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Reasons Your Head Lice Won’t Go Away and What to Do

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about six to 12 million people have head lice each year. Many can end up struggling with head lice for weeks, months, and even years. There are a number of reasons why head lice can be so difficult to eliminate.

Over-the-Counter Treatments Aren’t Effective: Head lice have built up a resistance to many over-the-counter popular drugstore products. With a recent report issued in 2016, lice in 42 states are now resistant to the active ingredient in most of these products that are sold.

There Is Human Error Involved in Nitpicking: Since drugstore treatments aren’t as effective, the most effective alternative is nitpicking. Nitpicking is the process of combing out the live lice and then searching for the eggs. The eggs are tiny and are only about the size of a sesame seed. The eggs attach themselves to the hair shaft. If you miss just one then it will hatch and the live lice will begin to multiply again and you have another infestation. It can be hard to see these eggs and that’s why it feels like you can’t ever get rid of the lice.

Not Getting Every Family Member Checked: Many parents assume that whatever child was found with lice is the only one. This is unlikely since lice spread from close head-to-head contact and from sharing hair accessories. It can be common for the entire family to get head lice, including parents. If only one person is treated then the lice can come back to the same person following contact with another family member. Remember, it’s very easy for lice to keep spreading and even parents can be likely to get it if a child has it.

Home Remedies Are Unproven and Can Be Dangerous: There are plenty of home remedies that other parents swear by. These can include olive oil, petroleum jelly, vodka, and mayonnaise. Methods will vary but it will usually involve applying one of the substances to the head overnight and then covering with some kind of plastic wrap. Sleeping with plastic wrap on the heads can lead to suffocation so this is a dangerous process, especially for children. There is no way to guarantee that the plastic wrap won’t fall over and slip down and cover your child’s nose and mouth. Certain substances can be flammable and should not be used at all for treatment. While others may swear by these treatments, they aren’t proven effective.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT LICE?

If over-the-counter treatments, nitpicking, and home remedies don’t work, you may feel at a loss. However, there are ways to get rid of lice once and for all. The most effective way to remove lice is to shave the head but this won’t go over well for most people. Instead of relying on over-the-counter products or home remedy head lice removal techniques, consider a professional lice removal company. At Lice Lifters, we use our time-tested mix of 100 percent safe techniques to get rid of the problem in a single visit.

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