treat-head-lice

Treat Head Lice Right: 5 Reasons Your Head Lice Won’t Go Away

Man oh man, head lice are a pain! If you don’t know how to treat head lice, they can be hard to get rid of. If you don’t treat them right, they will keep coming back. You may have no idea why they are coming back and here are 4 reasons why you might not be able to part with head lice.

  • You’re Using Over The Counter Treatments

We’ll never stop spreading the word that drugstore/OTC lice treatments do not effectively treat head lice. The resistance of super lice to popular store lice products is well-researched and well-documented in this day and age. There are enough studies out there that prove drugstore lice treatments to be ineffective and not worth the money. Super lice are now resistant to pyrethroids and pyrethroids are found in most OTC lice products, and recent studies show that super lice are now in 42 states in the U.S.

  • Your Nitpicking Is Not Thorough Enough

While effective if done properly, nitpicking is subject to human error. This is the process of combing out live lice, then picking out each nit (lice egg). It is very difficult to get every single lice egg, without missing one and leaving it behind. It is very impressive if someone can spot every single nit and remove it with a nit comb. The reason why only nitpicking is not reliable is that if even one is left behind, then you’re stuck with a whole new live lice infestation and you’re back to square one. Don’t think those lice eggs won’t hatch and multiply because they will. You either have to treat all the head lice and their eggs or expect to another infestation.

  • You Didn’t Get Every Member Of The Family Checked

Oftentimes, parents are so focused on the child that they discovered lice on, that they fail to check everyone else in the household. If one person in the family has head lice, it is likely that someone else in the family may get it as well, especially if there are other children in the family. When you bring your child in to treat their head lice, let us check every member of your family. Head lice are spread through direct head-to-head contact or less commonly, through sharing hair accessories. If only one person in the family is checked and treated, the lice will likely come back to that person from another family member.

  • You’re Relying On Home Remedies

Home remedies can be scary. They are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. Many internet articles and mommy bloggers will mention home remedies like mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, olive oil, or kerosene. These methods usually involve covering a child’s head with one of these substances overnight and suffocating it to the head with plastic wrap. There’s no guarantee that the plastic wrap won’t fall off the head and cover your child’s mouth and nose. The method is meant to treat head lice by suffocating the lice, which cab instead, tragically suffocate your child. PLEASE DO NOT TRY HOME REMEDIES. Mayonnaise has also been shown to cause food poisoning to children. Think about it, you wouldn’t leave mayonnaise outside of the fridge overnight and then use it the next day. Well, left out mayonnaise all over your child’s face and all over their bed is bad news.

Now you know what NOT to do. One of these might be the reason that you can’t get rid of those dang head lice. We know how to teat head lice, so give us a call if you need assistance.

Conroe-texas

Lice Treatment Near Conroe, Texas

Looking for lice treatment in the Conroe, Texas area? Look no further. We’ve got the best lice clinic, located in Bryan, TX, about an hour away but worth the drive! We have a revolutionary treatment that is only available within the Lice Clinics of America network. We treat head lice with our famous and revolutionary AirAllé® device that is FDA-cleared and medically proven to effectively kill lice through dehydration. We use a device that has changed the head lice treatment industry forever.

Some History Of Conroe, Texas

Conroe is named after Northern-born Union Cavalry officer and Houston lumberman Isaac Conroe. Conroe founded a sawmill there in 1881. Conrow originally gained in wealth because of to the lumber and oil industries. Originally named “Conroe’s Switch”, the area saw an influx of residents in the late 19th century due to the lumber demands on the piney wood forest of the area.
During the 1930s, because of oil profits, the city boasted more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city, though only briefly. Elvis Presley performed at the high school football field on August 24, 1955. After the construction of Interstate 45, many Houstonians began to settle communities around Conroe.
Within the first decade of the 21st century, the city attracted a lot of new residents from the Houston area. Renée C. Lee said that Conroe around 2002 was “a sleepy, backwater town 40 miles north of Houston” and that at the time, Conroe city officials needed to use financial incentives to attract home developers to Conroe. Lee said that for a three-year period ending in 2007, Conroe became a hotbed of construction of new houses.
In 2012 the U.S. Census Bureau designated the area around Conroe and The Woodlands as a “large urbanized transit area,” an area defined as having over 200,000 residents, making it eligible to receive federal transportation funds.

