If you have recently treated your child for head lice, you might be wondering how you will know if the lice are gone. With a single treatment, your child can return to school. However, the long-term success of your treatment depends on the product used, how early the infestation was caught and if you did more than one treatment.
Below we discuss the best ways to determine if your child’s head lice are gone.
Get Two Professional Treatments
Over-the-counter treatments are often ineffective. This is due to the fact that most OTC head lice products use pyrethroids that lice are resistant to. If you use an OTC product one time, there’s a good chance that some lice will survive and create a new infestation.
To ensure the lice are gone, it’s best to work with a professional lice expert. When you schedule an appointment with My Hair Helpers, a head lice professional will check your child’s hair and verify the presence of lice. We then apply a head lice treatment using effective products that contain dimethicone. We recommend two treatments, about 4-5 days apart, for the best results.
Comb with a Lice Comb for Two Weeks
Another way to be sure that your child’s head lice are gone is by combing their hair daily with a lice comb. Do this for about two weeks, or for as long as your child receives treatment. Nits are extremely difficult to find on dry hair, and if you miss them, they will continue to reproduce.
Wet your child’s hair, part it in the middle and use the comb to go strand by strand, checking for lice. If you find a cluster of lice near your child’s scalp, there is probably an active infestation still going on. However, stray nits are not always a sign of an infestation.
Clean Items that Have Been Used in the Past 48 Hours
In most cases, head lice is spread through head-to-head contact. It’s rare for children to pick up head lice from bedding, hats, pillows and hair accessories because the lice only live on these items for about 48 hours or less. That said, the transfer is still possible. Items that have been used in the past 48 hours should be properly cleaned. Some items can be placed in the dryer or freezer, while others can be sanitized in hot water.
Get Everyone in the Family a Lice Check
Because lice are most commonly spread through head-to-head contact, it’s smart to have everyone in the family checked for head lice. Even though lice are most common in children, these parasites are perfectly happy to live on an adult.
To ensure that an infestation isn’t brewing on another family member’s head, have everyone looked at. If nits are detected, treatment can be given at the same time, reducing the risk for reinfestation.
These are the best ways to ensure that a head lice infestation is kicked out of your home for good. To schedule an appointment with My Hair Helpers, give us a call today. We have family-friendly prices, and our products are guaranteed to work. With us, you WILL know that the lice are gone!
