Top 10 Lice Prevention Tips For The Summer

We are honored to be partnering with Lice Hunter, MD to bring you this sponsored post, and we hope you find these tips and tricks helpful in preventing lice this summer season for your family too!

‘Tis the season for fun in the sun with family and friends! However, for many, summer fun is rudely interrupted by pesky critters that love to live on human heads. It is estimated that approximately 12 million people get lice every year, with a spike occurring in the summer months and during the back to school season. Here’s how to avoid becoming a statistic and some treatment tips if you’re reading this a little too late…

1. Playing Sports

Avoiding head-to-head contact can be tough in contact sports. At Lice Hunter, MD we understand that some head-to-head interactions are unavoidable for active kids. However, we are here to equip you with some prevention tools to use if your kids play summer sports.

  • Helmets: During and after sports activities, use a lint tape roller on the inside of helmets to avoid any possible “friends” left behind inside or on equipment from getting onto your kiddos head.
  • The Huddle: Remind your kids to avoid head to head contact during team huddles and other activities that could introduce possible 6 legged friends into their beautiful locks.
  • Long Hair, Don’t Care: If your child has been blessed with long locks, tie it up or braid it back to avoid free flying strands that a louse can easily grab on to.

2. Summer Camp

Summer camps are a hot spot for lice infestations and a nightmare for many parents and camp administrators. Lice infestations at summer camps are so common, the American Camp Association {ACA} suggests that camp administrators and leaders establish “a lice control policy” prior to camp opening. Whether the camp you choose for your kids this summer has taken a proactive approach to keeping their camp lice free or not, the experts at Lice Hunter, MD have a few tips to help your kids stay lice free while away at summer camp this season.

  • Pre-Check: Check your child’s head with a good lice comb prior to them heading off to camp! Dont know what you’re looking for? Let the experts do what they do best…stop by Lice Hunter, MD and let them check your child’s head before leaving.
  • Daily Combing: Equip your child with a good lice comb, such as the Lice Hunter, MD terminator comb, prior to heading out to camp. Instruct your child to comb daily for 5 minutes on damp hair. This will comb out any possible “suspicious activity” before it has a chance to reproduce and multiply!
  • Mint Spray: Equip your child with a great mint based spray or oil prior to heading to camp. Use a mint spray every morning prior to any interactions with other kiddos. A peppermint scented spray has a 92-95% success rate in repelling lice.  The Lice Hunter, MD mint spray is a great option!
  • Post-Check: Once your child returns from camp, check their heads for any sign of evidence using a good steel comb.
  • Encourage Your Camp: Encourage the camp you choose for your kids to reach out to a local lice removal company in your area to partner with so they can have a team of trained professionals come in on the first day of camp to check all camp goers prior to starting summer camp activities.

3. Sleepovers

Kids love to make new friends and spend time with their existing friends over the summer during cook outs, sleep overs, and regular play dates. Here are a few tips to help keep your little one lice free while enjoying extended play dates over the summer.

  • Don’t Share: Decrease the risk of transmission. Have your child bring their own pillows, blankets, combs, brushes, hair ties, and hair bows to sleep overs and play dates.
  • Up-Do: Avoid wearing hair down and free as much as possible especially in environments with known infestations. Wear hair in a braid, this not only makes it more difficult for bugs to be picked up from the environment but also makes it difficult for critters to move around in the head.
  • Mint Spray: Lice find mint based products offensive. Mint based sprays act as a deterrent to head lice and decreases the probability of your child getting head lice by 95%.
  • Post-Check: Once your child returns from a sleep over check their heads for any sign of evidence using a good steel comb. If evidence is found, book an appointment with a trained professional for confirmation and potential treatment of the infestation.

4. Swimming

Many people believe that the level of chlorine in swimming pools can kill lice, however, this is not true. Lice can survive in chlorinated pools and have been known to hold their breath for extended amounts of time when submerged. Fortunately, for parents, lice hold tightly on to the hair shaft of their host and do not become easily detached when submerged. The probability of your kiddo getting lice while at the local swimming pool this summer is low, however, the possibility still exist. Here are a few tips to consider during this swim season.

  • Mint Spray: Don’t forget… Mint based sprays act as a deterrent to head lice and decreases the probability of your child getting head lice by 95%.
  • Braid Long Hair: Great solution to keep the bugs away and keep your child’s face out of their hair while swimming.
  • Comb After Swimming: After fun in the sun, wash your child’s hair with a good mint based shampoo and comb through it with a steel lice comb. Find evidence of lice?  Book an appointment ASAP!