Children in Conroe, Texas

With a large number of children who contract lice per year, parents of Conroe, Texas should be aware of their resources in case an outbreak affects your family. Head lice outbreaks are extremely common in elementary schools and most parents don’t know much about head lice.

As parents in College Station Texas, it’s our mission to educate families in the Conroe area, as well as any other surrounding areas. For instance, did you know that lice are so common that 6-12 million kids are infested each year? Or that lice will infest clean or dirty hair but actually prefer a clean head of hair? Did you know that lice lay eggs, called nits and those are actually the trickiest to get rid of? We have endless amounts of knowledge when it comes to head lice, lice treatment, and lice education. We’ve dedicated ourselves to researching and keeping up-to-date with science pertaining to lice removal remedies. Our AirAllé® device is the most modern and effective approach to lice removal treatment and won’t break the bank. It’s a really cool and easy way to kill lice and their eggs for good.

treating-lice

Treating Lice: Do’s And Don’ts

There are probably more parents in the world who don’t know anything about lice than parents who do. Lice are one of those things that you don’t need to know anything about until an infestation affects your family. You never think it’ll actually happen to you but statistics show that if you have school-aged children, then there is a pretty good chance of you dealing with it during those elementary years. If an outbreak happens at school, it’s always good to be prepared and have some knowledge of the things you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to treating lice.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts we came up with for treating lice. Let’s start with the Don’ts.

DON’T

• Freak out. It’s understandable when a parent panics at the sight of lice in their child’s hair but imagine how that will make your child feel? Children often react based on their parent’s emotions. If you stay calm, then they are more likely to stay calm. Plus, there’s no reason to panic too much because we ca treat the lice for you and all will be just fine.
• Feel too ashamed or embarrassed to call parents and teachers. When you discover your child has lice, the courteous thing to do is call anyone who may have come in direct contact with your child. This means telling friends’ parents and teachers. The social stigma given to those who contract head lice needs to be eradicated. Nobody can help it and anyone can get it.
• Use harmful chemicals to treat lice. There have been various studies proving that chemicals found in many lice treatments have detrimental and harmful side effects for children. That is not worth the risk one bit, especially since we are in the era of super lice, and over-the-counter treatments usually fail to treat super lice. We have treatment at our clinic that is chemical-free.
• Tent your house or call and exterminator. Some people thing that you need to do something serious to your house post head lice infestation. That is untrue. Head lice can’t survive off the head for more than 48 hours at most, so they will die. All you need to do it vacuum all carpet and wash all bedding and items used by infested individual.

DO

• Perform head checks on every family member to make sure the lice hasn’t spread to anyone else.
• Notify anyone who may have come in contact with your child and contracted head lice.
• Come to Lice Clinics of America – College Station, for safe and effective treatment that is chemical-free and comfortable for all ages.
• A load of laundry with all bedding and towels that the infested child may have touched. Wash and dry the hottest temperature.
• Put brushes, combs, accessories and any stuffed animals in a plastic bag and then place it in the freezer overnight.
• Make the process as fun and not scary as possible for you children. It is normal for a child to feel embarrassed when having head lice. Let them know that it is common and can happen to anyone. Let them know that head lice treatment is around the corner and that it will all be gone soon.

Treating lice can be quite a new and confusing process for some parents but we are here to help. Treating lice is our expertise and we treat each child as if they were our own. The hopes for this blog was to teach you a little bit more about treating lice than you knew before.

head-lice-breakup

Which is Worse: Head Lice Or A Breakup?

