Prevention for Head Lice: braiding your child’s hair

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A week ago we discovered our child had head lice! After trying over the counter without much success we went to a professional lice removal service. Now that is gone, we are trying our best on prevention for head lice. Our kids don’t always want to wear their hair up so we’ve had to improve on our hair style techniques!

Prevention for Head Lice: Tips for braiding and other hair styles.

Braids

Youtube has an immense number of videos that tutor you on how to braid. For my youngest children, I learned how to do the Elsa braid. For my oldest which is always playing spots a regular french braid. But I also learned how to do a fishtail braid for more elegant days :-). Braids are great to tuck the hair in and increases your changes of head lice staying away.

Elsa Braid to Prevent Head Lice

Elsa Braid to Prevent Head Lice

If you are good at it, you can also start doing side braids that end in a pony tale. Start the braid on both sides of the hair, meet at the middle back and tie it up! If you feel even more fancy, you can always start the braids on both sides and finish at the end on a bun.

6-ponytail-with-a-side-braid

Side Bride Pony Tail to Prevent Head Lice

 

Other Hair Styles

Have you thought about buns? If you make a tall pony tale and make a bun, head lice would probably find it hard to move from another head to your child’s one. I always have a cute hair tie or ribbon to make it more fun. You can also make the pony tale, braid it and then make a bun – the ultimate barrier to head lice 🙂

You can also try to do a bun-braid and make it super fun for your kids, you will only need bobby pins and hair ties.

bun ideas

Bun with Bow – Prevent Head Lice

 

Products

You should always complement your hair styles with available products to prevent head lice. Remember that peppermint is a key ingredient on repelling head lice. [simple_tooltip content=’Available Head Lice Preventative Products’]This triggers the tooltip[/simple_tooltip].

The Perfect prescription for Head Lice Removal

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We all wish there’s a miracle prescription, put it on wait 10 minutes and puff! lice are gone. Although it is not as easy as that treating lice infestation can also be quick safe and easy. Here’s the perfect prescription for head lice removal:
Step 1. Know what you are dealing with. 
 
Having information about head lice, how it works, how does it look like, what are my options on treating lice infestations, and what to expect are key information you will need to efficiently remove lice, once and for all.
 
Step 2. Consider professional help
On a first impression, it may look like you’d be better off running to the store and buying the removal kit but, take a step back and consider professional help. Studies have proven that over the counter products are not as effective as they used to in killing lice and in addition, you will have to spend hours combing out the nits and re-applying products. At LCA San Diego we offer a safe, easy and quick treatment, with a policy* for 30-days!
Step 3. Take care of your surroundings.
Knowing how to clean the house will save you time and efforts in keeping a safe environment. Wash all clothing and linens in high heat and dry them in the dryer. Boil all hair accessories and brushes and bag all stuffed animals for 48h. Vacuum the carpets and the sitting area and do not forget to swipe the seats in the car. For more information on how to keep a safe environment, click here.
Step 4. Know how to prevent lice.
A quick list of tips on how to prevent lice may save you from going through the struggle again. Check our blog for information on lice prevention.
And if you still have questions, call us! we are here to help and will answer any questions you may have regarding your lice infestation 🙂

Sending your kid to summer camp? Lice detention is your best ally

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Like many other parents you are probably already getting ready to send out your kids to summer camps. Whether they are staying overnight or just going to the day a few preparations are in order. Have you thought about Head Lice? The truth is that many children come back from camp with head lice and the best thing we can do is detect & prevent. But how?

1. Check you child for lice before sending them to camp so that if they are infested you can treat them before it further spreads and before you have to pull them out of camp. Find out more on how to check for Head Lice. 
2. Send your children to camp with our preventative spray & shampoo. This products are specifically design to repel lice, thus diminishing the likelihood of you child catching lice. Check more about our products.
3. Ask the camps if they can do a pre-screening before all the kids start camp. This will help you and them contain any possible infestations and avoid them spreading to all other kids. Did you know LCA San Diego offers FREE Head Screenings at Camps? Have your children’s camp give us a call and we’ll gladly help them!
And last but not least, forget about having lousy days, if your kids have lice, bring them in and we’ll take care of it professionally with a safe and fast treatment.

Head Lice – Myths & Facts

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While getting treating head lice infestations, most of our professionally trained operators have encountered that there is a lot of misconceptions about head lice. Here’s a few facts that will help a better understanding on Lice:

1. Head Lice don’t jump or fly. Instead, they crawl – really fast!

2. Head Lice are not easily killed with over the counter products. It has been proven that lice have become resilient to pesticides used in most of the over the counter lice removal products and therefore are not killed completely by them.

3. Head Lice don’t transmit diseases. Granted that they are a nuisance but a safe one!

4. Head Lice don’t discriminate by sex, race or economical status. They prefer humid heads, regardless of who it is, we all can get lice!
5. Nits (lice eggs) are not killed by over the counter products, they need to be combed out one by one and removed from the head to avoid future infestations. The best way to kill nits is by dehydration.
If you want to find out more about lice, visit our Q & A page or check out this website: endtheignorance.org

Kids say the lousiest things! Share your kids Lice story

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We have been having some fun kids lately and wanted to share some of their thoughts about lice:
Laura, age 8, was really surprised when I told her that we were going to remove the lice in her head. She said, “Are you going to kill them?” I said – very proudly – “Of course!” to what she replied, “Don’t you feel bad about it?”
Tim, age 5, was really sad to see his “friend” go during his comb out. He kept waving at them and saying “bye. bye friends”
Briana, age 8, was so grateful that we end up with her itching that she declared: “Dad, when I’m older I want to be a lice lady like her.”
We proud ourselves to treat quickly and professionally head lice infestations. It is nice to be remembered of different perspective and that, after all, lice is not such a big deal. Kids are definitely the most honest about it and say the lousiest things.
Our kid-friendly environment will help your kid feel at ease while we treat him or her from lice infestation in just one hour with our medical device FDA-cleared꙳ that kills lice & nits through dehydration.

