The lockdown is bad enough, but being stuck at home with lice-infested kids is awful. It’s no secret that parents all over the country are struggling with schools being closed, but if those kids are hosting a colony of critters on their heads, things get that much worse! No one wants to be stuck with a lice outbreak in the house. Knowing that a female louse can lay up to 8 eggs per day during her 30-day long lifespan, you can see why a lice outbreak at home causes so many problems for parents, especially during the lockdown. Also, it only takes a week for a nit (lice egg) to grow into an adult louse. Keeping all of this in mind, you can probably imagine the sort of havoc lice can wreak in the COVID-era. Let’s take a look at what makes lice so challenging to deal with:

The Life Cycle

All insects have the ability to multiply at staggering rates, and lice are no different. The issue with lice is that they live on top of our heads and suck our blood for food (eww)! No other insect is as much of an inconvenience to us as human head lice are. They’re parasites that hop onto our heads for shelter and food. During their stay, they reproduce at a ridiculous rate, which allows them to fully infest our heads in a couple of weeks. Lice may only live for about 30 days, but a female louse can lay 240 nits during that time. Those 240 nits go from being an egg to a mating adult in just 7 days, after which they too have 240 nymphs (lice babies) of their own, and so on. Their ability to reproduce exponentially is why we need to get them treated as soon as possible. Unless you’re alright with lice falling off every strand of hair on your head, you definitely should get treated.

Nasty Nits

Treating lice effectively also involves extracting nits (lice eggs). Nits are coated in a sticky substance that lets them latch on to hair strands so they don’t fall off. Lice lay their eggs close to the scalp to protect them from harm. The only way to remove nits is to pick them out individually.

Lice Anatomy

Lice were made to last! It’s why they’re so difficult to remove.

Piercing Mouth for Blood Meals

Human head lice have a mouth that can pierce into our scalp and drain our blood to feed themselves. Lice feed multiple times a day to stay hydrated. Without regular blood meals, lice become dehydrated; they can’t go on more than 48 hours without food.

The Deadly Spine and Claw Combination

Lice have a unique combination of a sturdy spine and a tarsal claw that allows them to grip human hair without slipping off. Their tarsal claw and spine are why lice can’t be washed off under high-pressure water or blown away with a hairdryer. The annoying critters have everything they need to remain put on a human head.

The Breathing Structure

Most human beings can only hold their breath for a minute before they begin to feel lightheaded; healthier people can last around two minutes without air. Human head lice can hold their breath for eight hours! See why scientists say lice are quickly becoming “indestructible”? They’re armed with mechanisms that stop them from being killed.

Super Lice and Resistance to Pesticides

In the last few years, researchers have discovered that lice 66–75% of human head lice in the US have become resistant to the pesticides that are found in common OTC lice shampoos and anti-lice products. Pesticide resistance is a common phenomenon among insects. Human head lice are an especially big concern because only a limited number of pesticides are safe for human application, and even those can cause allergies and secondary bacterial infections.

How do These Pesticides Work?

Contrary to what many people believe, the pesticides in anti-lice shampoos don’t kill lice, they simply paralyze them temporarily, so you can wash them off under running water. It’s impossible to wash away all the paralyzed lice away in one go, so the lice shampoo will have to be applied multiple times. But even if you do manage to paralyze all the lice and wash them away, you’ll still have to destroy the nits, as pesticides don’t impact nits in any way. Want to remove lice and prevent re-infestation? Pick the nits by hand! Luckily, we’re still offering professional lice removal services even in these trying times.

Professional Lice Removal Services in New York

Lice Troopers offers reliable lice removal services in Merrick, NY. Lice are gross; we get it! But lice infestation is a completely natural occurrence and happens to the best of us. For parents with kids, a lice infestation is basically a rite of passage.

Lice and Stigma

Kids play with each other in close proximity, and are known to easily spread illnesses and lice, through no fault of their own. Kids are just easy prey for lice. Many parents feel guilty when their kids catch lice because they assume that lice infestations are a result of poor hygiene—they aren’t. There are about six million to twelve million lice infestations in the US every year. They happen because lice spread easily, not because people have poor hygiene. Lice can crawl onto hair that is just a couple of millimeters long. They don’t care about the texture, the color, whether it’s been chemically treated, the thickness, or anything else. If you have hair on your head and in close proximity with someone who has lice, you’re likely to catch them.

Lice Troopers’ Lice Removal Services in Merrick, NY

Lice Troopers offers convenient lice removal services that prevent  you from having to get your hands dirty. Our lice removal services in New York include in-home lice removal, home cleaning and inspection, school and camp screenings, and lice treatment salons.