A head lice outbreak is awful, and so is going through a breakup. There is nobody in this world who loves either. In Fact, dealing with head lice can often evoke similar emotions as dealing with a breakup. Most mothers go through phases when finding out their children have head lice and most people go through some not-so-fun phases after a breakup.

head-lice-cartoon

1.

The Panic Stage

Most parents fall into an all-consuming state of panic when they realize their child has head lice. Don’t worry, this is very common. It’s kind of like when you break up with someone and then think to yourself “what the heck did I just do?” immediately afterward. We naturally fear the unknown, so when a parent knows absolutely nothing about head lice, it can be scary for them. When you break up with someone, not knowing what life will be like without them can strike up some fear as well. The reason most parents panic is because they think it might be very harmful to their child or they think it is their fault. Those are both untrue. If you discover that your child has head lice, remember not to panic. Panicking will only make it worse.
2.

The Sad and Depressed Stage

I think it’s pretty clear that most people go through a dramatically depressing stage after a breakup and this can happen during a head lice crisis as well. You might find yourself asking “WHY?! Why me? Why My child?” I’ll be the first to admit that moms can be a little theatrical and dramatic sometimes but it gives us character! Just try not to freak out in front of your children, it’s important to make it seem like no big deal so they won’t be scared.

3.

The Anger Stage

The anger stage is like the sad and depressed stage but with more fumes and less tears. This is when you start telling yourself, “This is so stupid. I can’t believe I have to deal with this disgusting stuff, when do I ever get a break?” During a breakup, it would sound more like “I gave you my heart and you stomped on it, you heartless jerk!” Anyways, it’s ok to be angry about lice, nobody enjoys it. This is the point in the breakup when you would send some nasty text messages and regret it the next day.

4.

The Dealing with it Stage

It comes to a certain point in both a breakup and a head lice debacle where you just have to pull yourself together and deal with it. “Alright, I got this!!!!,” you’d say to yourself. This is about the time most moms call Lice Clinics of America- College Station and we take it from there. At this point you got all the dramatic emotions out of your system and you’re ready to talk options and just get rid of it.

5.

The Moving On Stage

This is the best stage of all. You’ve conquered what you once thought was unconquerable and it feels pretty good. You now know that this trial happened to make you a stronger person and a stronger mother. You’ll now definitely recommend your friends to Lice Clinics of America- College Station. You are so happy that your child is lice-free and that you are sane again.

Just know that whether you are dealing with head lice or a breakup, you are not alone.

Egyptians-lice

Head Lice in Ancient Times

There was once a time in history when head lice were ambiguous and shameful. Those who contracted head lice were deemed unhygienic and of the lower class. Kids teased their classmates and said they had cooties, without even knowing what a cootie is. Yes, that is where the term “cootie” came from because a cootie is a body louse. In this day and age, tables have turned. We now know that it doesn’t matter if your hair is dirty or clean. In fact, some research shows that head lice actually prefer a clean head of hair. Believe it or not, head lice go way back in history, to ancient times! Aren’t you grateful for the technology we have today to treat lice?

3,100-332 BC, Egypt

Head lice have been causing itching heads since ancient Egyptian times. Imagine living in a time with very little technology. We are lucky that we have the means to get rid of lice today. Many ancient Egyptians had head lice till the day they died — and that is actually how archaeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian lice remedies — through their mummified corpses.

Ancient Egyptian Lice Remedies

  • Digesting a portion of date meal and water, served warm and then spat out
  • Shaving the entire body so the lice had nowhere to live

There must have been a lot of bald individuals in ancient Egypt!

Ancient Egyptian symbols

8,000 BC, Brazil

According to archaeologists, the world’s oldest known head lice- actual nits discovered on a human head- were found at an archeological dig in northeast Brazil. They estimated that the specimen was at least 10,000 years old. Crazy huh? Head lice have been around for a long time. Lice have also been discovered in Israel dating back 2000 years. They were taken from hair combs.

