The Origin of Head Lice

The Origin of Head lice

The Origin of Head Lice – Where do lice come from? This is one of the most asked questions and mysteries for most people. There are not any confirmed fossils of lice so there is little proof as to where they originated.  There have been many strains of head lice over history but the strain believed to have originated in North America was the one to migrate worldwide.

Head lice are little parasites that feed on blood and live in hair. They lay their eggs (nits) on individual strands of hair. Once the eggs hatch, the nymphs have three growth spurts until they finally reach adulthood. Adults can reproduce and must eat four to five times a day in order to survive.    

Lice Facts

Head lice do not have the capabilities of flying, swimming or jumping, and they only feed on human’s scalps. This also means that there is a limited amount of ways that lice can be transmitted. The very most common way to transmit a head lice infestation is from head to head contact. Head lice infrequently try to travel by means of clothing, and they must reach hair within 48 hours or they will starve and die.

How To Treat Head Lice Efficiently

“Super Lice” have proven to have a strong resistance to pesticides and many pesticide-based lice products are no longer achieving their high efficacy rates. Our FDA-cleared device kills all stages of lice and eggs through dehydration. This is the most incredible alternative to treating head lice with pesticides, suffocation products, lice combs or herbal remedies. The specific combination of the right temperature, time, technique and time makes our treatment the easiest solution. We are here to educate you on how to prevent a future infestation and also put an end to the lice stigmas out there. Our staff is fully equipped with all it takes to assure you have a five star experience and nothing less.

lice-clinic-san-diego

Give us a call now to put an end to your stressful infestations that never seem to go away at (619) 771-9988

 

 

It’s A New Year! Events this January in San Diego

It’s A New Year!

With a sparkly brand new year ahead of us, its important to take time to reflect upon the past year and celebrate the many incredible dreams and hopes that you have for this upcoming year. From health to much needed family time, LCA San Diego is always here to help keep the lice away so it doesn’t get in the way of your very special plans!

Fun Family Events This January

Save the date Wednesday January 16th 10:00 am-11 am
Where: Birch Aquarium at Scripps
2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla, CA 92037

Come enjoy live music, story time, art activities and time with animals. This event is called “Toddler Time” and is specially tailored to engage the little ones in your life! Movement, music and Stories will be with award-winning author and performing songwriter Kathryn The Grape.
She is known to intertwine your senses during her Toddler Time by weaving yoga movement, affirmations, and music with stories. This is an enjoyable event for all age groups and bound to be a joyful experience for all.

Save the date Saturday 19th
Where: Birch Aquarium Tidepooling Adventure
2300 Expedition way, La Jolla, CA 92037

Have fun exploring the incredible habitats of the local tide pool. Learn how these habitats and their inhabitants survive . The more favorable season for tidepooling is in December-March when minus tides uncover wider beach space and tide pools teeming with life. Visit Aquarium.ucsd.edu for more information and how to purchase tickets.

Be Prepared When You Get a Lice Letter From School

Always keep LCA San Diego saved in your phone just in case you encounter the dreaded letter from school or see your children doing the notorious “head scratch”
We offer a simple one and done treatment that takes as little as one hour while providing a comfortable relaxing experience in our private setting. We use a FDA-cleared medical heated air device to dehydrate and kill all stages of lice. Come in for a screening, treatment or to purchase some of our incredible prevention products. Call us at (619) 771-9988to schedule an appointment with one of our technicians.

Halloween – what scares you?

Halloween – what scares you? What scares you the most in Halloween? Terror movies, face masks, jumping things, etc… but the scariest thing of all is to get head lice!

My Valentine: Head Lice

My Valentine: Head Lice

In the week of February 2017, My Valentine: Head Lice. This is the story of my last Valentine experience.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up after a night of itching and I discovered Head Lice! Of course my first reaction was to wake up my daughter and check her hair but I couldn’t figure out if she had it or not. After hours of looking online and many attempts at pretending to know what I was doing, I admitted my loss. Head Lice: 1, Me: 0.