In-Home Lice Removal Services

Our in-home lice removal services are the most convenient during the COVID-era and for busy parents. They save you the trouble of stepping out of the house and allow you to become lice-free in the comfort of your home. If you book our in-home lice removal services, our team of lice removal technicians and house cleaners will arrive at your house in an unmarked vehicle. We understand why you would want us to be discreet about us coming over to your house, so we ensure we don’t do anything to draw unnecessary attention.

Lice Troopers’ Lice Removal Process

Our lice removal process involves applying pesticide free, non-toxic products onto the infested hair, and using a fine-tooth comb to pull all the lice out. Our technicians will section all the hair before getting started to make sure they don’t miss any spots. They’ll comb the hair thoroughly multiple times; the teeth of the comb will trap lice, allowing our technicians to pull them out with ease. We make it a point to use pesticide free, non-toxic products to remove lice. Not only is our in-house lice treatment shampoo extremely effective, but it’s also a safer alternative to OTC anti-lice products. It consists of pesticide free ingredients that are gentle on the scalp and hair. After our lice technicians confirm that all the lice have been removed, they’ll section the hair again and start picking out the nits. Nit-picking is slightly more time-consuming than extracting lice, mostly because it involves meticulous head screening. Leaving nits behind isn’t an option. Just 2 nits are enough to start up the cycle all over again, which is why our team will screen your scalp multiple times to make sure there’s nothing left.

Home Cleaning and Inspection

Re-infestations are very common after a lice outbreak. Lice Troopers does everything in its power to stop your home from getting infested again. As part of our in-home lice removal services, we also provide home cleaning and inspection. Our cleaners pull your sheets, vacuum the upholstery, the carpet, curtains, etc. to ensure that any lice that may have fallen don’t make their way onto the family member’s head again. Home cleaning and inspection is essential for preventive measure. There’s no point in spending two hours clearing out the lice and nits from every family member’s hair, only to leave lice behind on the pillows. It wouldn’t be long before their way back to someone’s head.

Lice Treatment Center in Merrick, NY

Don’t want us to come over to your home for lice removal? Feel free to book an appointment at our lice treatment center in Merrick, NY. We have several lice treatment salons in New York. The one in Merrick is brightly lit and has a team of fully trained staff members that are eager to serve you. Our lice treatment centers are always disinfected and sanitized. We take great pride in what we do; our staff cleans up thoroughly after every client to ensure that the next client feels comfortable in the seat. We use our pesticide free products to soften up the hair before we start combing to extract the lice. Moreover, advanced technology is used to screen the head and make sure no lice and nits are left behind.

Precautionary Measures During the COVID-19 Crisis

We’re taking precautionary measures to protect our employees and customers during the COVID crisis. We take every employee’s temperature in the morning to ensure they’re not ill. Our employees are required to wear masks and gloves during the entire appointment. Our lice treatment salons have always been disinfected and sanitized, but we’re taking extra precautionary measures to keep clients and staff members safe.

Preventive Measures

It isn’t enough to remove lice once. Unless your kids take preventive measures, they’ll get infested again the moment they start hanging out with other children again. Here are some things you can do to prevent re-infestation:

Preventive Hairstyles

The easiest way to prevent lice outbreaks again is to give your kids preventive hairstyles. Tie their hair in braids and buns to make it harder for lice to jump onto. The less surface area the lice have, the more protected your kids are! Avoid Sharing Clothing When it comes to lice outbreaks, sharing is not caring. Lice can clasp onto the clothing fibers as easily as they hold onto hair. They can get onto scarves, hats, jackets, etc. If you have young kids at home, tell them to avoid sharing clothing with their friends. Avoid Sharing Hairbrushes If your school-going daughter uses her friend’s hairbrush after a swim meet, tell her to stop. As sweet as it is to see your kids be open about sharing their stuff with others, it can potentially lead to another outbreak.

Use Lice Repellent

Just like there’s mosquito repellent for mosquitoes, there’s lice repellent for human head lice. Lice Troopers has designed an pesticide free lice repellent that can be used to keep lice at a distance. Our lice repellent contains special ingredients that lice can’t stand. Its main ingredient is none other than—garlic! Yes, garlic keeps both vampires and lice away! Just rub a few drops of the repellent into your palms before massaging it into your child’s hair. It’s completely natural and can be used on your hair every day after shampoo. It doesn’t consist of any toxic chemicals and doesn’t have a smell to it either.

Staying Lice-Free

To help you stay lice-free, Lice Troopers now sells lice treatment home kits that include a lice extraction comb, lice treatment shampoo, lice repellent, leather cleaner, and carpet upholstery cleaner. All our products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and odorless. Parents who’d rather clear their kids’ heads of lice themselves during the pandemic can do so in the safety of their homes using our lice treatment kits. If you think that lice removal is best left to the professionals, make an appointment with us. Get in touch with us for our in-home lice removal services or book an appointment at our lice treatment salon in Merrick, NY, by calling (516) 537-9549. We can make you lice-free in just two hours!