Middle Ages Onwards

In the middle ages, humans couldn’t get away from lice. They were an unavoidable part of their life and lice didn’t discriminate; they infected all parts of society from serfs to royals. People in the Middle Ages took lice to their grave as well. They lived a life of itch, itch, itch!

1025, Peru:

In 2008, two 1,000-year-old Peruvian mummies were discovered with an abundance of head lice. One of the specimens had 407 lice on its head and the other had 545. Could you imagine? We sincerely hope you never have that many head lice crawling around your head but if you do, we can certainly get rid of it for you!

19th Century, U.S

If you happened to visit the U.S Wisconsin Historical Museum, you will be able to see a bone lice comb found in Fort Crawford, dating back to frontier days. These days, we have modern lice combs that are necessary for removing the lice eggs. Isn’t it crazy that we’ve been using the same method since the 19th century? The only difference is that it’s advanced immensely. It would be cool to see what the bone lice comb looks like. It probably has a slightly different style than the one we use today.

20th Century

1939-1945 Europe

Yepp, you guessed it — there were plenty of head lice infestations in the traumatizing trenches of WWII. Besides that, WWII was actually a rare time in history when head lice weren’t a big problem. “This was due to the common use of a potent pesticide designed principally to wipe out malaria-causing mosquitos but which had the added benefit of helping keeping head lice at bay.” This pesticide was extremely toxic, so it was not a long-term solution to head lice. Somehow the lice came back for future generations.

1960’s

Homemade treatments have been popular since the 60’s as the spread of head lice has increased every year. These home remedies worked really well until the last few years. The reason for a decrease in home remedy success is that now, almost every state is infested with super lice and they are resistant to many pesticides and chemicals that were invented to kill head lice. In the 60s people often used harmful remedies such as gasoline on their child’s head. We definitely don’t recommend that!

21st Century

Head lice treatment has shifted from dangerous consumption of things to bone combs, to kitchen remedies, to medical treatments. In this day and age, the most advanced and effective treatment on the market is the AirAllé device that we use to treat head lice every day in our clinic. It uses controlled heated air to dehydrate head lice and their eggs.

With our advanced technology, you no longer have to take head lice to your grave.

 

 

Used as Reference:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/lice.htm

George-Washington

The History Of George Washington

This coming Monday, February 20, is Presidents’ Day. As a tribute to our very first president of the United States, we’d like to delve into the history of George Washington. Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. This holiday was originally established in 1885 in recognition of our first U.S. President — George Washington. In fact, this day is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government, according to history.com.

George Washington Pre-Presidency

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, on his father’s plantation in Virginia.  He was the commander of the Continental Army, president of the Constitutional Convention, and gentleman planter. Washington played a big role in the French and Indian war and then in June of 1775, Congress commissioned Washington to take command of the Continental Army besieging the British in Boston. The command kept him away from his family in Mount Vernon for more than 8 years. George Washington felt unprepared for what was ahead with this command. During this time, Washington’s troops crossed the Delaware and attacked garrison at Renton, forcing it to surrender. Washington again crossed the Delaware a few days later, outmaneuvered the force sent to crush him, and fell on the enemy at Princeton, inflicting a humiliating loss on the British. Washington made bold plans for the Battle of Yorktown, which was on an even larger scale than Trenton and Princeton. Washington marched south to lay siege on Cornwallis. October of 1781 is when he accepted the surrender of Cornwallis’s army. Two years later, the peace treaty was completed and the victory at Yorktown effectively ended the Revolutionary War. Washington’s victory over the British went down as one of the most historic victories in U.S. history.

The Constitutional Convention

Although Washington resigned his commission from the revolutionary war on December 23, 1783, essentially making him an international hero for giving up power when he could have been crowned a king, the affairs of the nation continued to command his attention. “He watched with mounting dismay at the weak union created by the Articles of Confederation gradually disintegrated, unable to collect revenue or pay its debts. He was appalled by the excesses of the state legislatures and frustrated by the diplomatic, financial, and military impotence of the Confederation Congress.” By 1785, Washington had concluded that reform was necessary for the goodwill of the nation. He told James Madison that an energetic constitution was needed.

