Got Lice? Here’s how to treat it!

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Head lice can be an intimidating thing to deal with. We offer two treatment methods that will ensure that your family is lice free! Our first treatment is a saline comb out performed by our trained clinicians in our clinic. We use a saline solution to comb through every strand of hair in order to remove as many nits as possible. We finish with our dimethicone “goop” that kills any crawling bug on the head within 10 minutes. In 7 to 10 days, we do another saline comb out in order to ensure you are completely lice free. Lice can lay eggs so close to the scalp that even our combs cannot get them. This is why we require a second treatment within 7 to 10 days following the first treatment. This allows the hair to grow enough for our combs to get the rest of the nits left behind. 

Our second method of treatment is a lower cost option: our at-home treatment. With this treatment, the dimethicone goop is used on days 0, 10, and 20. In between these days, you must comb out the hair each day in order to remove the nits. By using the goop every 10 days and removing the nits, there eventually will not be any louse left to lay new eggs. A louse takes approximately 30 days to develop from an egg to an adult louse. However, a female louse that is over 10 days old is able to lay eggs. This is why it is important to comb the hair every day in between the goop treatments. The less eggs there are left to hatch, the less bugs there will be to lay more eggs. 

 

At Home Comb Outs

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We offer our product line for curbside pickup or shipped directly to your house! To order, visit our online store.  Every purchase comes with over the phone lice advice from one of our trained clinicians.

 

There are several reasons a family doesn’t want to get a full treatment. Our commitment to our community is to get and keep everyone lice free, and we are willing to do whatever to takes to achieve that. We sell everything that we use in our in-clinic services.

 

Here’s a quick run through for those of you at home. The comb out procedure is the same one that we use here, for both head checks and comb outs.

 

Basic Instructions

  • Divide hair into four portions and clip to keep it out of the way. Measure the middle part from the forehead above the nose to the middle of the neck, and side to side from ear to ear.
  • Start at the bottom of the head, right above the neck. Take down and comb portions of an inch at a time. Put the hair above it back in the clip so you won’t get it mixed up.  Comb using our Slippery Nit Saline Spray or dry.
  • This MUST be done every day. Try to go through the entire head. It will take between 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the head.
  • The first day you apply goop is Day 1. Comb through the hair every day until you have had four comb-outs without finding a nit. On days 1, 10 and 20, use KLC Treatment Goop. This will kill anything that might have hatched from a missed nit. 

Things To Remember!!

  • The flat of the comb must touch the scalp. Lice lay eggs as close to the skin as possible, so you have to get as close as you can to the skin to get all the nits. 
  • Comb downwards, through the previous section. This ensures you won’t miss nits at the part lines. 
  • When you start the next section, make sure you get the part line. 
  • At the end, go over “hot spots” again (behind the ears, all along the hair line, the center part line). 

KLC Treatment Goop needs to cover every hair from root to tip. Make sure you cover the wispy hairs around the face and neck.  Wash out with KLC Clarifying Shampoo.

Lice Prevention

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There are many old wives tales concerning lice prevention, but we have your best options! We work with lice every day, and have some tips and tricks to avoid catching it yourself.

Wear your hair up! It takes THREE SECONDS for a louse to crawl from someone’s head to yours. This means a hug, picking up a child, selfies, or even standing close to people on public transportation is enough to catch lice. Every loose hair is an opportunity to a louse. Buns and braids will keep your hair tight to your head and prevent flyaways. If you have crazy curly or frizzy hair like me, some gel, mousse, or hairspray will help eliminate those escaping fuzzies.

Pinterest or YouTube are your friends. You can learn to do many simple hairstyles in only a few minutes!

While they don’t have to be this elaborate, any type of tight braid will reduce your chances of getting lice.

