YOU’VE BEEN TREATED & ARE NOW LICE-FREE!
Here’s what you need to know & do once you get home
What Should I Do After Treatment?
Head Lice Check-list
- All combs/brushes, hair pretties, headbands, barrettes should be bagged tightly and placed in the freezer for 12 hours or put in a mesh bag and placed in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle or set aside (in the tightly closed bag) for a week.
- All glasses, goggles, earrings, hearing aids, phones and head phones should be wiped down gently with soap and water.
- All hats, jackets, sweaters, sporting gear should be washed (only if dirty). It is not the washing that kills the lice it is the high heat produced in the dryer. Place all things in the dryer on high heat for 40 min. If the fabric won’t tolerate the high heat then place in the freezer for 12 hours or bag for 5 days.
- Cleaning bedrooms: strip all the sheets and mattress pads off and place in the dryer on high heat for 40 min. Vacuum the mattress and all areas surrounding the mattress. You will need to repeat this step daily for 5 days. Pillows can be placed in the dryer for the 40 min or placed in the freezer for 12 hours or bagged for 5 days.
- Car seats: Vacuum the car seats/headrests thoroughly. If you have leather seats wipe them off with a damp rag. If your child sits in a car seat/booster vacuum the cover.
- All dolls, blankets, stuffed animals and dress up clothes should be put in the dryer on high heat for 40 min or placed in the freezer for 12 hours or bagged for 5 days.
- Vacuum all carpets, rug and clothes furniture daily for 5 days.
Tips and Tricks
- If it is not dirty, don’t wash it! It is not the water that will kill the lice it is the high heat in the dryer. When using the dryer use the highest heat setting for 40 minutes.
- After you have vacuumed and/or wiped down the couch, chairs in your living area, place a flat sheet over them. At the end of each day you can remove the sheet and put in the dryer for 40 min.
- If your child plays in their closet or drawers and you feel that all the clothes could be contaminated you can take out outfits for the next 5 days put them through the dryer on high heat for 40 min and tape off the closet and/or drawers for 5 days. ( Lice die after 48 hours without a host)
- If there are areas in your home that are rarely used, stay out of them for 5 days then you don’t have to clean that area. (Example: closets, bedrooms, or basements)
- If you have little girls try to keep their hair back in pony tails, braids or buns.
- Inform the parents of the children that your child plays with frequently. Also inform your children’s teacher so that they can make arrangements to get your child a single locker while going through the treatment process.
- Encourage your child not to share sporting gear, hats, coats, combs, wigs.
- The reason we want you to clean for 5 days is to make sure there is no cross contamination from area in your house to the next.
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us!
HEAD & HAIR
Itching after treatment is common for 10-14 days. Lice bites are the same as mosquito bites, but much smaller. Therefore, itching is an after-effect of lice bites.
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/eggs), it's safe to assume that the itching is left over from before the treatment.
Option 1): Wash hair several times with regular shampoo to get the oil out. If you think it’s not coming out, keep trying – it WILL come out.
Option 2): Add some dishwashing soap. This should get the oil out with a single wash, when a small amount is added to shampoo. *Note: Dish soap will also strip hair dye. Use at your own risk, or if hair is not dyed.
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 due to hydrating the scalp.
Option 4): Use a clarifying shampoo. This helps to break down the grease in just one wash.
It is expected that you will have a few nits that are no longer viable (dead) 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 several 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).
Should you see dead nits, there are several ways you can facilitate removing them:
1) Continue to use a nit comb in the showerover the next several days throughout the entire head.
2) Every time you shampoo, rub your scalp vigorously; this will help break apart and dislodge the dead nits.
NOTE: Nits/eggs that “pop” when squeezed between fingernails does NOT indicate that the nits/eggs are “alive.” This is a widely perpetuated lice-myth or Wive's Tale.
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. We have successfully treated thousands of customers over the past several years...the first time.
If you would like a re-check, we offer them for $20/person. If the re-check occurs within the 30-day guarantee window AND is determined that the treatment was ineffective for any reason, we will re-treat you for free.
- Girls: wear hair as high & tight as possible. Tight hair equates to less surface area for a louse to latch onto your head.
- Be aware of any situation where you may have head-to-head contact with others, or if you use things that may have touched other peoples’ heads/hair. Do your best to 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.
- Spray preventative spray or preventative detangler on your head anytime you go into a situation where there may be a high risk of lice exposure.