Coral Gables Lice Troopers Expert Busts 5 Common Lice Myths

Lice myths are common for a reason. There is so much misinformation out there, it’s no wonder people believe myths instead of the truth.

Lice Troopers has clinics all over Florida and New York—each one stock full of experienced lice technicians. They know how the pesky parasites work better than anyone else. I figured it’s time to tap into that hands-on knowledge.

I spoke with our Coral Gables lice technician Diane, someone who has been dealing with lice removal from the front lines for years to set some facts straight about myths about lice that she’s commonly heard from her patients.

She had a list of about 20, but we narrowed it down to the top 5. Let’s go through each myth and see what Diane had to say!

“She got lice because she doesn’t wash her hair enough!”

Let’s start with this myth, because Diane told me she hears this from moms all the time! And it’s simply untrue.

“Cleanliness doesn’t repel lice! If anything they prefer loose, clean hair” Diane tells me.

She explains that lice infestations don’t have anything to do with hygiene.

Basically – how often you shower and wash your hair or how clean your home & school are? Those don’t really play into whether or not you’ll get lice.

“I think I got lice from my dog”

“After a few years of treating lice, I’m surprised at how often this comes up” Diane let me know. You can’t get lice from any of your pets. In fact, you can’t contract them from anywhere but another human’s head.

Lice are only able to live on the head of a human host. Lice require human blood in order to survive.

They CANNOT survive on dog blood and there is no way to transfer them from a head of hair to pet fur—or vice versa.

So, it’s not possible to get lice from a pet dog or any other animal.

“I don’t think I have lice, my head doesn’t itch”

“This one is frustrating, because it stops patients from coming in while the lice are still easy to treat”

Diane explains that you can be infested with lice for weeks without any itching. She even mentions that some people don’t have the allergic reaction that makes lice bites itch. And these people may be infested and never feel itching at all!

She also mentioned that even though this is the most common symptom for lice, it still is only one possible symptom – since heads can itch for lots of reasons.

“I get a good amount of patients who come in for a screening – freaking out about an itchy head, when half the time it’s just dandruff” she tells me.

“It’s still the most common symptom, though,” she reiterated to me at one point, “so if your head starts itching and you’ve been around a group of children – it’s best to get a screening just in case”

So, take the itchy head into consideration – but remember you could have lice without the itch!

“I’m not worried about my son getting lice, he has short hair,”

We included this one for the moms out there with both a daughter and son.

“I hear this a lot from moms who come into the Coral Gables clinic with their daughters. I ask if they have any other kids and whether they screened them yet. The ones with sons say this about half the time. I see how it seems true, but it’s not exactly the case.”

Diane explained that lice like any head with hair, so boys or girls with short hair can still contract it.

It’s especially likely if other kids they’ve been around are infested—like, for instance, their sibling with long hair!

“I used mayonnaise and my lice went away, but I got them again!”

Diane let me know that she hears lots of variations with this one – “I’ve heard every home remedy in the book from my patients… and none of them worked”

But she mostly hears this one – mayonnaise. It’s a common misconception.

Contrary to popular belief, mayonnaise will not suffocate lice. It’s primarily an adulticide that does not affect the eggs. This means that it could kill some adult lice. As soon as the nits left behind hatch, however, your infestation seems to start all over again!

“Patients assume that their lice went away because the adults were gone for a few days, but the truth is: they had nits in there all along.”

So, maybe skip the mayonnaise.

The Best Tip for Head Lice

Our lice troopers technicians have so much cumulated lice knowledge.

A special thanks to our Coral Gables tech Diane for giving us insight into which myths have stopped her patients from getting the right treatment – or just getting treated more quickly!

I asked if she had any last words of advice, and she told me :

“When in doubt, comb it out… Basically, whether you want to find out you have lice or get rid of them altogether – a comb is your best friend”

More specifically, she mentioned a regular comb for screening, and a professional comb for treatment!

Here at lice troopers, our experts never leave one louse or nit in your head (they know what they’re doing!).

If you’re scrambling to get rid of your lice and nothing seems to work, consider coming into our Coral Gables clinic! Book your treatment here.