 

Peppermint is your new signature scent. Lice avoid peppermint, so we use our Peppermint Spritz to keep them away. Simply spray this on your hair before you leave the house to encourage lice to find a different place to live. Tea Tree Oil has been talked about a lot, but it doesn’t work anymore. Maybe at one time it helped, but now it will only cost an arm and a leg and leave your hair soft for the lice to happily cavort around in.

Hair cuts are important! Everybody thinks they should cut their hair, but you don’t have to go that route. In fact, for women, hair should be at least shoulder length so you can pin it up appropriately. For men, a buzz cut is not enough. Lice can live in an eighth of an inch of hair! If you want to be lice free, you need to shave your head to the scalp and rock that Mr. Clean shiny head bald.

My personal favorite trick is simple: hoodies. I wear a jacket with a hood almost everywhere, so when I sit on an upholstered seat, I can flip the hood up to cover my hair. Lice can fall off heads and cling to fabric while they wait for an unsuspecting victim. Movies theaters, classrooms, and airplanes are my most feared seating right now. The hood over my hair gives me peace of mind that I am protecting myself.

 

I hope this has educated you on lice prevention! If you got itchy reading this, that’s normal. If you think you need a head check, please give us a call or email! We love telling people they’re lice free and sending them back into the sunshine. If you do have lice, we can get you lice free quickly and completely. Our goal is to get and keep our community lice free, and we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

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Lice Treatment Myths 101

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We get a lot of people on Facebook asking about lice treatments, and there is a lot of misinformation on the internet! Here are some myths I’ve seen lately:

  • Listerene – doesn’t help. You’ll smell minty fresh, but it dries out your scalp and won’t kill many hatched lice.
  • Mayonnaise – while this a great hair moisturizing treatment, it won’t kill anything.
  • Olive/coconut oil – you’ll have shiny hair, but it doesn’t kill anything.
  • Saran Wrap over any of the above – keeping Saran Wrap over mayo or oil overnight is uncomfortable and can ruin your sheets, but won’t kill anything on your head.
  • Rid/Nix/prescriptions – include harmful pesticides and only kill unevolved lice (not “super lice”).
  • Kerosene – this one is the most dangerous. Not only will this not kill lice, but it can easily set on fire and cause permanent damage or death to you and your loved ones.

The only real way to get rid of lice without our nit killer is to comb out every single nit. This can take hours of work every day for weeks. Between work, kids in school, extra curricular activities, and the inability to properly comb out your own head, this means a simple lice problem can last for months and interfere with every aspect of your life.

Our Headwinds device will leave you free to live your lice-free life. Feel free to check out other sections of our site to learn more! We are also on Facebook, Instagram, and answer emails and phone calls within 24 hours. We are committed to getting and keeping our community lice free.

Child with shampoo suds in hair and on face

Kerosene for Head Lice?

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As I’ve been getting ready to open, I’ve been striking up conversations all over town — about Lice!  More than just a couple of folks I’ve talked with lately have shared a family recipe including the use of kerosene as a major ingredient in a home lice remedy.  This is a very, very bad idea.

Please do not use kerosene on yourself or on your children!

  • Kerosene is extremely toxic to lung tissue.
  • Kerosene damages mucous membranes on contact.  Delicate eyes and mouths are located on precious heads — a drip of kerosene can cause lasting, permanent damage.
  • Kerosene can cause chemical burns on skin.  It causes “defatting” of the skin, and painful irritation.
  • A spark could cause a horrendous accident leading to severe burns or death.

Here is a link to a short and very informative article on kerosene poisoning: Kerosene Poisoning – NY Times Health Guide

There are better, more effective and safer ways to get rid of head lice.  Knoxville Lice Clinic has non-toxic, effective solutions.  We can do a thorough head check to see if you need any treatment at all (because sometimes it isn’t lice).  We have solutions starting at $25 for a do it yourself, dimethicone home treatment, on up to $185 for our signature 3-step heat treatment that takes care of it all, very safely, in a single 60-90 minute sitting — once and done!

We are close by in Knoxville.  We plan to open on July 15th.