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The Lifespan of Lice

The Lifespan of Lice

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Pediculus humanus capitis, the head louse, is an insect of the order Psocodea and is an ectoparasite whose only host are humans. The louse feeds on blood several times daily and resides close to the scalp to maintain its body temperature. These terms may seem intimidating but for the team of lice specialists at Fresh Heads Lice Removal in Jacksonville Beach, lice are a problem of the past. We have assembled a few key items to look out for concerning the lifespan of lice, and how to mitigate future infestations below: 

The life cycle of the head louse has three stages: Egg, Nymph, and Adult.

  • Eggs: The clinical term for lice eggs are nits. They are hard to see and are often confused for dandruff or hair spray droplets. Nits are laid by the adult female and are cemented at the base of the hair shaft nearest the scalp. They are 0.8 mm by 0.3 mm, oval, and usually yellow to white. Nits take about one week to hatch (range 6 to 9 days). Viable eggs are usually located within 6 mm of the scalp.
  • Nymphs: The nit hatches to release a nymph. The nit shell then becomes a more visible dull yellow and remains attached to the hair shaft. The nymph looks like an adult head louse but is about the size of a pinhead. Nymphs mature after three molts and become adults about seven days after hatching
  • Adults: The adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed, has six legs (each with claws) and is tan to grayish-white. In persons with dark hair, the adult louse will appear darker. Females are usually larger than males and can lay up to eight nits per day. Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person’s head. To live, adult lice need to feed on blood several times daily. Without blood meals, the louse will die within 1 to 2 days off the host. 
  • Instead of flaking off the scalp, they stay in place. Head lice can live up to 30 days on a human. Their eggs can live for more than two weeks. Head lice spread easily, particularly among school children, through head to head contact. Head lice are more common in close, overcrowded living conditions for this reason. 

If you suspect that someone in your family has lice, the first step is to confirm the infestation. Use a lice comb, separate the hair into sections, and check the four major areas of the head:

  • The front of the hairline
  • Behind the ears
  • The crown of the head
  • Back of the neck

As you examine the whole head, it should quickly become clear whether you are dealing with a lice infestation or not. Look for live adult lice moving around on the scalp as well as eggs attached to the hair shaft. Once you have confirmed an infestation, the next step in lice control is using a wet combing method. Here is what you should do:

  • Use a louse comb to remove as many lice and nits as you can, starting at the front and moving to the back of the head while keeping the comb flat against the skull.
  • After moving front to back, work your way across the scalp side to side then back to front.
  • Wipe the comb free of lice and nits every few strokes using a white towel so you can monitor your progress.
  • Be sure to keep the hair wet throughout the entire process and apply a cream as needed – keep going until you are no longer removing any lice.
  • Once finished, apply Prevention Oil to the scalp two to three times per week for long-lasting lice protection.
  • To save yourself the hassle of repeating your lice treatment time and time, have it done right the first time around. Visit a Fresh Heads Lice Removal Clinic in Jacksonville Beach to tackle the infestation at the source and enjoy professional-strength results. 

Professional Lice Removal in Jacksonville Beach

When it comes to lice control, prevention is the best method. The more you know about lice and how they spread, the better you will be able to protect yourself and your family. To further protect your family, familiarize yourself with the most common myths and misconceptions about lice and lice treatment so you don’t make the same mistakes 

others have made. If you are worried about a lice infestation or the resurgence of lice on a little one, contact Fresh Heads Lice Removal for professional lice treatment today in Jacksonville Beach, Fl, Orlando, Fl, or Savannah, Ga.  

Schools Without Lice.

Schools Without Lice

At Fresh Heads Lice Removal, our mission is to get rid of lice in schools across the United States. We’ve partnered with the Lice Clinics of America to create the Schools Without Lice program. Through this program, we provide school nurses and teachers with free screenings, resources, and treatments. Together, we can have schools without lice!

Is flat ironing effective in killing lice and nits?

Fact or Myth: Is Flat Ironing Effective in Killing Lice and Nits?

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Seeing a bug can really bug a person’s mood, but discovering lice or lice eggs woven into your child’s locks can truly make your skin crawl. It’s an itchy problem that is often hard to scratch at first, which is why parents quickly resort to home remedies to try to get rid of the pesky infestation.

