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The secret costs of head lice

We have shared many posts about the dangers of home remedies for head lice, including safety, chemical exposure, and risk of cross pollination among family members. In this post, we want to address perhaps the most important factor – cost!

Professional lice removal can be expensive, especially when multiple family members in the home are affected. However, procrastination in the form of attempting to rid yourself or your family of lice via home remedies is the single highest cost many families experience.

By the time families come to see us, they have often already spent hundreds of dollars and have nothing to show for it.

There are many hidden costs to home lice treatment that many families simply don’t think about, and waiting too long to get professional lice treatment can mean spending more than double the typical cost of professional lice removal.

The Potential Costs of Home Lice Treatment

Dry Cleaning: $$

Lice co-pollinate up to 90% of the time in any given household; however, they are unable to live for more than 24 hours in the environment outside of a scalp. In other words, they cannot easily spread from the scalp to clothes, furniture, or other household accessories.

Not knowing this, we often see families rack up huge bills for dry cleaning in an attempt to eradicate what they thought was a house-wide infestation!

As we say, “don’t burn your house down” just because you find lice; simply doing the laundry with an all-natural detergent will do the trick.

Over-the-Counter or Home Treatments: $$

Put simply, these do not work!

New strains of “super lice” have built a resistance to traditional over-the-counter treatments. Applying Nix or any similar product to the scalp and hoping for the best is not going to solve the problem; in fact, it may make things worse by providing a short-lived, false sense of security that ultimately results in reoccurrence and the spreading of lice to others.

Nannies & Sitters: $$$

Want to know what is really great about head lice?

It always happens on a day when your schedule is completely free, with no obligations or responsibilities!

Ha!

Actually, head lice are one of the top three reasons kids miss school each year.

When receiving a call from school or daycare demanding to “pick up your child immediately,” many parents are caught completely off guard and wind up having to hire a nanny or babysitter to pick up and watch their child for the remainder of the day.

Even if lucky enough to find someone in the spur of the moment, costs accrue quickly. Hundreds of dollars, even! Couple that with failed home remedies and what was originally a one-day ordeal quickly turns into two, three or more.

Missed Work: $$$$

Can’t find a sitter? Family and friends not particularly thrilled about the prospect of looking over your lice-infested child while you head off to work?

Sounds like a missed day at the office!

Those of us with school-aged children know how hard it is to balance teacher planning days, holidays, sick days, and inconsistent school schedules with busy work schedules. It requires a lot of understanding by the boss and your fellow coworkers. For that reason, unplanned days off due to a lice outbreak can be especially stressful for working parents. Not to mention the lost pay or vacation days spent staying home.

The Alternative

Professional Lice Removal

Why spend unnecessary money when there is such a fast, easy, affordable and safe option available—with Larger Than Lice, you can rest assured that every single live louse and viable nit will be removed – in just one visit. After one lice treatment, and minimal laundering, you can rest at ease and be confident that you and your home will be lice-free. 

Test Your Lice Knowledge

With so many scary stories and misconceptions out there about lice, it’s easy to get the wrong information and completely panic when you think (or know) your child has head lice. But, much of the talk that’s swirling out there are just myths and have no scientific backing. So, how much truth do you really know about head lice? We’ve put together a quick True or False quiz to test your knowledge and help ease your fears.

#1-TRUE OR FALSE: Having lice means you have poor personal hygiene.

Answer: FALSE
Lice are non-discriminatory when it comes to hair cleanliness. They simply require any human hair, whether squeaky clean or completely greasy. Lice feed on tiny bits of human blood, and the hair is just a place where they hang on. Also, washing your hair repeatedly as a way to get rid of the lice will not work. They can withstand being submerged in water for hours and have a pretty firm hold on the hair shaft.

#2-TRUE OR FALSE: You need to throw everything away and start over if you get lice.

Answer: FALSE
This is a common myth that has everyone frantically running around, cleaning their home from top to bottom, washing and rewashing their linens. Lice do not live in the house, only on the human head. Lice can only live removed from the human head for 48 hours or less, so only the items that have come into contact with persons’ heads will need to be cleaned. Items to clean include the infected person’s bedding, hairbrushes/combs, and any hats, scarves or helmets worn recently.

#3-TRUE OR FALSE: Pets can’t carry lice.

Answer: TRUE
Have no fear. Your pets do NOT carry human head lice. Lice are a human parasite and only survive on human blood. Dogs and cats can only get fleas.

#4-TRUE OR FALSE: You can get lice by being in the same room as a person who has lice.

Answer: FALSE
Lice cannot jump, nor do they have wings! They can only crawl, which is why they are passed through direct contact. This is one of the reasons why avoiding direct contact with another’s hair or head is the best way to protect yourself from getting head lice.

#5-TRUE OR FALSE: Lice are resistant to over the counter shampoos.

Answer: TRUE
Lice have developed resistance to the chemicals in the most common over the counter treatments. A study published in 2016 shows 98% of lice now have mutated genes and developed resistant to over the counter shampoos and many prescription treatments as well.

#6- TRUE OR FALSE: Lice prefer blondes.

Answer: FALSE
Since lice hang out as close to the scalp as possible, hair color (natural or chemically dyed) is never a factor.

 #7-TRUE OR FALSE: You can “outgrow” lice.

Answer: FALSE
While it’s uncommon for babies to get lice, toddlers, school-age children, teenagers, college kids, and adults are all susceptible.  Close living quarters where items are shared (like college dorm rooms) and taking selfies are some of the most common ways for lice to spread in older kids and adults.

#8-TRUE OR FALSE: If one of my kids gets lice, everyone in the family should be checked – even if they don’t share hairbrushes or beds.

Answer: TRUE
It’s recommended that all family members be checked by a professional if you suspect someone in your home has lice. About 80% of mothers whose children have lice are also positive.

#9-TRUE OR FALSE: Short hair is the answer to never getting lice.

Answer: FALSE
This is a very common myth associated with head lice, and it’s simply not true. So many people have chopped or shaved hair off of their children’s head when confronted with head lice, but the sneaky parasite can live on hair as short as 0.1 inch! They like to hang out as close to the scalp as possible, so go ahead and keep your locks as long or as short as you like.

#10- TRUE OR FALSE: You should keep the fact that you have lice a secret.

Answer: FALSE
Since lice can be contagious, it’s recommended that you make friends or family with whom you have come in close contact aware – this will only help in getting rid of the pest as fast as possible! Plus, you don’t want to get lice again, right?!

If you scored 7 out of 10 or better, congratulations! You know your stuff! If you didn’t, take a look at our other lice blogs on our site where you can learn some interesting facts about lice and what to do about it if it happens to you or your child.