All About Head Lice Treatment Services

Head lice infestation is a widespread problem in for families and causes stress and anxiety among parents and childcare workers. The Center for Disease Control estimates that six to twelve million people are infected every year. It is most common among children ages three to ten years and occurs more frequently in females.

With the rise of treatment-resistant lice, called super lice, more parents and child services are hiring professional services because typical drugstore and prescription options are no longer as effective as they were fifteen or more years ago.

New services for an old problem

Recently many lice salons and clinics offering public lice treatment services emerged all over the US. The most significant advantage of these services is that it’s almost assured that you’ll be lice-free by the end of the treatment. The only downside is the cost. Rates aren’t fixed and vary depending on the part of the country. However, the average price for this service is about $100 per hour. In the most severe cases, where the patients have had lice for a long time and have thick, long, curly or kinky hair, treatment may cost a few hundred dollars per child (around $214-275) and, rarely, thousands of dollars for a fully infested family. However, it typically costs a family of four about $250-400.

Head lice removal specialists all do roughly the same things. They use a combination of products and techniques such as lice-killing shampoo, creams, fine-toothed combs, and nitpicking, to defeat an infestation in about two to three-hour sessions.

Head lice treatment used to be simple

Before the 1990s, washing once or twice your hair and scalp with a lice-killing shampoo containing pyrethrin was in general enough to stop the infestation. However, with the extensive and abusive use of pyrethrin, these insects developed resistance to this particular pesticide. If infestation recurs within one month after treatment, a different topical pediculicide can be used.

Reasons for treatment failure

There are four:

• inadequate application

• pediculicide resistance

• failure to re-treat, and

• re-infection.

Next: Home Remedies for Head Lice

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References

SA Health.gov: Head Lice.

Quartz.com: Professional Lice Removal

NPR.org: Mom’s and Pros Tackle Lice