks later they are often still combing out lice eggs.

There are three problems with this treatment approach. Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land owner Anthon explains why:

“For starters, a majority of over the counter (OTC) products don’t work anymore, at least not in the United States,” says Ally Anthon. “According to the website ‘Beyond Pesticides,’ virtually all lice in the United States have developed resistance to the OTC and prescription shampoos containing the toxic chemical Permethrin. Several recent studies have confirmed the widespread resistance of head lice to retail products.”

“This isn’t really controversial,” said John Clark in a 2014 article titled “Head Lice Growing Resistant to Standard Meds.” Clark is a professor of environmental toxicology and chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and co-author of one of the studies of resistant head lice. “This is a problem we’ve been showing in development over a period of about 20 years. But our new work now shows that head lice are now almost 100 percent [resistant]. That means there’s an awful lot of resistant insects out there in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

“The second reason to avoid commercial lice-removal products is that they may not be safe. Permethrin is a neurotoxin that kills lice by shutting down the insect’s central nervous system,” Anthon says. “Lice-removal products have been deemed safe when used as directed, but overuse is common. Panicked parents often over-apply the product, and it may cause serious health problems.”

Richard Clapp, an environmental health expert and professor emeritus at Boston University, has said that Permethrin, especially when combined with other problematic chemicals, can cause seizures and, down the road, behavioral problems. In a 2009 memo, the EPA classified Permethrin as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans” in some conditions.

Environmentally relevant levels of pyrethroids—the class of pesticide that includes Permethrin—are also common in some household insecticide products. This means that adding lice shampoo, even the amount directed, to the level of pyrethroids already in a home can overexpose children to the pesticide.

“Finally, the third reason for thinking twice before using OTC lice-removal products is that they are not ovicidal, meaning, they don’t kill lice eggs, or nits, which is a real problem in the battle against head lice,” says Anthon.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pyrethrins (another type of pyrethroids) can only kill live lice, not unhatched eggs (nits). Nits are affixed to hair shafts with a very strong glue-like substance and must be manually removed.

“If every nit is not removed, you’ll simply get a new case of head lice when the eggs hatch a week or so after the treatment is applied,” continues Anthon.

Fortunately, there’s a pesticide-free alternative to lice-removal medications. It’s a medical device (rather than a shampoo), known as the AirAllé device, that uses heated air to dehydrate and kill head lice and 99.2 percent of lice eggs. It’s been clinically proven to be safe and effective and has been cleared for use by the FDA. Treatments using this device are available exclusively at Lice Clinics of America treatment centers throughout the United States and around the world. In most cases, head lice are removed in a single 60- to 90-minute treatment, and the treatment is guaranteed to be effective by the clinic.

About Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land

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://liceclinicswesthouston.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.

If you have an infestation of head lice in your household, it can feel impossible to get rid of it. Most “natural” home remedies, prescription treatments, and over-the-counter products are ineffective and will simply prolong your frustration. In order to learn how lice spread and how to get rid of them, you’ll need to understand the lice life cycle. Read on to learn more.

From Egg to Nymph

A head louse’s life begins as an egg, also called a nit. The adult female louse lays the egg and attaches it to a human hair strand using an exceptionally strong glue-like substance. Thanks to this “glue,” the nit will remain on the hair throughout all kinds of bathing, swimming, and hairstyling. Lice attach nits ¼ of an inch or less from the scalp so that it can be kept at an ideal temperature before hatching; that means nits farther than ¼ inch from the scalp most likely have already hatched or are not viable.

After approximately eight days, the egg hatches into a nymph. The nymph louse is not yet mature enough to reproduce. The nymph will feed on the host’s blood on a daily basis as it grows and undergoes three molts. Each molt—or shedding of the outer skin—takes approximately three days. This means that it only takes about nine days for a baby louse to become an adult louse!

At Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land, we professionally train our technicians to spot lice and nits in the hair and determine whether an active infestation is present. While it’s helpful to periodically check the hair for lice at home, distinguishing nits from dandruff and viable nits from empty or dead nits can be challenging. To save yourself the hassle, schedule a professional head check with us by calling 281-801-4634.

Continuing the Cycle

Once the louse finishes its third and final molt, it is then ready to mate and lay eggs. Female lice are capable of laying up to eight eggs per day for about three days, up until they die. That’s as many as 24 eggs per female louse. No wonder a case of head lice can be so hard to get rid of!

When it comes to transferring to a new host, head lice move quickly. They primarily spread to new hosts when there is direct head-to-head or hair-to-hair contact. As this contact occurs, usually during photos, hugs, or sitting and leaning against another person, lice can crawl from head to head in a matter of seconds. It’s easy to see how lice can spread rapidly between kids at school, at summer camp, and even at home.