Washington played a big role in ratifying the Constitution. This was one of his biggest struggles but he never gave up. Even in Washington’s home state of Virginia, the Constitution was ratified by a majority of only one vote.

Once the ratified Constitution was approved, Washington hoped to retire from his political involvement and return to private life. His wishes were not granted when he was unanimously selected to be President from every elector. To this day, he is the only U.S President to be selected by a unanimous vote of the people.

George Washington’s Presidency

George Washington served as our first American President for two terms. His first term, which was from 1789-1793 consisted mostly of organizing the executive branch of the new government and establishing administrative procedures that would bring energy and efficiency to the republic’s future.

Washington appointed his former aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury; Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State; and his former chief, Henry Knox, as secretary of war. James Madison was one of his principal advisors. All of these men played a significant role in our political and U.S. history.

George Washington went down as one of the most able administrators ever to serve as president as well as the most humble and fair president of the U.S. Those who knew him labeled him as a man of integrity and honor. He conveyed to his people that the President “could exercise extensive executive authority without corruption.” Thomas Jefferson wrote that Washington’s integrity was the most pure and his justice the most inflexible. “No motive of interest or consanguinity, friendship, or hatred, being able to bias his decision,” Jefferson wrote.

Washington contributed heavily to the debt crisis during his term as president, concluded peace treaties with Southeastern Indian tribes, and designated a site on the Potomac River for the permanent capital of the United States. As his first term ended, a bloody Indian war continued on the northwestern frontier. Washington planned to step down after his first term but his cabinet members convinced him otherwise. He then served for a second term.

Washington’s Second Term (1793-1797)

His second term was dominated by foreign affairs and complications rose by a deepening partisanship in his own administration. Washington was President during the French Revolution, a time of international crisis and turmoil. The outbreak of the genial European war in 1793 forced the crisis to the center of American politics. Washington believed that national interest of the U.S. dictated neutrality.

One of Washington’s most important accomplishments was keeping the U.S. out of the war, giving the new nation an opportunity to grow in strength while establishing the principle of neutrality that shaped American foreign policy for more than a century. Although Washington’s department heads agreed that the United States should remain neutral, disagreements over foreign policy aggravated partisan tensions among them. The disagreements were part of the deepening division between Federalists and Republicans.

The opposition to federal policies developed resistance to the law in 1794 as distillers in Western Pennsylvania rioted and refused to pay taxes. Washington directed the army to restore order, a step applauded by Federalists and condemned by Republicans.

Washington achieved a lot during his presidency and was well-respected by the people. Like any presidency, some events were easier to get through than others but he had a vast amount of important achievements. The long Indian war on the northwest frontier was won, Britain surrendered its forts in the northwest, and Spain opened the Mississippi to American commerce. These achievements opened the West to settlement. Washington’s Farewell address helped to summarize many of Washington’s strongest beliefs about what it would take to sustain and grow the young nation that he helped found.

Used for this article: mountvernon.org, history.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guys gathered to watch the Super Bowl and cheer on their team

Super Bowl Vs. Super Lice

Chips, football and Six Pack of Beer on a table in front of a big screen TV with a Football field. Great for Super Bowl themed projects. Horizontal format.

It’s that wonderful time of year again when families get together, eat lots of good food, and watch America’s favorite past time — football.

The Super Bowl is a chance to root for your favorite team and create fun and friendly family rivalries.

It’s a great way to celebrate the end of January and look forward to the Valentine’s month of February.

But something else that enjoys the Super Bowl and people getting close together on couches, in fields, and in houses are super lice.

We all want to take down the other team and in the case of head lice, this can be a difficult task.

How The Team Gets Together

Most of the time head lice are spread by direct head-to-head contact with someone who already has head lice.

When you gather around your huddle deciding the best play, you better hope that your teammate, a.k.a. your younger brother or sister doesn’t have some smaller and nastier teammates spreading onto your head.

