Got a lice letter from school? Here's what to do in the next 24 hours.
A note home about lice is one of the most stressful things a school sends, and one of the most common. The good news: most exposures don't turn into a case, and if one does, you can usually sort it out in a day. Here's the order to do things in.
Don't reach for a lice shampoo yet. Treating a child who doesn't have lice wastes money and exposes them to pesticide for nothing. First find out whether there's anything to treat.
- Do a wet check: wet hair, plenty of conditioner, then a fine metal lice comb from scalp to ends. Wipe the comb on a white paper towel after every stroke.
- Look for live lice (sesame-seed size, tan or gray, moving) and nits (tiny ovals glued to the hair within a quarter inch of the scalp, which won't flick off like dandruff).
- Take your time behind the ears and at the back of the neck. A careful check of a child with long hair takes 20–30 minutes.
- Check everyone in the house, including adults. Lice usually come home with one child and then move to whoever shares a bed or a couch.
A clean check is great news, but a louse picked up yesterday may have laid eggs that won't hatch for about a week. Put a reminder in your phone to check again in 7 days, and once more a week after that. If all three are clear, you're done.
- Treat only the people who have lice. Everyone else just gets checked again over the next two weeks.
- Know that many lice now survive the common store products. If you use a pyrethrin or permethrin shampoo and still see live lice a day or two later, the product probably isn't working. Don't keep repeating it. Ask your pediatrician about prescription options, or see a professional.
- Combing matters more than any product. Whatever you use, comb out nits and recheck every day or two for two weeks.
- Or have it done in one visit. Our technicians come to your home or see you in a clinic, treat with heated air and combing (no pesticides), and back it with a 60-day guarantee. Call 971-771-3143.
Lice can't live long away from a scalp, so the house isn't the problem. You can skip the panic-cleaning:
- Wash pillowcases, sheets and anything worn on the head in the last two days in hot water, or tumble them in a hot dryer for 20 minutes.
- Soak brushes and combs in hot water for 10 minutes.
- Vacuum the couch and car seats if you like.
- Don't use lice sprays or foggers. Health agencies don't recommend them, and they don't help.
- Bagging stuffed animals for weeks isn't necessary. A hot dryer cycle does the same job.
- Most kids can go back to school once treatment has started. Pediatricians advise against keeping children home over lice or leftover nits. Check your school's rules, since a few still ask for a recheck at the office.
- Text the parents of close friends, especially any recent sleepover guests. It's awkward, but it stops the lice coming straight back.
- Talk to your kid without shame. Lice have nothing to do with being dirty.
Schools and PTAs are welcome to link to this page in their own lice letters.