Archive for the 'home head lice' Category

Nitpickers? Professional Lice Removal

headlice March 11th, 2008

Previously, we referred to a New York Daily News article about head lice. The article included a quote that could potentially promote the misconception that human head lice are connected in some way to race, color, culture, or in this case even religion. When it comes to hair lice information, nothing could be further than the truth!

There are additional statements in the above mentioned article that warrant comment:

The article repeatedly uses the term, nitpickers, to describe the featured women who are in the business of removal and treatment of lice. By definition, the term nitpicker has a negative connotation. It arouses an image of someone who is annoying.  A nitpicker sounds like someone who you don't want to be around; someone likely to subject you to harassment.  There is so much negativity already associated with human head lice. Mothers who find themselves in the middle of a lice infestation are already feeling overwhelmed. Infested children are often ostracized for no good reason. Parents feel embarrassed, based on the erroneous belief that the lice nit infestation is a reflection on their standards of cleanliness and personal hygiene. Children and parents alike may be worn out from repeated use of chemical lice shampoos, and ineffective lice nit combs. 
 
When clients call Licenders lice removal service, they are often in crisis mode. They need compassion, support and reassurance - along with professionalism.  It is important to avoid the use of negative or stereotypical terminology. By using an objective, deliberate approach, Licenders reduces the level of distress during a lice infestation. Licenders' caring staff provide methodical combing of lice and nits, using effective lice treatment products, including special lighting and magnifying equipment. Combined with our experience and expertise, Licenders maintains a professional attitude toward the treatment of head lice. Licenders unparalleled professionalism helps parents regain a sense of control and normalcy.

Nitpickers and Lice Removal Services

headlice March 10th, 2008

Recently, a human interest news item was devoted to lice removal services. The article, appeared in the New York Daily News on January 29th 2008. In her article, titled They're In the Lice-Removal Business, Rachel Monahan, discusses a supposed cultural trend in head lice treatment services. Her focus is on some women who have become lice removal experts in Brooklyn, New York. The tone of the article about lice removal warrants some comment.

One of these women describes herself as an "Orthodox Jewish nitpicker", and even goes so far, as to make a connection to the area of a nitpicking housewife. "They say Jewish men make good husbands; Jewish women are known to be nitpickers." Even in jest, such a statement is demeaning - and less than professional. Even a self-directed insult can result in uninformed, negative stereotyping. The fact is, human head lice are an international problem. The lice problem is prevalent in every culture, race and nationality. Religion is certainly not a factor. Any person who invests time and researches solutions, can become quite knowledgeable about lice nits and the best method of removing a lice infestation.

Furthermore, we take issue with the term "nitpickers" altogether!

to be continued

 

Professional Head Lice Removal Service

headlice January 28th, 2008

LICENDERS provides lice home removal services in the New York City area, including Long Island and Westhchester, Connecticut, and parts of New Jersey. One of the benefits of using a head lice removal professional is that you are not alone in dealing with the lice problem.

A part of the LICENDERS protocol is a routine follow-up phone call to our clients.  This is typically done 1 or 2 days following the original lice removal treatment and it is a priority to our staff here at LICENDERS.  The purpose of this phone call is to review the maintenance process after the initial headlice treatment session. Often, when a household is dealing with a headlice problem, there is a general feeling of being overwhelmed. Our clinicians take the time to patiently explain in detail the lice and nit combing-out process that needs to be followed.

Due to the natural stressfulness of a lice infestation in the family, it may be difficult for a client to fully focus. LICENDERS understands this, and makes sure to stay in touch with our clients after they have experienced the professionalism and reassurance of our home or salon lice treatment services. Clients are understandably a lot calmer once we have provided the home head lice removal, and we want to make sure that they remain in control. LICENDERS staff  help our clients to follow the instructions they were given at the time that the clinician was combing out the lice and nits. We clarify the details of the lice removal process, and answer any questions that may have been formulated after the lice treatment was completed.

LICENDERS takes our relationships with our clients seriously. Once our lice removal service is contacted, we are there for our clients until both of us are confident that the lice are history!

To be continued

Treating Lice and Nits in the Home - Finishing the Job

headlice November 22nd, 2007

In the past few weeks, we have presented helpful information about cleaning your house when your child has been diagnosed with lice or nits.

We have explained that when dealing with human head lice in the main living areas of your home, you need to be concerned with places where a person is likely to rest their head. When dealing with the bedrooms, linens, toys, and closets need to be addressed as well, because it is more likely that there are stray hairs around with viable nits on them.

To finish up the job of cleaning your house of hair lice and nits, do a quick review of your bathrooms. Remove any used towels and wash them in hot water in the washing machine. Dry them on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Remove visible stray hairs that may contain nits, from bathtubs, sinks and showers by collecting them with a paper towel. Dispose of these hairs by placing them in a knotted plastic bag and toss them in your trash.

You have removed hairs from the head rests of chairs and couches, and treated the relevant items in your bedrooms and bathrooms. The same procedure applies to recently used coats and jackets. If you have a closet with such outerwear, it is only significant if the clothing has been used in the past 2-3 days before the lice diagnosis. In such a case, refer to our previous post on cleaning clothing during a lice infestation.  

Remember that head lice treatment for your house is mostly a matter of removing stray hairs that may contain nits. Human head lice will not survive on floors, or on chairs, or in closets - because they need to feed on human blood a few times a day. As we have stated many times before, a human head louse will die within 24-48 hours off of a human head.

The way to preserve the job you have done ridding your house of lice and nits, is to maintain the lice-free status of your child's head. Once you have used an effective lice shampoo, and methodically combed out all of the nits, you must continue the combing out process every night for about two weeks, to ensure that there are no remaining nits. If this maintenance is not done, having clean linens, sofas, and towels, will not prevent remaining nits from hatching and starting the process all over again!

 

Treating the Toys When Your Child Has Head Lice

headlice November 7th, 2007

During a Lice infestation, most toys do not present a problem at all. Only toys on which a child has likely laid his head are a concern. The main guilty parties are stuffed animals. As we have said previously, lice do not burrow into furry toys by nature. The only concern is a surviving louse that may have strayed off the child’s head directly on to the toy or a stray hair stuck to the toy with a viable nit on it. This only applies to a louse that has had the opportunity to feed on a human head within the past 24 – 48 hours, or a nit that has grown for a few days while on the head, and is likely to hatch soon.

Stuffed toys can often be put into the dryer on high heat. Such toys should be put into the dryer for ½ hour. If the toys have delicate parts, or cannot withstand high heat for any other reason, they should be placed into large garbage type bags, and sealed for 48 hours.

Additional items to pay attention to are headphones from play stations or personal music gadgets, bicycle and sports helmets, and any other toy that is used on your child’s head.  Seal the bags securely with a knot or a tight twist-tie.  As we have explained, in our professional experience treating thousands of families with head lice, 48 hours is a sufficient amount of time to assure that there will be no re-infestation resulting from the toys and protective headgear.