Lice don’t jump, swim, or fly, so the only way they can play the game on your head is if one of your teammates gets too close or if you wear their helmet, jacket or another item of clothing.

The Defensive Strategy

The best thing to do when you find lice in your hair is to get rid of it for good.

First, you have to recognize the opposing team when you see it, and although lice are small, they can be pretty easy to recognize.

Most lice are grayish or tan in color, and sometimes if you look closely, you can see blood in them. If you see anything that looks like a bug crawling through your child’s hair, it’s time to put on your pads and take action.

Lice Clinics of America, College Station, has the best defensive players around, with our FDA-cleared AirAllé device that can tackle any head louse for good.

The AirAllé device dehydrates head lice and 99.2 percent of their eggs in the hair of adults and children 4 years old and up. We then finish the game with a comb out and topical rinse to take down any remaining players.

Our AirAllé device is the Tom Brady of head lice treatments and will guarantee your head to be lice-free.

AirAllé treatments are done in our clinic in under 90 minutes. We also have other options to accommodate those who would prefer to get rid of head lice from home.

Winning The Game

There is nothing quite like the feeling of victory after your team has fought long and hard to win.

At Lice Clinics of America, College Station, we want you to have a complete victory over super lice and all their friends. That’s why we provide services to make that possible.

Score the winning touchdown for yourself and your family by visiting our clinic when you are facing the itchy opponent.

With Lice Clinics of America, College Station in your neighborhood, you can make sure the only focus of this year’s Super Bowl is that the losers have to wash dirty dishes after the game.

Pile of red helmets that can spread head lice

Head Lice Tips For Your Little Athlete

When a head lice outbreak hits, it tends to spread like wildfire if children have been playing together. A common side effect of head lice is a big headache for the parents. The number one goal is to get rid of head lice, and get rid of it fast.

In light of Super bowl LI coming up, let’s talk about some common ways athletes can contract head lice.

Sharing Helmets

If you hear about a head lice outbreak at your child’s school, a good rule of thumb is to not let your little athlete share a helmet or baseball cap with any teammates or friends. Head lice can survive in the hair long-term. They can also survive for up to two days elsewhere. This is why sharing equipment with someone who has head lice can lead to an outbreak. So… sharing isn’t always caring. Do what you can to dodge the head lice contagion.

Sharing Brushes and Combs

Your child might be a dancer, soccer player, basketball champ, volleyball star or an all-star of a different sport. Perhaps it’s a common ritual to get ready with the team before a game or event. As part of that ritual, are they sharing brushes and combs? Be careful when sharing your brush and comb because if someone with head lice uses it and then you use it after them, you will likely become infested with head lice. Also, we know you want to document these fun occasions and take lots of selfies but beware of team selfies as head-to-head contact is another way to contract head lice. All those little head lice critters want to do is find their way to a new head and lay eggs. Bring your own brushes and combs to those fun events and don’t share them. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Huddles

Huddles aren’t only in the movies. It’s a tradition that goes back to 1980, according to an article published by The Week. The tradition formed when quarterback, Paul Hubbard of Gallaudet —  a deaf college in Washington, D.C., now a university, had his team form a tight huddle so they could discuss the plays in sign language without the other team being able to see. As cool as the origin of this tradition is, Hubbard certainly wasn’t thinking about head lice when he began one of the most well-known sports traditions of all time. Kids must be careful when bumping heads in a huddle because head lice could certainly spread as soon as heads touch. We aren’t saying don’t participate in the huddle — that’s no fun. We are just saying to use caution. For instance, you can still huddle and get close without making head-to-head contact.

Bring Your Own Stuff

I’m sure your child is ecstatic about their away game coming up. They get to take a trip with their friends and shoot for victory — what an awesome experience. You want it to be an enjoyable experience for them and take our word for it — head lice are not enjoyable. Make sure they bring their own stuff. This also applies to sleepovers at friends’ houses as well. To be safe, make sure they bring their own sleeping bag, pillow, hats, scarves and jackets. It’s a safe practice not to share things that head lice could transmit from. When in doubt, don’t go without. Bring your own stuff!

