VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — As we gear up for back-to-school, buying school supplies, backpacks, clothes and shoes, there is something else you might consider: head lice prevention.
The start of the academic year is a time when lice become more prevalent.
Jen Lewis sat down with Julie Burbank, a Virginia Beach woman who has been treating lice for 20 years. She's the owner of Let’s Be P.A.L.S. Virginia Beach Lice Treatment.
“We have a big influx when school starts... when children’s heads are touching or they’re playing, any time you have head-to-head or hair-to-hair contact," said Julie.
That is how lice are transmitted, head to head. Also, they don’t jump or hop, they only crawl. Indirect spreading—such as on combs or hats—is possible, but not as common. Most lice found on items like those are injured or dead.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the critters are only found on the pillowcases of those with lice 4% of the time.
Watch related coverage: Why Lyme disease often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed
Julie explained, “Lice are not in your home. They’re not on your pillows or in your couches or in your rugs. They’re not laying eggs there. They need to be on somebody’s head to survive. They’re blood-sucking parasites.”
Julie knows better than anyone that lice don’t discriminate. However, she sees a certain age range most often: children between the ages of 3 and 11 visit P.A.L.S. most often and moms get lice 80% of the time.
Jen told Julie about the times lice crawled through her family when she was a kid and as a mom. She watched as her mother bleached everything in the house. Turns out, that was unnecessary, and she sat for hours as her mom used a comb to get the nits or eggs out of her very long hair.
When lice showed up at Jen’s house as an adult, she left it to the professionals. After one trip to a lice removal salon, they were gone. Completely gone.
Julie explained what she and her staff do at P.A.L.S: “We have a five-step removal process. All of our products work together to dissolve the exoskeletons of bugs and eggs and then we comb them out.”
Watch related coverage: Senior citizen from Hampton Roads dies of Listeria, 9 more fall ill
Lice removal businesses like P.A.L.S can help. Pediatricians can also prescribe shampoos and/or creams to get rid of these sesame seed-sized pests.
Over-the-counter treatments such as Nix and Rid are also available. There are resistance concerns with those, but that’s the most common initial go-to. Most moms and dads run to the pharmacy and sometimes those products work. When they don't work, medical or professional intervention is needed.
Julie also recommends washing bed linens and shoving hairbrushes in the freezer for a few hours. That’s really all that needs to be done at home.
In case you get concerned about your pets, lice cannot be transferred between humans and animals. Just like anything else though, staying on top of this is important.
Julie said, “We ask parents to take a peek a week... early detection for lice is the best prevention.”
She also advised keeping hair up and back, such as in a ponytail or braid, and using a preventive spray like the Fairy Tales lice repellent. It doesn’t hurt to avoid sharing hats, headgear or hair items either.
Something to keep in mind is this happens to a lot of people. Julie encounters people who are embarrassed about lice and shared, “There’s no shame or blame in head lice. You definitely want to tell your circle of people so they can check and be treated, because otherwise, you’re just gonna get lice again.”
Unfortunately, there's a stigma with head lice, but rest assured, they are neither a health hazard nor a sign of poor hygiene and they are not responsible for spreading any disease.
For more tips about head lice prevention and treatment, click here.
