Does Heat Kill Lice?

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Yes, it does. But not any amount of heat. It has been proven that most of the lice body composition is water. The right amount of heat, the right amount of time will eliminate lice & nits (eggs).
Most over the counter treatments (OTC) focus on killing the adult lice by using aggressive ingredients. Because the eggs have not been killed with the application of the shampoo or gel, a re-do of the process is needed after a week when the eggs hatch. The HEAT kills the nits by dehydration and therefore only one treatment is needed.
Additionally, recent studies have proven that lice are becoming resilient to the OTC products and even some prescription lice removal medicine. Head lice are very unlikely to evolve a resistance to heat, which makes the heated treatments so appealing.
But not any amount of heat would work. A blow dryer has directional heat that would burn the scalp if used at the right temperature, the right amount of time. The AirAlle is a medical, FDA cleared ꙳ and patented device that provides the right amount of heat, the right amount of time and removes lice & nits. 
At LCA San Diego we use the Airalle device to dehydrate all lice & nits. We kill lice in a fast, safe and highly effective way.

Some OTC head lice treatment ingredients linked to cancer.

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The World Health Organization has classified some ingredients in OTC lice treatments as carcinogenic to humans. According to an article by Jim Algar those ingredients have been banned in the U.S as well as Europe for agricultural use but can be found in shampoos for head lice removal. The insecticide lindane has been classified as carcinogenic to humans by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Researches that studied lindane in the U.S and Canada have stated that this ingredient has been proven linked to several types of cancer like liver cancer, testicular cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Another ingredient, the DTT, has also been found as carcinogenic. The journal Lancet Oncology has published this findings where the WHO’s cancer research agency issued a new classification for lindane as “carcinogenic to humans,” and has classified DDT as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

At Lice Consultants and Associates San Diego we use NON TOXIC products and FREE OF PESTICIDES.  We use the medical, FDA cleared꙳, device that dehydrates lice & nits through heated air. In just an hour, we offer a highly professional and SAFE treatment for head lice.

Let’s play…. guess what??? Head Lice!

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* H_ _ _     L _ _ _
(very annoying creature that makes you itch and lives in your head)

* N _ _ _
(white or brown, live on your hair and are tear-drop shaped)

* S _ _ _ _
(days that eggs need to hatch into adult lice)

* T _ _ _ _ _
(total amount of days lice can live in your hair)

* C _ _ _ _
(movement lice use to go through your hair and also expand to other hair)

* P _ _ _ _ _ _ _
(something you really will need to deal with lice)

Answers: Head Lice, Nits, Seven, Thirty, Crawl, Patience

Why do head lice create such stress?

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“I just found out that I have lice, and I’m freaking out!’ is probably the most common thing we hear at the other end of the line. And is not only common but completely understandable. Now, why do head lice trigger so much stress? Here’s a few facts that will make us understand why do we feel so stressed and hopefully make us feel a little better when it happens.

1. The unknown. Fear of the unknown is probably one of the biggest reasons why we feel stressed. we may not know what they really are, how to deal with them and therefore our minds and bodies react to it. Knowing what head lice & nits (egg) look like and how they spread, live and die will help us feel more in control.

2. Caring. Because we care for our children and loved ones, seeing them suffer makes us feel stressed. We wish that we could make it go away by just looking at them or snapping our fingers. Sometimes, our children they just want to hear that everything will be alright, if you look calm they will most likely empathize with you and be calm as well.

3. Social stigma. Both for adults and children is not nice to say, “I have lice.” Throughout the years, there has been a lot of misconception about lice and it’s been attributed to a lack of hygiene or even a lower income when the truth is, lice don’t discriminate. Making everyone aware of that will be a step towards normalizing head lice.

4. No quick fix. Altough taking care of lice doesn’t have to be a long and hazardous process, depending of the level of infestation if you want to take care of it it definitely might be. There are professional services that will make your life easier and help you treating your lice infestation in a faster and more effective manner.

At Lice Consultants and Associates San Diego we offer fast, safe and higly effective professional head lice removal treatments. Find out more here.

The war against head lice

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When facing the possibility of lice around the house, panic and fear of the unknown may overwhelm you. In the war against lice, here are a few thing you may find interesting to have in handy:

  1. A thin pick comb – will be useful to part hair apart in looking for nits (eggs).
  1. A magnifying glass – to spot little white specs and be able to determine whether they’re nits or dandruff.
  1. New hair clips, hair ties, combs & brushes– if you suspect that you or your child have lice, you’ll need to throw away or boil all your hair accessories and get new ones.
  1. Patience – having lice around the house will require a lot of patience… making sure no one else gets infested, calling everyone to alert them, delousing the house, etc.
  1. Our number! If you find out you or your child has lice, bring them in as soon as possible so we can take care of it in the most professional, effective and fast manner.

 

Lice Consultants and Associates San Diego offers highly effective treatments for head lice removal. We use heated air to dehydrate lice and nits. And to top it off, we have a re-treatment policy* for 30 days  as long as we can screen everyone in the same household. 858.249.8337 – give us a call!

Don’t have head lice take away your children’s summer of fun!

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Now that school is over you may think you have avoided head lice. Unfortunately, summer is one of the peak seasons for head lice. Lice are most commonly spread on children ages 4-11 and even tough they may not be going to school they still have contact with other children their age: on vacation, at summer camps or even with the family. A couple tips will help you prevent or spot an infestation, after all an infestation caught early is always easier to deal with!