A mixture of oils might seem to be the natural way to kill lice, but these solutions are messy, time-consuming, and ineffective. And for people battling “super lice,” these creepy-crawly villains nesting in your hair can really do a number on your patience, as they are immune to any over-the-counter treatments. One of the most popular “quick fixes” currently circulating on the internet is: using a flat iron to kill lice.

Why Is The Flat Iron Not the Best Tool to Get Rid of Head Lice?

Although it’s true that heat is an enemy of lice, a flat iron is not an effective (or safe) way of administering treatment. Here are the reasons that your flat-iron treatment is doomed to fail:

1. Flat irons have a narrow surface area. Flat irons are long and narrow, providing just a strip of heat that is usually sufficient for its intended purpose: straightening hair. However, while trying to treat lice with the same narrow band of heat, the lice can simply scatter. It would be like trying to gather ants with a spoon. You’ll never get them all.

2. You can’t get close enough to the scalp. On the heels of why reason number 1 will fail (that the lice will scurry away) is where the lice are headed, which is…closer to the scalp. Therefore you won’t be able to get the flat iron close enough to reach them, or if you do, you’ll burn your or your child’s scalp (the scarring from which can turn result in hair loss).

3. Too much / the wrong type of heat. Professional flat irons go up to 450◦ This not only makes trying to treat you or your child this way dangerous, but intense, moist heat is part of what drives the lice to scatter.

Long story short—using a flat iron to try to get rid of lice is virtually impossible, and trying will only lead you to burn yourself or your child. You’ll never get all of the lice, and leaving any lice at all will lead to another outbreak where these creepy-crawlies come back with a vengeance.

Getting Rid of Lice the Right Way

Everyone struggling with a lice infestation should aim to get rid of lice completely—which means adult lice and eggs. Don’t settle for ineffective, incomplete, or dangerous ways to try to deal with the situation. Opting for professional solutions is always the better choice, especially if you want to get rid of your itchy problems in a speedy yet safe manner.

Fresh Head’s revolutionary Air Allé is an FDA-cleared medical device developed by scientists to be effective against all lice eggs and lice, including super lice. The large application nozzle blows warm, dry air that dehydrates and kills the lice and eggs in one treatment.

Lice Removal in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Savannah

If you’re looking for professional lice removal in Orlando and Jacksonville, FL, and Savannah, GA, get in touch with us at Fresh Heads Lice Removal. We can help you get rid of lice quickly and safely. Ask us about our signature Air Allé treatment!

Schools Without Lice.

Schools Without Lice

At Fresh Heads Lice Removal, our mission is to get rid of lice in schools across the United States. We’ve partnered with the Lice Clinics of America to create the Schools Without Lice program. By this program, we provide school nurses and teachers with free screenings, resources, and treatments. Together, we can have schools without lice!

Happy, lice-free kids posing in a park.

Pesticides Are for Plants, Mayo Is for Sandwiches

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Traditionally there have been three options when it comes to head lice treatment: drugstore DIY lice products; nit-picking, or home remedies recommended by other parents.

There are challenges with all three of these lice treatments. First, many drugstore head lice products use pyrethroids to kill live lice which is a class of pesticides. Head lice in 48 states in the United States, as well as some other countries, have developed resistance to pyrethroids. Since pyrethroids have been linked to behavior problems in children, do you really want to be washing your child’s hair with a pesticide?

“Many parents have come to us after weeks of battling lice with over the counter DIY lice treatments, some have spent hundreds of dollars on treatments that don’t work and have spent countless hours cleaning their house and washing bedding,” says Dwight Ottesen, owner of Fresh Heads Lice Removal.

Home remedies are completely unproven. Common recommendations include smothering a child’s head with mayonnaise or petroleum jelly overnight. Mayonnaise? Petroleum jelly?  These approaches are meant to suffocate live lice. “Natural” treatments recommended, like tea tree oil, can actually prove toxic if over-applied.

These methods, even if they were to be effective with killing live lice, do not kill lice eggs. Killing lice eggs (nits) is the most difficult part of a lice treatment. Nits are extremely hard to see and remove, and if you miss just one, the egg will hatch, and you’ll have a fresh case of head lice on your hands. Countless parents have come in after trying to treat lice at home with these home remedies, but all they’ve gotten is more frustration.

