Need to get rid of head lice? When you have the right tools on hand, you can eliminate lice from your household and send your kids back to school the next day! My Hair Helpers head lice salon treats customers young and old for lice. You can also purchase our proprietary products online. They’re safe and easy to use – no harsh chemicals or pesticides!
As experts in lice prevention and treatment, here are our best tips for helping you get through a bout of head lice.
Don’t panic. Millions of kids get head lice every year.
Head lice have no preference when it comes to hair. As long as there is hair on the head, lice will thrive. So don’t assume that your child is dirty or has dirty friends. Lice are contagious, and chances are, your kid picked them up from school, daycare, sports or a playdate. The child who passed the lice onto your child probably didn’t know as it takes 4-6 weeks for symptoms to appear.
Contain the spread and notify the school nurse.
The next step is to prevent the spread of lice to other family members. But to be honest, it might already be too late. Check each family member’s head for signs of lice. If they appear to be fine, tell your kids not to hug or have close contact with each other until they’re properly treated.
It’s also a good idea to let the school nurse (or daycare provider) know about the problem. No one has to know it’s your child, but they can notify other parents and get the infestation under control before it spreads further. And please, don’t be embarrassed! When you hide head lice, they’re more likely to spread and reinfect your child again.
Treat your child for head lice.
We urge you not to rush to the store and grab the first product off the shelves. Many of the lice removal products sold online contain toxic ingredients like insecticides and pesticides. Worse yet, they aren’t even all that effective against lice anymore.
If you can, purchase nontoxic lice treatment products or take your child to a head lice salon in your area. Be sure to follow all of the directions as well. Most of the time, you’ll have to apply a second treatment to kill off any surviving nits that can start the life cycle all over again.
Clean the home, but don’t go overboard.
Lice don’t survive past 24 hours off the head, so there’s no reason to go crazy cleaning and washing everything. Focus on the items your child most commonly uses such as their bedding, stuffed animals and pillows. You can wash them or bag them for 72 hours. Sanitize hair brushes and accessories and vacuum high traffic areas like the sofa and loveseat. Any remaining lice will die off in the next day or so.
Comb through your child’s hair.
A few days out of the week, comb through your child’s hair after their shower. Pick out any remaining lice or nits. As long as you’re not finding any evidence of lice, you can decrease the number of times you do this. However, we recommend taking a peek once a week to stave off other infestations.
Head lice are a disruption to the normal grind, but they are nothing to fear. There are many effective ways to deal with them, though we encourage you to choose safe products and comb through your child’s hair regularly. These are some of your best defenses against lice.
