Facts Surrounding Head Lice
Stick to the Facts and Stop the Bullying Surrounding Head Lice
School children can be cruel. Quick to make fun of any perceived difference among them and having head lice is no exception. This can lead to the bullying of children with head lice.
Owner of Lice Clinics of Canada – Ontario, wants to stop the shaming and blaming that often takes place surrounding head lice.
“Head lice are no one’s fault,” Ben said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatricians, the National Association of School Nurses, and just about every other medical authority in the world are all in agreement on this. Understanding the facts about how head lice spread can help foster understanding and support for families, rather than causing blame and fault-finding.
“A common myth surrounding head lice is that cleanliness or hygiene has something to do with it.” Ben said. “This just isn’t true.”
“The facts are: head lice mainly spread through head-to-head contact; head lice don’t jump or fly; and they can’t survive for more than 48 hours without consuming human blood” Ben said.
“Head lice typically move from one head to another when in close physical contact,” Ben said. “We see head lice in children more often because children play and sleep together and have more head-to-head contact than adults do.”
“The only reason a particular child has head lice is because they made head-to-head contact with another person who also had head lice,” Ben said.
One reason head lice cause distress among parents is that, until recently, they have been extremely difficult to get rid of. Traditional head lice products require multiple applications and multiple rounds of painstaking combing out of the eggs (nits) and dead bugs from a child’s hair.
“Parents need to know that these products don’t kill the eggs, so if a nit is missed, it will hatch, and a new family of head lice will be born after 7-10 days,” Ben said. “Even worse, most head lice are now resistant to these products because they have been used for decades. A 2016 study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Entomology found that up to 98 percent of head lice in most of the United States now carry a genetic immunity to the pesticides in the most popular products.”
The good news for parents and children is that researchers at the University of Utah discovered a way to kill head lice and eggs using carefully controlled heated air to dehydrate them. Their research has been commercialized as the Health Canada-cleared AirAllé® medical device, clinically shown to kill live lice and their eggs.
Treatment using the AirAllé medical device is available at Lice Clinics of Canada in both Oakville and Kitchener, Ontario. The Lice Clinics brand is the world’s largest and fastest growing network of professional lice treatment centers. The AirAllé treatment takes about 90 minutes and is guaranteed to be effective. No hours of combing or nitpicking required.
“The facts about head lice and how they spread are simple and straightforward,” Ben said. “Our proven AirAllé device makes treating head lice fast, safe, and easy. With same-day lice service, there is no need for parents to stress and no reason to miss school or work because of an infestation.”
To schedule an appointment, click here, or call 519-208-LICE (5423).
