Head Lice and Back to School: What to Know

During Back-To-School Season Lice Cases Spike 

Green Bay-area parents have enough to fret about this school year without needing to think about exposing their children to lice. The uncomfortable reality is that many children are likely to experience close physical interactions in school. The cause of lice case spikes during back-to-school season is due to children being in close proximity with each other. According to John Hopkins pediatrician and head lice expert, Bernard Cohen “(this time of year) the incidents do clearly go up” (USAtoday.com). 

How To Reduce The Transmission of Lice At School 

Believe it or not, lice do not jump from head-to-head, and rather walk from child to child. Usually, this transferral occurs when children are in close head-to-head contact with one another. Parents should remind their children of this issue and reinforce a feeling of personal space and avoid this head-to-head contact when possible. 

School districts recognize the impact these bugs can cause. Some districts even enforce no-nit policies that ban students from school if they have baby shells of lice (or nits) in their hair. Experts say these are somewhat beneficial policies but do little to face the issue of active lice. Lice can be an embarrassing issue for children, but the specialists at Lice Clinics of America in Green Bay offer several procedures to effectively treat Green Bay-area cases. 

What Do You Do If Your Child Contracts Lice?

Lice Clinics of America in Green Bay begin with our thorough screening process, in which clinicians inspect the hair and scalp of the patient. If a case of active head lice is found and a treatment plan is chosen, the initial screening fee is waived. Our treatment plans feature the signature Airallé® treatment, which is a 3-step method that ensures the patient will leave lice-free with no follow-up needed. However, this treatment is not recommended for children under a specific age, but in these instances, a strand-by-strand comb-out method is utilized with non-toxic products. The diversity of these methods ensure that all patients and parents leave feeling comfortable and safe. After all, don’t parents have enough to worry about this school year?

Instead of an unfortunate haircut, let the experts find the right solution for you at the Lice Clinics of America in Green Bay.