– Keep your child’s hair on a pony tale or braided. This will avoid further contact with other children’s hair and there fore lice will unlikely crawl to their heads.

 

– Remind them to not use other children’s jackets, helmets, hats, etc.

– Screen them every week and look for nits (eggs). They may be confused by dandruff but they stick to the hair while dandruff will move or fly off. They will be, most likely, 1 inch or less from the scalp.

 

– Look for head lice symptoms: scratching of the head, sensation of crawling, problems sleeping (lice are more active at night), etc.

 

Most importantly, if you suspect you child have lice, bring them in so we can professionally screen their heads. Should they need a treatment, we will provide a safe, and highly effective 1 hour treatment using our AirAlle device that dehydrates lice & nits through heated air. Find out more about our services & pricing.

5 reasons not to use over the counter products for Head Lice Removal

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When it comes to head lice removal, it’s tempting to just go to the store and buy a do it yourself kit… but is that really a smart choice? Here are 5 reasons that you should know before making that choice:

1. Chemicals: most of the over the counter (OTC) products have harsh chemicals that can cause severe irritation on your eyes and skin.

2. Follow ups: because the OTC products are only effective with the adult bugs, they typically suggest at least two repetitions in order to kill the possible eggs that you may have left and that will hatch again.

3. Effectiveness: Head lice have become resilient to some of the products in the market.

4.Countless comb-out hours: as mentioned before, OTC don’t kill the eggs so you will have to spend hours combing the hair strand by strand and making sure you don’t miss any eggs (nits) as they will inevitably hatch and re infest you all over again.

5. Pricing: altough at first it may seem attractive (cheaper) to buy OTC products, if you think about the re-applications you’ll need and the time you’ll spend combing out and delousing the house after every treatment, the price ends up being much more than you first expected.

At Lice Consultants and Associates we offer affordable, effective and professional Head Lice Removal treatments. We use the medical device, AirAlle, that dehydrates nits & lice in one hour! Find out more about our services here.

Life Cycle of Lice – when did my head lice infestation start?

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Many of our customers wonder when the infestation started or want to know whether they caught in on time or not. Although it’s very hard to be 100% precise with the answers, the life cycle of adult lice helps us get an estimate as to when and how an infestation will develop.

All infestations start when a female louse crawls to the hair and lays a nit (egg). About a week (8-10days) after that egg is laid, it will hatch and a new louse – nymph – will emerge. Nymphs cannot reproduce and take three molts to reach the adult stage.The size of a nymphs compares to George Washington’s eye on a $1 bill. Once a nymph has reached the third molt it becomes an adult and can reproduce. It takes about 7-10 days for a nymph to reach the adult stage.

There are other facts that will help you understand head lice infestations. Female lice can lay up to 10 eggs per day! A female louse only needs to mate once and can continue to lay viable nits for the duration of her life.

If you suspect you have lice, it is important to take care of it professionally. Over the counter products don’t work for the nits that have to be removed manually one by one, missing one will result on them hatching and re-infesting the head all over again.At Lice Consultants and Associates San Diego we offer highly professional head lice removal treatments. We use the medical FDA-cleared꙳ AirAlle device that dehydrates nits and lice in just one hour. Remove lice quickly and safely.

Selfies & head lice

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According to a recent study published at CNBC, selfies are now linked to

the spread of head lice. And it makes sense. Head lice don’t jump or fly

but they crawl from head to head and they only need one hair to do so.

Most lice cases occur on children 4-11 years old due to the personal

spence they share. Children at that age are more prone to hug, play

closer and have overall less personal space within each other. Growing

up, that space grows with them and is less common for them to be infested

with head lice. The selfies phenomenon has brought back that closeness

between people along with a higher risk of head lice infestation.

Should we tell our children to not take selfies?

Much like making them aware of not sharing hats, helmets or jackets, it

is important to tell our children to be aware that head to head contact

is the preferred way for lice to spread and therefore they should be

careful to not get infested with head lice.

In addition, moms can keep extra caution by checking our children and

being alert for head lice symptoms such as itchiness or sleep problems

even when our children have left the “age of lice” behind.

Lice is making children miss school!

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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released a publication recommending children to not stay home if they have lice.
Debate has been created since the publication as most schools have a no nit policy in place. Head lice do not spread any diseases and are considered safe even tough they may be annoying and even disgusting sometimes.
The issue according to experts is that around 12 million people get lice in the U.S and, for children, that has a tremendous impact on number of days missed at school due to head lice. On the other hand, schools and states that have a no-nit policy explain that head lice spread extremely fast and it’s a safety precaution to send children home so the totality of the classroom remains not infested. However, it is important to remember that once an infestation is noted the likelihood of it being spread already is high. Removing that child from the classroom may help prevent further infestations but does not guarantee that no one else will be infested already, after all head lice crawl and spread really fast especially in children  from 4-11 years old.
The solution for AAP is to allow children to finish their day at school but encourages parents to take care of it in an immediate way to prevent other children from getting infested. This solution will help diminish absenteeism but it also has an impact on the child’s socio-emotional well being as the social stigma that staying home and not being allowed back at school also diminishes.
Lice Consultants and Associates San Diego offers same-day appointments lice removal treatments! The AirAlle device dehydrates the lice & nits so that your child can be lice free without countless hours combing hair or toxic chemicals. all natural, safe and just in one hour!