Lice in School: Let them Stay

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I have recently been talking to parents that come in to the clinic and they all have an opinion on whether schools should allow children to come in with lice or not. Although our quick response may be “of course not,” the answer is rather complicated.
The state of California allows for schools to decide if they want to have a “nit free policy” or not. That means, any child with a nit must be sent home and will not resume his/her studies until being nit (lice egg) free. But other schools only send a circular home and allow children in the classroom with lice so that they do not miss any school time. As we all can all, both options have their pros and cons.
It is important to mention that even though most popular belief is that lice origin at school, the reality is that head lice is a community problem brought to the schools and not the other way around.
At LCA San Diego we believe the best is to educate our community on head lice so that we minimize the stigma and we can be alert in preventing and minimizing cross infestations. Education is key to help children to be treated right away and help them prevent from getting it again. Find out more at lcasandiego.com

Why does lice have such a social stigma?

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We have all heard about head lice and we all crunch our faces when we hear about it.Bot how is the social stigma proliferating in such a common infestation and how can we stop it?
Dr. Sheryl Gordon, PhD has been studying the impact of head lice in children and the social stigma that it creates. The logic behind it according to Dr. Gordon is that we come up with a treatment plan, whether it’s doing it ourselves or getting help from an outsider, but if the solution doesn’t work we blame the process and not long after that, the victim. That has tangible reaction such as children not wanting their peers or even their families to know, families hiding from other family members and in extreme cases, child abuse.
In a real case a mother explained, “I have tried everything and no matter what I do lice keep coming back.Sophie was not invited to a party because she always has lice.” Dr. Gordon differentiates between primary stigma,you get it when you have an undesirable characteristic (if people know about it), courtesy stigma,when someone close to you has such undesirable characteristic. 
As parents, it is understandable that the first reaction against lice is disgust but how we transmit this to our children is entirely up to us. Understanding how lice transmit and how completely remove them in an efficient manner are the only solutions to the stigma. Once you know your “enemy” it’s easier to treat it and deal with it.
At LCA San Diego we ask you what you have been dealing with lice so we can get a better understanding on your child’s case and tailor the best treatment. We also make sure we understand the contact tracing: who do you typically see? It’s a possible source of re infestation. We encourage regular head screenings and we help parents and our community be educated on Head Lice so that we all minimize the stigma that it creates.

Get the Facts, Share the truth about Head Lice.

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When talking about lice there’s a lot of misconceptions, myths and stigma. In an attempt to help parents, teachers and families understand better how head lice works, LCA San Diego has launched a viral video that enlightens and educates on head lice:

 

Head Lice – when can we expect to see them most?

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Fall season is here and with that we want to think that the lice nightmare is over. Unfortunately, cooler weather temperatures do not necessarily mean less lice. Head Lice like to live close to the human scalp at a temperature around 95-98F (most human bodies run at that temperature).

Our biggest advice is to be educated on how to prevent lice so that as moms we will know what to do. Here’s a few tips on lice prevention:

1. Put your child’s hair up on a pony tale or braid to avoid easy hair to hair contact.

2. Inform your child to not share brushes, hats or jackets with his/her friends.

3. Be aware of the most common lice symptoms: itchiness, restless sleep, etc.

4. Check your child’s hair regularly.

5. Be prepared! If you suspect they have lice or you see alive bugs, seek professional help. Avoid spending countless hours combing out or spending money on Over the Counter products that not always work…

At LCA San Diego we provide professional Lice Removal Services. Our FDA Cleared꙳ medical device will kill lice & eggs in one quick (1 hour) and easy treatment, with no need for follow ups!

Teenagers & Head Lice

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So… you thought the period where you had to worry about lice in your child was over… afterall, they’re 13. But… lately we have been getting more and more teenagers with head lice. What’s going on?
It’s difficult to answer the questions with a single and easy idea. In reality, many factors are contributing to teenagers having head lice. A few years ago, a teenager would only get lice when a younger sibling or a child they looked after had it. But now, out of the sudden, your teenager has lice and you have no idea where it came from. Here’s a few factors that will help you understand better the situation:
1. Selfies. Recent studies have shown that selfies are now linked to the spread of head lice. Head to head contact is the number one way lice spread.
2. Super Lice.  Most lice have become resilient to the pesticides in over the counter treatment, thus making those treatments ineffective. Realizing that the treatment has not been as effective as one thought may take days, causing the infestation of other people along the process.
3. Unawareness. Because most teens don’t think about lice, they don’t link the symptoms to them and therefore it takes longer for them, or the parents, to realize they are infested.
What to do? First, have an open communication with your teen. Most likely she or he will be embarassed and will even hide it from everyone. Normalizing head lice and knowing how to treat them is the best precaution you can take.
 How do I treat a lice infestation? Since over the counter treatments may not work, your best bet is to seek professional help. At LCA San Diego we offer 1 hour treatments with a policy* for 30-days. Our FDA cleared꙳ medical device will kill both lice & nits through heated air in a safe and highly effective way. Find out more.