Does My Child Still Have Head Lice Even Though I Treated Him Or Her ?

Head lice have been making the rounds in the Fort Worth and surrounding area schools over the past few months. Amanda D, a mother of 2 elementary school children in Fort Worth, called us to say "I treated my kids and continue to check their hair, but I don’t know whether I got everything out. I thought I did but now I see the older one scratching again. Kids in her class still have it. Is it possible that she got it again?”

Here are five signs that suggest that your child may still have head lice:

1. You treated your child for lice using chemicals.

Chemical lice treatments are often ineffective in killing the lice

and they certainly do nothing to the nits (eggs) because they can not penetrate the barrier of the shell. Often, a few days after the initial treatment, nits become visible in the hair. Super lice, which are virtually present all over the country, are immune to chemicals. The chemicals that you apply may lull you into a false sense of security that your child is lice-free. If you use a lice pesticide, there is a good chance that your child may still have an active case.

“Treatment-resistant head lice aren't a new problem. Dubbed ‘super lice’, these lice are simply head lice that are becoming more resistant to the active ingredients in many common head lice treatments.” Mayo Clinic Lice FAQ

2. Your child has just spent a lot of time with a friend who turns out to have head lice.

We all know how kids, especially young ones, somehow end up playing close to each other. They may play at a distance at first but sometime, over the course of the play date, they end up in close contact. Even teens who play video games sit right next to each other. It is virtually impossible to keep kids apart and do we really want to? It is during these “together times” when kids have ample opportunity to share head lice. You may have spent hours de-licing your child but as soon as she is with a friend who may not even realize that he or she is carrying a case, your child gets re-infested.

3. Even worse is that your child has just had an overnight date with a friend(s) who turns up with lice.

Sleepovers carry a high risk for children to contract head lice as they are in such close contact with each other over an extended period of time. Head lice crawl from head-to-head and if the children are sleeping near each other the risk of transmission is high. Again, you may think that your child is now in the clear but unless you do a protective preventative plan your child may pick up another case.

4. You have treated only child one in your family.

A couple of weeks later you find lice or nits in child two. Uh oh...better recheck child one. Chances are she either did not get rid of lice when you first treated her and proceeded to pass it to child two OR you missed it the first time around in child two and therefore did not treat him and he gave it back to child one. Unless everyone in the family is checked and the treated, if infected, then there is a good possibility that there are still active lice in family members.

5. After you have spent time nitpicking and combing out all of the visible bugs, you forgo any follow up treatment.

You feel confident that you have removed all remnants of lice. Maybe you even spent hours meticulously removing every egg and louse in sight. You shine a light on the hair and you search carefully and you see NOTHING. You are done and can not bear the thought of doing anything else. Here’s why you may very well still have lice: you can not remove microscopic nits because you can’t see them. Why are they microscopic? Because they were too recently laid to be visible. To be 100% sure that the lice case is put to rest you must do some follow up.

If you find that your child has head lice, LiceDoctors offers professional in-home treatment services to eradicate the infestation anywhere in the Fort Worth and Arlington area. LiceDoctors treatments are fully effective, come with a guarantee, and 500,000 satisfied clients to back us up! For confidential, safe, and fully effective lice treatment in the privacy and convenience of your own home, call 817-886-8290 any time from 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM, seven days a week.