Treating Head Lice

If you or your loved one has come down with a case of head lice, don’t panic—there are safe, quick, and effective treatments available. At Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land, you can be completely lice-free in an hour after a professional treatment with the AirAllé device. FDA-cleared and safe for young children, the AirAllé device uses controlled heated air delivered to the scalp to kill over 99% of lice and eggs. With no involvement of harmful pesticides or toxic chemicals, the AirAllé device is a safe and effective method for treating a lice infestation.

About Lice Clinics of America

Lice Clinics of America is the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers, with more than 800,000 successful treatments performed in 265 clinics across 20 countries. 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.

From the staff at Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land

Hollywood is full of glitz and glam. Not all of the scenes in your favorite movie are accurate though. This is especially true when it comes to scenes about head lice. Many media perpetuate folklore especially when it comes to home treatment remedies to cure their lice infestation. Let’s take a look at some of these clips and debunk those Hollywood representations.

MOVIES

I Don’t Know How She Does It: https://youtu.be/jawZFND4Bfc

In this clip, the loving mother gets a message from a trusted friend that her daughter has head lice. She immediately becomes itchy and freaked out.

The mind is a powerful thing. The second the word ‘lice’ is mentioned the entire room erupts in scratching behaviors. “We’ve had many a client come in for a head check because they’re convinced their itchy scalp is because of head lice,” says Ally, clinic owner. In fact, only half of the people who have head lice have itchy heads because the itchiness is an allergic reaction to the lice saliva—and not everyone is allergic to it.

Thankfully this mother seems like she is going to take all the proper steps and make sure her entire family is checked. This is the best way to ensure you can take care of it once and for all!

The Switch: https://youtu.be/gkEsrZpCdOo

In this clip, the mother has a set list of rules for her friend in regard to eradicating the head lice. She tells him to run to the nearest store and pick up a plethora of supplies and gives out instructions on home care.

One of the falsehoods they portray is the notion that all soft objects need to be bagged up for several weeks. In reality, head lice are parasites that require the host in order to survive. They cannot live on inanimate objects. Simply put, there is no need to put items in bags.  The minute lice leave the head, they lose their lifeline and will begin to die. The chances for a louse to navigate back on to a head are close to nil. If you are feeling anxious, you can throw the items in the dryer for 30 minutes.

Another falsehood is that prescription medication is effective. These medications are full of pesticides and harmful chemicals.  Furthermore, they are unable to penetrate the eggshell, so the nits survive the chemical treatment.  The adults also show high resistance to these pyrethroids so unless every tiny egg is combed out and every louse extracted, you are looking at an instant re-infestation.

Speaking of eggs, did you see how large they were in the child’s hair in this clip? In reality, eggs are about the size of a sesame seed.

All in all, though, it was a cute clip of a man taking care of his son’s head lice!

TELEVISION

The Office: https://youtu.be/k2Wxx6O3nhk

The television series The Office depicts the humorous side of head lice.  In this episode, the entire office is in a meeting deciding the best strategy to get rid of these little bugs, but they are not all on the same page!

Erin has a very calm sense about how to tackle the problem, but Dwight can be seen in a hazmat suit. Erin takes the smart approach to be calm but offers up some advice that may not be as effective as it seems.

When Dwight suggests using lye to get rid of the lice (side note: extremely bad idea), Erin chimes in that all they need is mayonnaise. Mayo is one of the more common home remedies that we hear clients tried to no avail. Lice have spiracles along their abdomen, which are openings through which the insect breathes.  It takes many hours for mayo to harden enough to clog those tiny spaces.  The mayonnaise also does not kill the eggs so without extracting every single one, you are right back to where you started and have only made egg salad.

Keep the mayo for the kid’s lunches. Here at Lice Clinics of America – Sugar Land, we have a safe and effective treatment that not only kills all of the live activity but the eggs as well.  This will also save you from ending up with a shaved head like Meredith!

Schitt’s Creek: https://youtu.be/5UZ5fbln0mE

The scene opens with Johnny Rose approaching his adult daughter and telling her that he got an email from her school about a lice outbreak in her class. What ensues is back and forth accusations from her dramatic brother after she’s shown scratching and denying why she’s scratching. Johnny asks her to go to the store to “get something and take care of that! I need to change the sheets!” It’s a furiously fast 90-second scene that ends with Alexis emphatically saying, “ugh that’s the last time I take a pity selfie with Kelsey!”

Remember to be careful with your selfie picture taking! Lice spread through head-to-head contact.

Teachers: https://youtu.be/sIOaE0kV46g

Our last clip is just a silly scene of teachers overreacting to their school’s head lice infestation. It is extremely humorous and shows how many people feel when they hear the word lice! Don’t let your child become one of the zombies!

Lice Clinics of America has successfully treated more than 675,000 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.