5. Movie Mania

Anytime you share common head rests, such as at a movie theater, on bus, plane, or train, there is a risk of picking up head lice. If someone with active head lice sat in the seat before you and a bug crawled off onto the head rest, it puts the next person sitting in that seat at risk of picking up a stray louse looking for a new host.

  • Inspect: Inspect the seat prior to sitting down, paying special attention to the head rest.
  • Lint Tape Roller: Use a lint tape roller on the seat prior to sitting down. This will pick up any critters hanging out looking for their next host.
  • Drape: Forgot your lint roller at home? Use something {ex: sweater, towel, blanket} to drape over the back of the seat prior to sitting down.

6. Sharing Is Not Caring

Although less likely, head lice can spread through the sharing of hair care tools such as brushes, combs, hair bands, and hair ties. Before your kids head off to their summer activities, make sure to remind them to keep their combs to themselves.

7. Regular Head Checks

As much as we would like to, we can’t watch our children 24 hours a day 7 days a week to keep them from germs and cooties that lurk about. One of the best tips I can give to parents is to check your kiddos heads regularly {I recommend once a week} to identify any potential activity that may exist and treat it before it infests other members of your household. Pick a day of the week and scan! Scan! Scan!  Below are some helpful tips when scanning.

  • Make Small Parts: Use a regular pencil to make small parts to complete a more thorough scan.
  • Nits: Pay special attention to the hair shaft scanning for nits.
  • Nymphs: Pay special attention to the scalp looking for the baby lice {aka nymphs}.
  • Magnifier: If your vision isn’t that great, use a set of reading glasses or a magnifier to get a better look.
  • Expert advice: If you think you find something let the lice removal experts help! The experts as Lice Hunter, MD would love to help your family and can be reached via email at [email protected] with the subject line: Do I have Lice?

8.“Comb” Ba Yah

Stay ahead of the game. Use a good lice comb, like the Terminator Comb, at least once a week for 2-5 minutes on damp hair to comb out any possible “suspicious activity” before it has a chance to reproduce and multiply!

9. Deter VarMINTs

Researchers have discovered that mint based products such as the Lice Hunter, MD Mint Spray act as a repellent against head lice. Here are a few tips on how to best use mint based products…

  • Mint Shampoo: Wash hair with a mint based shampoo 1-2 times a week.
  • Mint Spray: Use a mint spray daily. A peppermint scented spray has a 95% success rate in repelling lice.

10. Hairstyle Choices

Not surprisingly, girls get lice more often than boys because they generally have longer hair which not only makes it easier for them to get head lice, but their long flowing locks also serve as a great home for lice to thrive. Here are a few tips that may keep your kids from picking up head lice from their friends this summer.

  •  Avoid wearing hair down and free as much as possible, especially in environments with known infestations.
  • Wear hair in a braid, as this not only makes it more difficult for bugs to be picked up from the environment but also makes it more difficult for them to move around and spread.


About Jessica Nelson, MD {Owner of Lice Hunter, MD}

Lice Hunter, MD was founded by Emergency Physician Jessica Nelson, MD. A Houston area native and a graduate of Alvin High School, Jessica received her Bachelors of Science in Biology from The University of Texas at Arlington in 2006 and went on to pursue a medical degree at The University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, graduating in June 2011. Dr. Nelson completed her post graduate training in Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine/Ben Taub General Hospital and then went on to complete an Emergency Medicine Fellowship in Administration at Baylor Medical Center of Garland with EmCare.

Dr. Nelson has been an emergency physician for more than five years, and throughout her career as an ER doctor, she evaluated numerous patients for head lice. Dr. Nelson provided families with a prescription for the treatment of head lice, only to discover that upon follow-up, the family’s infestation had not been eradicated. Frustrated in her inability to help, Jessica began to seek out more viable alternatives with her research leading her to the growing industry of natural lice removal clinics. During the summer of 2014, Jessica’s family was selected to compete on the Family Feud with the colorful Steve Harvey as their host. After competing in four episodes, the Nelson family walked away with enough money to invest in their very own lice removal clinic! Dr. Nelson and family took their winnings and invested into a lice removal clinic to serve the greater Houston area, Lice Hunter, MD. Lice Hunter, MD provides an effective, nontoxic solution to an extremely pesky problem. The first Lice Hunter, MD location opened July 2016 and has now grown to serve three different areas including Sugar Land, Cypress, and even Grand Rapids, Michigan!

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