Family Service Center
Guaranteed, In-Home Lice Service

There are a few easy steps you can take.

1. Detangle everyone’s hair.
   So you don’t end up paying someone else $100+ per hour or more to do a simple task.
2. Get it cut shorter and/or trim the ends.
   This will reduce the treatment time and make it less likely the lice comb will get caught and cause painful pulling and slow down the process.
3. Treat with a drugstore lice kit beforehand.
   If you don’t mind pesticides, these kits can help thin the number of live lice and ensure a successful treatment. However, if the infestation is already light, then it is an unnecessary expense.
4. Don’t buy gimmicky devices to do it yourself.
   Lice removal takes skill, diligence, and the proper tools. Unless you are interested in spending days worth of your free time learning how to properly lice comb, you are better off hiring a professional. That’s not to say you can’t do it yourself, you can, but is it not easy and it will not be fun for you or your family because of how painful amateur lice combing can be and how much longer it will take.
5. Don’t invest a ton of money and time on home remedies.
   Some of them can work, but not because of the olive oil or coconut oil. It’s luck and lice combing. Unless you are extremely lucky and catch the infestation very early on, it is very unlikely just slathering coconut or olive oil on your family will work. If coconut or olive oil worked, there wouldn’t be lice businesses because those home remedies are easy to find on social media or YouTube. The danger of those methods is that it can make the problem worse because you will think it’s solved, but it’s actually still growing and spreading to friends and family members. A good rule to follow with lice treatments, and life in general, is: if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
6. Don’t wait too long to start treating.
   A few days without being treated won’t hurt, but if you go more than a week it is going to get harder and more expensive to treat. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but if one louse lays 5 eggs a day after a week that is 35 eggs. When the eggs hatch 8-10 days later the number of lice goes from increase by five each day, so about a week later you now have 36 lice. Another 8-10 days later, the new female lice start laying eggs and a small, relatively expensive problem to fix becomes much, much worse.
7. Don’t catch it again.
   Easier said than done, but there are precautions you can take. Try to figure out where it came from. Your lice professional may be able to give you an estimate of how long you’ve had it. Use that info to think back on any camps, sleepovers, playdates you had, or family friends or others you have heard talking about it. If you think you know where it came from, talk to them. For most people it’s not the most comfortable conversation, but try to not be aggressive or accusatory and place blame – that won’t help anyone. Let them know you had it, that it’s going around, and that they should get checked and give them a suggestion on who they can call to do it. Make it as easy as possible for them.
8. Get the usual suspects checked at your appointment.
   If you have a suspicion where it came from, see if they want to make some time to come with you to get checked and treated. This is easier with in-home lice services since your neighbors or extended family can come over or they can decide to have the lice technician go to their home and check them.