Back-to-School Head Lice Prevention Checklist from Lice Clinics of America – Northwest

Back-to-school time is a busy time for parents and students. The weeks prior to school are filled with shopping for clothes, backpacks and school supplies as well as last minute trips to squeeze every bit out of the summer. Parents often worry about how their children will like their teacher and whether they’ll get along with the other students or be bullied.

George Macoubray is a member of Lice Clinics of America^®, the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. He says, “We see a surge in cases of head lice when kids return to school” and recommends some proven practices that can prevent and treat cases of head lice. The clinics offer everything families need to stay lice-free during back-to-school season and all year round with products and services for every situation and every budget.

Screen Early and Often

The best way to prevent head lice is for all children to be screened regularly. Lice can be difficult to identify by the untrained eye.  Macoubray says, “We recommend professional head lice checks, especially at peak lice times in the fall, back-to-school and returning home from summer camp. As a matter of fact, we have a new Lice Prevention Membership Program which provides members with one head screen per month and two treatments per year for those covered under the program. Middle School girls are our largest treatment group, so this program is designed for families who are aware of this and want to be proactive about making sure they are not spending their weekends treating lice instead of enjoying family adventures or sports.”

An Ounce of Prevention

Lice Clinics of America’s – Northwest offers products for home use that prevent head lice, including preventive shampoo, conditioner, sprays and hairbands that can be used daily or whenever children wash their hair. These products serve as an effective lice repellant. All are non-toxic, using essential oils that smell good to humans but not to head lice. “’Back to School’ is a great time to stock up on prevention products to help your kids stay lice free all year long, and we’re running a special 20% discount this month” says Macoubray.

Have Hair Pulled Back

Another way to help kids prevent the spread of lice is keeping hair pulled back in a tight braid or bun. “Since lice need hair to hold on to so they can crawl from one head to another, it’s harder for them to grip hair pulled back into a braid or bun” says Macoubray.

Sharing Items Like Brushes

While lice are much more likely to be spread by head-to-head contact than brushes, it’s good practice to let your children know that while we teach them to share most things, brushes shouldn’t be one of them.

Selfies 

What teen doesn’t love a good selfie with their friends to celebrate back to school? While amazing and fun, selfies can lead to head-to-head contact and a perfect environment for the exchange of lice. Let your teen know it’s okay to take selfies but it’s best to keep a little distance.

If you do get lice

Best-laid plans of prevention can be laid to waste by a bug who is literally designed to spread from human to human and back-to-school time is peak season for head lice. If your child does have head lice, Lice Clinics of America offers the safest, fastest, and most effective treatment technology available, the AirAllé^® medical device. AirAllé is FDA-cleared and clinically shown to kill live lice and more than 99 percent of eggs (nits) in a single treatment using carefully applied heated air to dehydrate lice and eggs. This “one and done” treatment takes about an hour, doesn’t require any follow-ups and is guaranteed to be effective.

It’s common for families to struggle with head lice for weeks or months using traditional over the counter lice treatments or traditional combing. Lice Clinics of America guarantees that people leave their clinics lice-free and can provide tools to help them remain lice-free throughout the year.

Lice Clinics of America has over 330 treatment centers in 35 countries, making it the world’s largest network of professional lice treatment centers. Lice Clinics of America – Northwest operates clinics in Portland, Clackamas, Salem and Bend, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington and is open seven days a week, 365 days a year by appointment. Call 503-404-0475 or visit liceclinicsnorthwest.com for more information or to schedule an appointment.