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MAKE A DIFFERENCE

END THE EMBARRASSMENT
AND STIGMA OF LICE

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DEBUNK THESE MYTHS ABOUT HEAD LICE

MYTH

Lice can jump,
hop, and fly

Lice cannot jump from one person to another. They have six tiny claws and hold on tightly to hair shafts, which is how they move from head to head.

MYTH

Lice spread disease

Even though lice can be annoying and frustrating, they don’t directly carry disease. At most, saliva from lice bites may cause an itchy and irritated scalp.

MYTH

Lice are very easy to get

You can’t get lice just by being close to someone who has them. Head-to-head contact is the predominant way that lice spread.

MYTH

Drugstore remedies
are effective

Lice have built up a resistance to the ingredients in the most commonly purchased lice shampoos and topical treatments. These products only kill a small percentage of the live lice and have no effect on the eggs.

MYTH

Lice can infest a house

Lice cannot live off the human head for longer than 48 hours. So, unlike fleas and ticks, they cannot infest the carpet, furniture or bedding.

MYTH

Lice like dirty hair

Actually, hygiene makes no difference to lice. Lice are parasites and the head is the host. Lice are parasites that feed on human scalps regardless of how clean or dirty the hair is.

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TODDLER DIES FROM IGNORANCE

An 18-month-old child died while undergoing a home treatment for head lice involving mayonnaise and a plastic bag. As the child slept, the bag apparently covered her face,

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suffocating her. (Link: Massachusetts toddler dies during head lice treatment – CBS News) This was an extremely tragic accident, which might have been avoided if there was more factual information readily available about how to effectively treat head lice.

Lice can be very annoying, leading desperate moms to try home treatments such as mayonnaise, vinegar, petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol and Listerine. All of these home remedies may have some rate of success in killing the lice, but there is no documented evidence that these home remedies are effective at killing the eggs. Some of these home remedies are not only ineffective, but can also be considered unsafe. Some people have even poured kerosene on their child’s head.

It’s time to spread the truth about what works and what doesn’t so the tragic occurrence with the toddler mentioned above never happens again.

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UNSUSPECTING MOMS CAUSE SPREAD OF LICE

Most moms want the best for their children and are diligent about keeping them safe and healthy. When they discover their child has head lice they often become desperate and frantically

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Most moms want the best for their children and are diligent about keeping them safe and healthy. When they discover their child has head lice they often become desperate and frantically search for a cure. Unfortunately, there is a lot of incorrect information out there.Well-meaning friends or relatives might suggest home treatments such as mayonnaise or petroleum jelly. Some of these remedies actually do kill some of the lice. However, they have no effect at all on the eggs. Other moms will run to the drugstore and buy over-the-counter remedies only to discover they are less than 50% effective.

Unfortunately, many moms will try over-the-counter treatments again and again only to end up with the same results: their children still have lice. And the longer their  children have lice, the more likely they are to spread it to others.

The good news is that there are effective ways to treat your children. For example, heated-air technology has been clinically proven to kill lice and their eggs. Many mothers also report that comb-out services from professional nit pickers can be effective, but may take several hours to complete, and may require additional at-home combing or repeat treatments for up to two weeks.

Our hope is that moms will end the stress and aggravation caused by head lice by spreading the truth about what really works, and what doesn’t. Because, the spread of truth reduces the spread of lice.

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LICE EGGS. THE LICE TREATMENT INDUSTRY’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET.

There are hundreds of products on the market that claim to get rid of lice. Some of them actually do a fairly good job of eliminating the live lice. But what…

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There are hundreds of products on the market that claim to get rid of lice. Some of them actually do a fairly good job of eliminating the live lice. But what they don’t tell you on the packaging or in their marketing is that they are very ineffective at killing lice eggs. Unfortunately, if you don’t kill the eggs, you still have lice.A common complaint from frustrated moms is, “We’ve been dealing with lice for months. They seem to go away for a while but then they come back! What am I doing wrong?” Well, in reality, they are probably doing nothing “wrong.” They are most likely following the manufacturer’s instructions precisely. In most of these situations the lice didn’t “come back” because they never went away in the first place. The products they used might have killed most of the live lice, but after a few days the eggs hatch and they were right back where they started.

Consider this—over the years, lice have become resistant to pesticides such as permethrin, an ingredient in one leading manufacture’s topical treatment that you can buy at most drugstores. As a result, it has become less and less effective. However, an independent clinical trial showed that after 15 days and two treatments with the popular product, 45% of the people tested still had lice.*

There is a popular prescription available which is more effective at killing lice than over-the-counter remedies, but there is evidence that between 24% and 29% of the lice survive the treatment.** Plus, these prescriptions can cost over $300 per application.

So, what can you do to kill the eggs? You really only have two choices:

  • Combing: People have been “nitpicking” for thousands of years. This method actually just removes lice eggs rather than kills them. It can be a time-consuming and arduous task, and treatment failures are common because removing every last egg can be difficult.
  • Heated-Air Treatment: There is an FDA-cleared heated-air medical device that dehydrates the lice and eggs. This process is highly effective and has been done safely for over 5 years. The process is performed in a single treatment, which takes 60-90 minutes, and is guaranteed to eliminate the lice and egg problem.
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    IT’S A GLOBAL PROBLEM

    PREVELANCE BY COUNTRY

    PREVENTION TIPS

    the back of a little girls head, blond hair with beautiful braid in a bun

    Wear hair in a bun, a ponytail, or in braids

    two sisters in from of school bus with winter hats on

    Don’t share combs, brushes, or hats

    mother and daughter reading a book on their bed giggling

    Avoid head-to-head contact

    young girl with the lice preventer kit dispenser in her hair

    Use a lice prevention rinse once a week

    fine toothed lice comb being put through hair

    Check for lice once a week with a fine-tooth comb

    two girls taking a selfie, being careful not to touch heads

    When taking selfies, keep heads apart

    Use the “Don’t Bug Me” wristband to remind you to check for lice

    girl getting her hair checked professionally for head lice

    Get a professional head check once a month