Back-to-School Head Lice Prevention Checklist

Back-to-School Head Lice Prevention Checklist

Back-to-school time is a busy time for parents and students. The weeks prior to school are filled with shopping for clothes, backpacks and school supplies as well as last minute trips to squeeze every bit out of the summer. Parents often worry about how their children will like their teacher and whether they’ll get along with the other students or be bullied.

Jen Mortensen is a member of Lice Clinics of America®, the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. She says, “We see a surge in cases of head lice when kids return to school from summer and holiday breaks” and recommends some proven practices that can prevent and treat cases of head lice. The clinics offer everything families need to stay lice-free during the school year with products and services for every situation and every budget.

Screen Early and Often

The best way to prevent head lice is for all children to be screened regularly. Lice can be difficult to identify by the untrained eye. Mortensen says, “We recommend professional head lice checks, especially at peak lice times, at the end of summer, Christmas and Spring break."

An Ounce of Prevention

Lice Clinics of America’s clinic in Pearland, Texas offers products for home use that prevent head lice, including preventive shampoo, conditioner, sprays and hairbands that can be used. These products serve as an effective lice repellent. All are non-toxic. “'Back to School’ is a great time to stock up on prevention products to help your kids stay lice free all year long,” says Mortensen.

Have Hair Pulled Back

Another way to help kids prevent the spread of lice is keeping hair pulled back in a tight braid or bun. “Lice need hair to hold on to so they can crawl from one head to another. It's harder for lice to grip hair pulled back into a braid or bun” says Mortensen.

Sharing Items Like Brushes

While lice are much more likely to be spread by head-to-head contact than brushes, it’s still good practice to let your children know that while we teach them to share most things, brushes shouldn’t be one of them.

Selfies

What teen doesn’t love a selfie with friends to celebrate back to school? While amazing and fun, selfies can lead to head-to-head contact and a perfect environment for the exchange of lice. Let your teen know it’s okay to take selfies but it’s best to keep a little distance between heads..

If You Do Get Head Lice

Best-laid plans of prevention can be laid to waste by a bug who is literally designed to spread from human to human. If your child does get head lice, Lice Clinics of America offers the safest, fastest, and most effective treatment technology available, the AirAllé® medical device. The AirAllé is FDA-cleared and clinically shown to kill live lice and more than 99 percent of the eggs (nits) in a single treatment using carefully applied heated air to dehydrate lice and their eggs. This “one and done” treatment takes about an hour, doesn’t require any follow-ups and is guaranteed to be effective.

It’s common for families to struggle with head lice for weeks or months using traditional over the counter lice treatments or traditional combing. Lice Clinics of America guarantees that people leave their clinics lice-free and can provide tools to help them remain lice-free throughout the year.

Lice Clinics of America has over 330 treatment centers in 35 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. Lice Clinics of America - Pearland is located at 4420 Broadway Street, Pearland, TX 77581 and is open Monday - Sunday by appointment. Call 281-375-3179, email [email protected], or visit www.theliceremovalclinic.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.