I then brought my child to school and, embarrassed as I was, I asked the school nurse to check her for me and evidently she found lice. Now I started to worry about my son and my husband! two out of four seemed to have lice so far. I ran to the store and bought the package that claimed to kill more, faster. Needless to say, my daughter was beyond herself and had zero tolerance at this point after a morning of trying to check her and a day of going up and down. I had her sit with the solution in the hair, then combed, and combed, and combed… once I was done, I realized I was next.

After about 6 hours of combing my hair and hers, my husband got home with my son and oh! surprise! he also had lice. So once more I was applying solution and combing through. I thought I could not take it anymore and I still had to repeat the process again! The next day I told my friend about my experience and she told me there were professional clinics that treat head lice. It would have been good to know from the beginning!

A year later we laugh about my Valentine’s date: Head Lice but I can assure you if this happens again I am ready to call professional help and treat the lice infestation in a much easier way!

 

 

Kill Head Lice at Home

Is it possible to remove Head Lice at home by yourself? YES! It’s more time consuming and it requires to be organized and meticulous but it is possible.

How to kill head lice at Home

The products to kill head lice

The most important thing is finding the right products. In our opinion, we should stay away from chemicals and pesticides. They are not only bad for our health and our environment but lately it has been proven that they are not always the most effective. The same applies for completely natural products such as mayonnaise or olive oil. Although those products may have worked in the past, head lice have become stronger and resilient to over the counter. There are specifically formulated natural products for head lice removal.

Combing out the nits to kill head lice

Once we have the product we need to know that it’s objective is to kill alive head lice, not their nits (lice eggs). The only solution for the nits is combing, over and over again. The best strategy to follow is to section the hair is six parts and comb each section separating in different layers from bottom to top. This can take 1-2hrs with medium to long hair.

Lice Cycle

Once we have applied product and combed out, we need to familiarize ourselves with the lice cycle. Eggs that are newly laid will hatch in 7-10days and become nymphs -baby lice-. After 7-10 days those nymphs will become adults who will mate and lay more eggs. Knowing this, it’ important we keep combing to eliminate eggs that are left behind on our first comb through. In addition, we repeat the application of the product after ten days to ensure any nymphs die in the process.

Head Lice Life Cycle

Head Lice Life Cycle – Kill Head Lice

Being careful, mindful and thorough is the key to success. At LCA San Diego we have the products that will help you kill head lice: products to kill them, aid you in the comb out process, lice combs and preventative products. All in one stop at one of our shops conveniently located in Clairemont or Encinitas. Stop by and we’ll help you find what works best for you.

You can always count on our professional lice removal services if the process becomes too overwhelming or time consuming. We offer a one hour treatment using our medical device – FDA cleared – that kills lice and nits through dehydration. Kill head lice in a easy and safe way! Find out more.

Talking about Lice makes me itch!!

We receive about 50 calls and see around 40 people every week for head lice in San Diego. Most of

the people we screen has lice but some of them just come in to make sure they’re on

the clear. Just knowing that you have been around lice makes people itch.

 

Even though itching is one of the most common symptoms of head lice, you can also

itch for many other reasons:

 

* stress – the news of having lice in the family or even seeing a louse on your

child makes everyone panic and therefore, stressed. Itching is a common

response of our body to stress and if you add up the fact that you just saw a bug in

your child’s hair or that you know lice live in human heads, the likelihood of your

head itching becomes pretty high.

 

* over the counter products (OTC) – one of the most common reactions we see when

head lice is found is to run to the pharmacy and apply over the counter products to

all the family members, “just in case.” But OTC products have pesticides and toxic

ingredients that can cause skin irritation and indeed, itching.

 

* other scalp/head conditions: dry scalp, dandruff, and skin irritation may cause

itching as well. Changing shampoos, using different hair products or even humidity

or a change in the weather can impact your scalp and skin, resulting in itching.

 

* Head Lice! – yes, over 50% of people that call us complaining about itching have

lice. If you quickly screen yourself for the reasons why your head is itching and

there is lice around you, most likely you have lice. The best way to react is to get

a professional head screening to determine whether you have been infested or not.

 

At LCA San Diego we perform over 100 head screenings a month, thus providing a professional diagnose and being able to perform head lice removals in San Diego  in a safe and quick manner. Make an appointment now!