YOU’VE BEEN TREATED & ARE NOW LICE FREE!!
Here’s What You Need To Know And Do After You Get Home
HEAD & HAIR
- Itching after treatment is common for a week to ten days. Lice bites are the same as mosquito bites, but much smaller. Therefore, itching is an after-effect of lice bites, and applying heat to those bites during treatment causes the itching to increase for a while.
- Since itching is a lingering symptom of lice bites, post-treatment itching is NOT a symptom of active lice. Unless you see LIVE lice bugs in the hair (not nits), you should assume that the itching is left over from before the treatment.
Option 1): Do several times to get all the oil out. If you think it’s not coming out, keep trying – it WILL come out.
Option 2): Dishwashing soap. This should get the oil out with a single wash.
Option 3): Head and Shoulders. We have been told by many customers that Head and Shoulders shampoo is very good at getting the oil out AND helps with post-treatment itching.
- It is expected that you will have some nits left in your hair after treatment. The focus of our treatment (and our guarantee) is to KILL all the nits and lice on the head. To completely remove every nit from the head typically requires a multi-hour comb out, which is not part of our treatment process. Therefore, unless you see LIVE bugs in the hair, you can assume that all the nits are no longer viable (dead).
- There are several ways you can facilitate removing the dead nits: 1) Continue to use the nit comb over the next ten days throughout the entire head. And, 2) Every time you shampoo, rub your scalp vigorously; this will help break up and dislodge the nits.
- NOTE: Nits/eggs that “pop” when you squeeze them between your fingernails does NOT indicate that the nits/eggs are “alive.” This is a widely perpetuated lice-myth.
- The ONLY reason a re-check would be necessary is in the event you are seeing live bugs. It is NOT necessary to come back to the clinic for a re-check “just to make sure” the treatment worked.
- If you would like a re-check, we offer them for $25/person. If the re-check occurs within the 30-day guarantee window AND we determine that the treatment was ineffective for any reason, we will waive the re-check fee.
- Girls: wear hair as tight as possible. Tight hair means less surface area for a louse to latch onto your head.
- Become very aware of any situation where you might touch the heads of other people, or you touch things that might have touched other peoples’ heads, and then avoid those situations.
- DO NOT, under any circumstances, put anything in your hair or on your head that has touched someone else’s head.
- Do periodic combing with a nit comb.
- Spritz peppermint spray on your head any time you go into a situation where there is a high risk of lice infestation.
HOME CLEANING
- Head lice cannot survive without a human host for more than 24 hours.
- Lice CANNOT fly, jump, burrow, and cannot even crawl very well.
- Therefore, it is ONLY necessary to treat items in your house that have come in contact with an infested persons’ head within 24 hours.
All clothing and bedding that might have touched an infested persons’ head in the last 24 hours should either be:
- Washed in HOT water and then dried on high heat for 2 cycles OR
- Placed DIRECTLY into a hot dryer for 30 minutes or more (DO NOT wash before putting into the dryer)
- Items made of leather, plastic or vinyl may be wiped clean with a paper towel and an ammonia-based window cleaner (like Windex).
- Anything else made of cloth should be vacuumed. You can cover furniture with a clean sheet or blanket for 36 hours.
- Throw pillows can be put in a hot dryer for 30 minutes or isolated in a plastic bag.
- Don’t’ forget to vacuum child carriers.
Vacuum rugs and carpets
- Place items in boiling-hot water for 2 minutes. Bring a pan of water to a boil, REMOVE from the heat and then place brushes/combs into the hot water.
- Or freeze for 24-36 hours
Store them in a plastic bag for 24 hours or they can go in a dryer for 30 minutes on high heat. All other toys may be wiped clean or kept isolated in a plastic bag for 24 hours.
Vacuum or wipe down backpacks and helmets or isolate in a plastic bag for 24 hours.
