Head Lice Removal-do It Yourself Or Hire A Service?

By Author: M. Gordon
Total Articles: 2
Comment this article

Head lice have come to your house. Now you must decide your plan of attack. Will you conquer lice on your own or do you need help from a professional service? Following are pros and cons for both avenues of battle.

Head lice have come to your house. Now you must decide your plan of attack. Will you conquer lice on your own or do you need help from a professional service? Following are pros and cons for both avenues of battle.

Should you choose to move forward on your own, be ready for manual labor. Shampooing with a good lice shampoo is one thing. You need to work it in thoroughly, but you’ve shampooed hair before.

Combing out the lice eggs, or nits, is another story. This is a process that can take several days. You can find tutorial videos online to show you how to “nitpick” properly for the best results. Wear comfortable shoes and use natural light or a bright spot light and magnifying glasses to ease eyestrain. Obtain the highest quality metal nit comb you can find. A good comb is an invaluable head lice treatment tool.

Because head lice are pervasive in our communities, there ...
... is a good chance someone you know has already strategized for head lice treatment. Ask around for advice and don’t be embarrassed––head lice happen to the best of us––because empathetic consultation could help alleviate some of your uncertainty and confusion.

Combing nits does not hurt kids, but it’s not a process they usually love. And some heads are more sensitive than others. Will your child sit still for you? Will he or she be content (enough) to read a book or play with a video game while you comb? Some kids will behave better for a stranger, and professional lice services are certainly accustomed to working with children.

Be sure to get a safe and effective head lice shampoo. Many people react to the news of a head lice infestation by running to the drug store and buying one of the common over-the-counter pesticide lice treatments. These pesticides are super strong, and will need to be applied directly onto the skin. As the scalp is very absorbent, the pesticides soak into the skin and have been shown to be unhealthy for children. Also, lice have built resistance to pesticide-based lice treatments making them less effective.

An all natural head lice shampoo is the healthy, safe alternative to chemical lice treatments. Enzyme-based lice shampoo is the most effective head lice treatment. If you can’t find a natural product in your area or get one quickly enough, use olive oil for the first day. Saturate your child’s head with olive oil and leave it on the hair for eight hours. It will suffocate the lice, but they can hold their breath for up to eight hours. If you hire a service, make sure they use safe and effective head lice products.

It is necessary to repeat the lice treatment, including shampooing, combing and blow-drying with the hottest tolerable heat, every 2 to 3 days for two weeks, to get ahead of the lice life cycle. Everyone in the family who has been exposed to the infested child should be treated, to make certain your household is completely free of head lice.

Regarding your house, you don’t need to go ballistic and scrub every inch of your home. You will need to take care of bedding, brushes, clothing, and vacuuming. Strip the infested child’s bed and wash and dry bedding on hot settings. Collect all the hairbrushes in the house, boil a pot of water, take it off the heat and soak the brushes for ten minutes. This will kill any bugs left behind. Wash and dry any clothing your child has worn in the last 48 hours on hot settings. Vacuum the carpeting, bedroom, around the bed, the bed and other furniture where your child may have rested his or her head. Vacuum well and do the car seats too.

Hiring a professional head lice service will cost you. The good ones don’t come cheaply, but they know what they are doing. The peace of mind that comes with having an experienced caretaker in your troop may be well worth the expense. Again, ask around. Do some research and get a referral. Remember, you will still have to do the follow up treatments every 2 to 3 days for two weeks. Part of the service’s job is to show you how to do, what you’ll need to do, to win your fight against head lice.
Resource: http://www.happyheadsproducts.com