This brings us to combing and nit-picking. This is a long and tedious process. As Health.com points out, “It’s best to approach lice as a war on many fronts: You need to use a variety of techniques to kill not only adult lice but also their tiny eggs called nits, which are glued to the hair shaft. The nits can survive treatments that kill the adults and vice versa. These bugs have evolved over a millennium to live in hair, so they’re tricky.”

Fortunately, scientists at the University of Utah have come to the rescue with a revolutionary medical device called the AirAllé that kills lice by applying carefully controlled heated air to the hair and scalp, dehydrating live lice and eggs in a single treatment that takes 60-90 minutes.

AirAllé® Lice Treatment

The AirAllé® has been through the lengthy FDA-clearance process where it was found to kill live lice and 99.2 percent of eggs.

The FDA-cleared medical device, the AirAllé® is operated in clinics by certified technicians who deliver treatments that last 60-90 minutes in most cases, and results are guaranteed when all family members are checked for lice and treated in the case of an active infestation.

Because the AirAllé® device only uses heated air to kill lice and eggs, there are no harmful pesticides involved, and no lengthy nit-picking process is required. This sounds a lot more pleasant than pesticides or sleeping with a head full of mayonnaise.

“It’s amazing to see the relief on a happy mom who is able to leave our clinic lice-free after having tried everything to get rid of lice,” says Dwight Ottesen.

Let’s leave pesticides in farms but keep them out of our hair. Let’s leave mayonnaise on sandwiches, which can be quite delicious. Let’s use science and medicine to treat head lice.

Putting an End to Lice

Fresh Heads Lice Removal has created locations in Jacksonville and Orlando, FL, and Savannah, GA, to help families to find relief from lice. Using our FDA-cleared technology, our team can eradicate any lice outbreak within minutes. Book an appointment to receive our fast and effective lice treatment today.

 

 

Schools Without Lice.

Putting an End to Lice in Schools

At Fresh Heads Lice Removal, our goal is to completely eradicate lice in schools from California to Florida, and everywhere in between. This is why we have partnered with the Lice Clinics of America to create our Schools Without Lice program. We want to keep our children safe in schools across the country, and by supporting our educators, we can take another step toward creating schools without lice!

Girl receiving professional lice treatment.

How to Get Rid of Lice Fast

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Finding out that your child has head lice can cause a great deal of stress and uncertainty. Parents frequently ask, “What is the fastest way to get rid of head lice?” Fortunately, we have the answer! At Fresh Heads, our professional lice treatment with AirAllé is one of the fastest, safest and most effective solutions available today.

What is AirAllé?

AirAllé is a totally effective, nontoxic head lice removal treatment that has been FDA-cleared. This science-based procedure kills lice through dehydration without the use of harsh chemicals. Its unique, single-use applicator tip was specifically designed to penetrate beyond the insulating layer of the hair.

Through this process, the hair is lifted slightly while airflow aims directly onto lice and eggs—which tend to be located near the scalp and hair roots. Through AirAllé’s patented combination of heat, airflow, time and technique, both head lice and its eggs are safely and successfully killed.

The AirAllé professional lice treatment is extremely safe and gentle for the entire family. It’s also the most efficient way to safely treat head lice today. In fact, it is more than twice as effective at killing head lice than hazardous over-the-counter lice shampoo products.  Check out our comparison chart and see how it stacks up against other treatments on the market.

Fresh Heads’ Signature Treatment

Our signature AirAllé treatment can be completed in as little as one hour. It begins with a 30-minute warm air session. One of our trained technicians will go over the entire head gently using the hand-held device as it blows dry, heated air. This process is what kills the head lice and their eggs.

The technician will then perform a thorough comb-out to ensure that any dehydrated eggs that are left behind are removed. The final step is a special conditioning rinse that helps ensure you leave our clinic with fresh, lice-free hair.

Professional Lice Treatment Centers

The discovery of head lice shouldn’t send your family into chaos. At Fresh Heads, we want to empower parents with the safest and most effective method to treat your family’s head lice. With over 450,000 treatments performed and less than 1% of our clients needing to be re-treated, we stand behind our Signature AirAllé Treatment for 45 days. Call us today to learn more about our treatments or to schedule an appointment.