Answers to your most common Questions
LICE FAQs
We’ve broken this page up into several sections to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Lice Prevention
The younger the child the more interesting things you may find in their hair. Glitter, paint, wood chips from the playground, sand, food, or lint from clothing can make it confusing when you comb out debris onto a white paper towel. Please compare what you comb out to our “Life Cycle of a Louse” image to see what nits and lice look like versus normal debris.
CLC’s Defense & Detangle Spray is used to aid in the simplest and most effective form of lice outbreak prevention. If you have hair on your head you are a candidate for lice. No aroma or product will protect a person from getting lice. By detangling you can easily put hair up, narrowing the lice target and use it to do a Peace of Mind head check, the Defense and Detangle Spray is an essential part of lice control.
Lice Treatment
Based on the life cycle of a louse, CLC’s Lice Attack Solution process is a scientific approach and was developed to end the cycle of the infestation. CLC’s Lice Attack Solution eliminates the bugs. The success of our process is done with 3 treatments with the Lice Attack Solution and nit removal is not necessary. However, we want to remove the nits to avoid a false positive detection in the future. If done properly, the first treatment will defeat all live lice, including the mommies or egg-laying lice, making the person no longer contagious. Then comb out the nits (the lice eggs). If any nits are missed and they hatch, the 2nd or 3rd treatments are easy and perfectly timed. Those treatments will eliminate young lice before they have a chance to mature and lay more nits. Keep in mind, a person is only contagious with an adult female louse. Young lice (nymphs) are harmless and do not transfer to other people. For peace of mind, this scientific approach has an easy safety net built into the process. Completing the three easy treatments, ensures this infestation is over. CLC recommends doing combing head checks twice per month for the best lice control in the future. No excessive or daily combing is recommended or necessary.
For full instructions visit: How To Check for Lice for full information.
When hair is wet it sticks together. Lice like to hide and they could find wet pockets of hair to hide in. The Lice Attack Solution needs to completely saturate dry, tangle-free hair to work most effectively. See the usage guide on the Lice Attack bottle to make sure you are using enough to saturate your hair type.
Lice do not survive the Lice Attack Solution when it’s done properly. However, if you don’t follow the instructions (for example, if the treated hair was wet, very knotty, or not completely saturated with the Solution) lice could survive. The good news is it’s safe to repeat the treatment anytime. Simply re-treat if needed to eliminate all live lice that may have been missed but make sure to follow the instructions carefully. Be sure to massage Lice Attack Solution onto dry hair and into the scalp thoroughly and let it stay on for 5 minutes. If you do see adult lice during any of the follow up treatments, just add one more treatment 5-6 days after the last treatment. This rarely happens but if you have an overwhelming infestation it may happen. No additional house cleaning will be necessary if bugs are found.
It is OK to see nits, whether viable or not, as long as you are completing the 3 full treatments. We know it is unsettling to see nits but they are harmless for now. If you see just a few nits and your school does not have a “No Nit Policy” then you are fine. Just make sure to do your scheduled follow up treatments with Lice Attack Solution and a nit comb-out. If you find 10 or more nits we recommend doing a quick comb-out in between treatments to remove remaining nits.
What makes someone contagious with head lice is having a mature, egg-laying adult female louse on your head that could travel to another head. After the first treatment, when the egg-laying lice are eliminated, you are no longer contagious. To stop the cycle of lice you must stop the egg laying first, then remove the nits. Timing is everything and you must complete the 3 well-timed treatments to ensure you are lice-free. The follow-up treatments will eliminate the nymphs (baby lice) before they mature and lay eggs, therefore ending the cycle of lice. Read more about Are Lice Contagious?
If you see adult bugs, you want to repeat the CLC Lice Attack Solution and do a comb-out. One of two things happened. You either got re-infested (which is possible because your lice came from someone close to you and they may still be contagious) OR you didn’t follow the treatment instructions properly. Remember, you must apply to untangled, dry hair and use enough Lice Attack Solution to make sure the scalp is completely saturated with the treatment solution.
Nope. Only completely bald people can’t get lice. Lice can lay nits on ¼” of hair. But buzz cuts do make the comb out process a lot easier. If you choose to buzz your hair as a treatment for lice, make sure to first treat with the Lice Attack Solution to eliminate the bugs and the buzz cut should remove the nits if the buzz cut is short enough. Remember to protect the scalp from sunburn with sunblock or a hat.
Life Cycle of a Louse
These are nits at different stages and a louse. It is often hard to tell the difference between them.
After Lice Treatment
So you’ve done your first the lice treatment and are freaking out about what’s next. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about what to do after you treat for lice.
No! All you need is the heat from the dryer for laundry, vacuum for cloth surfaces, lint roller or a sheet to cover large items (sofas/car seats) for 3 days. Laundry additives and house cleaning sprays are a waste of time and money.
It may feel uncomfortable but you must tell anyone who’s been in contact with your infected family member within the last 3 weeks. This gives them the chance to do a head check. It also lessens the chances of them transmitting lice back to your family.
Evolution. The pesticides did work —years ago. Over the past several decades, lice have evolved to survive both OTC and prescription pesticide treatments. In addition to the products being less effective, the nit combs that come with some treatments are lousy (pun intended) and the instructions are not thorough enough. Lice have developed a protein that is present in their exoskeleton system and the nit glue. The nit glue covers the nit which secures the nit to the hair shaft and protects them from the neurotoxins in common OTC and prescription treatments. Often some bugs will die, but rarely all of them. These treatments are ineffective against lice because you can’t somewhat get rid of lice. Lice are all or nothing.
Home Lice Cleaning Guide
How to Check For Lice
How Long Does It Take To Get Rid of Lice?
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CLC Professional Lice Treatment Kit
CLC LICE ATTACK SOLUTION
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