Sterilize

Has there been head lice outbreaks on your child’s team? Well, you can never be too careful so sterilizing the items your child uses on a regular basis is a good idea — or make them clean it. Head lice aside, it’s a good idea to clean on a normal basis anyway, right? Because kids aren’t always the cleanest creatures. Even if there are no head lice around you, what’s there to lose? You always feel better in a clean environment anyways. Clean their sheets, blankets, pillow cases, combs, hair brushes, hats and anything else that may come in contact with head lice. When your child gets back from a sleepover, check their heads, wash their stuff, be wise and sterilize.

Don’t deprive your little athlete of having all the fun experiences that a child should have. Be aware and conscience of this common childhood contagion. Have fun cheering for your little all-star. If they do happen to catch head lice — give us a call and we’ll take care of it for you.

Head lice treatment in the New Year

Head Lice Leaving You Lost?

As you welcome in the New Year, are you welcoming unwanted head lice? As professionals in the Lice industry, we understand the struggle your family has with failing to remove head lice. As your children go back to school and surround themselves with friends, their chances of becoming subject to a head lice outbreak increase. At Lice Clinics of America, College Station, we treat hundreds of families throughout the year. Head lice infest families like a domino effect. Your child’s friend is infested with lice and then BAM; your child contracts head lice along with all the other kids in their class. Head lice are simply a contagion; getting head lice has nothing to do with cleanliness or hygiene. Head lice are acquired by contact with someone who has them or contact with something they used such as a comb, a brush, a hat or bedding they have slept on.

Nitpicking is a Must

Many children will get head lice several times throughout the year and mothers tirelessly battle to fight the head lice and their eggs. Some families will experience head lice for the first time. Whether it’s your first time or your tenth time, treating head lice is difficult. Lice eggs, called nits, are the biggest culprit. Nits are small, yellow or tan in color and attach to the hair follicles on the head. Nits are trickier than lice because they cannot be removed by brushing or shaking the head — they must be killed and removed. They latch to the hair, very close to the scalp and will not budge unless you nitpick.

Stay Away From Mayonaise

One of the first steps to lice removal is education. As a consumer, it’s important to know which head lice treatments work. There are several head lice treatment myths floating around the web. If the thought of putting mayonnaise in your child’s hair has crossed your mind, give us a call. You might read about killing lice with mayo on the internet, however mayonnaise is unnecessarily messy and has not been medically proven as a cure for head lice. If mayonnaise does kill lice, it certainly doesn’t kill their nits. If you use mayonnaise and it kills the lice, the eggs will hatch a few days later, bringing you back to square one. The nits must be combed out one by one with a lice comb.

Many parents are misled by the internet and apply mayonnaise to their child’s head with the hope that if they wrap the head with plastic and leave the mayo on overnight, the lice will be gone by morning. If you haven’t been convinced that mayonnaise doesn’t work, there have actually been reports of children suffocating from this method or receiving food poisoning from the mayonnaise. In essence, many home remedies are messy, dangerous and not guaranteed to work.

How Do We Do it?

Here’s another tricky fact about head lice removal: head lice have recently evolved into super lice and are now resistant to the pesticides used in many head lice treatments and shampoos.

So, how do we get rid of head lice? By using a newly-developed, FDA-cleared device called AirAllé that dehydrates and kills lice and their nits. The AirAllé uses controlled, heated air and is a comfortable process for children. After approximately 30 minutes of the AireAlle treatment, follow up with a topical treatment and combing, all within 90 minutes.

Repetitively treating head lice with no success might just bring you to tears. The only thing worse than going through the hassle of head lice is going through it twice.

At Lice Clinics of America, College Station, we focus on a guaranteed, one and done service that will keep your children lice-free and itch-free. If your family would like to make a New Year resolution to be lice-free, our head lice clinic will ensure your success. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.