Haircuts and Head Lice? NOPE!
Haircuts and Head Lice? NOPE!
Did you know that head lice is easily spread from person to person? This is why haircuts and head lice do not mix! I’m sure many of you are saying, “well, duh, Martie”, but you’d be surprised at the large percentage of people who don’t seem to be aware of the fact that lice is “contagious”, so to speak. I know this to be true just by the number of people I have had to turn away because they came into the salon with lice or nits.
*This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you purchase using the links I provided. All opinions are my own.
Did you know that in most (but obviously not all) states it is illegal for a hairstylist to perform salon services on a patron who has head lice or nits? Mine is one of them (click that link, then Cosmetology Rules, then look for “0440-2-.12 COMMUNICABLE DISEASES” if you’re just dying to see it for yourself). That’s right, even if your stylist is halfway into your cut before he/she finds the critters, you’re soon to be politely escorted out of the salon. I’ve seen it happen, folks.
Did you know that some people actually think that getting a haircut will get rid of their little freeloaders? Also true, as disturbing as it may sound to some of you. I have actually had a client say to me, when I gently pointed out that her daughter had nits, “yeah, I know it, that’s why I brung her in, to get you to cut em out for me”.
Um, NO. That’s not how this works. If you have head lice, you aren’t getting a haircut from any professional I’ve ever met. It wouldn’t help if you did, because you cannot get rid of head lice without the proper treatment…a haircut won’t do it. Proof, if you need it, that haircuts and head lice do not belong in the same sentence.
Haircuts and Head Lice
I feel truly sorry for anyone who has experienced the nasty little infestation of head lice, because anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, can fall prey to these little varmints. Most over-the-counter lice treatments don’t work very well anymore, and the prescription stuff is not cheap. It’s a horrible, awful, disgusting nuisance, and I can think of very few (if any) people I would wish it on. If my child had lice or nits, I would absolutely never send them out into the world, to school, and certainly not to the hair salon. Unfortunately, everyone does not feel this way, and I am hoping to bring awareness to the fact that you should
NEVER
EVER
EVER go to the salon with head lice or nits. A hair salon is full of HAIR, lots and lots of hair, and would be a virtual haven for the gnarly buggars. It could cause an outbreak that would shut down someone’s place of business, causing people to lose income. It’s not cool that you or your child have it, and I do wish I could help, but I simply, by law, cannot.
Home Remedies for Getting Rid of Head Lice
Honestly, home remedies for getting rid of head lice are the only kind of remedies you should consider. That’s not to say you shouldn’t get the right products to treat it, but you definitely need to treat it AT HOME. Going out in public with these pests is just putting others at risk. There are several home remedies floating around out there, but few actually work. Olive oil? Nope. Mayonnaise? Uh-uh. You need a product formulated for the treatment of head lice, something like RID head lice treatment. When used as directed (which is VERY important, for safety and effectiveness), this stuff really works.
Click pic to buy!
If you want to prevent head lice before you have an outbreak, use a good tea tree shampoo on you or your kids a couple of times a week. This has been proven to repel those nasty fellers, and it has seemed to work for my kids. Keep in mind, THIS IS NOT A LICE TREATMENT, IT IS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE! Usually news of an infestation travels fast in our small town, so I always poured the tea tree to my girls’ heads when I heard about it. You can also just pick up some good tea tree oil and mix a few drops in with your regular shampoo, but I like the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree shampoo the best (which is what you find if you click “tea tree shampoo” up there in the beginning of this paragraph).
In Case You Were Wondering:
To all of my loyal clients: it has been a lot of years since I have seen lice or nits in my chair, or in the salon at all. Nothing has prompted this Sound Off! post that has happened recently, but events from back in the Green Acres days…way back, when I was a newbie, and walk-ins were my lifeblood. I’ve always kept a can of lice spray under my station, and I always will, but I still pray occasionally that I’ll never have to use it again. I have always wanted to sound off about this, in hopes that I can educate just ONE PERSON who thought it was cool to mosey on into the salon for lice treatment.
It’s not cool, man.
I’m so sorry for all the scratching, clawing, and paranoia that you are currently experiencing. It just goes with the territory! That’s one reason I left out licey pictures…no one needed visuals to go with this post! You’re welcome. I’ve just always wanted to spread the word about haircuts and head lice, and hopefully educate the public about the reasons why you should keep those little guys at home.
Click pic to buy!
If you still feel icky, just buy yourself some of this here Rid head lice treatment spray. I’ve kept it in the salon for years, just in case. It seems to have worked as a good luck charm!
Happy Weekend!!
X,O,X,O, Martie
June 12, 2015 @ 10:02 am
My kids got head lice once. They still don’t want me touching their hair.
June 12, 2015 @ 7:00 am
It’s not a fun experience. I feel for you as much as I do for them, because it’s definitely not easy on the caretaker. Wash, wash, wash, scrub, scrub, scrub, pick, pick, pick…cry, cry cry…
June 12, 2015 @ 7:25 am
Interesting and enlightening post! I had no idea that some people would come to get their hair cut off if they have lice. I remember having it as a kid and using that shampoo called Qwell? Or something like that?
Have a great start to the weekend my dear!
June 12, 2015 @ 10:01 am
Unfortunately, yes. Thankfully not in a long time. The medical name is pediculosis. Our cosmetology instructor always said it made her think of “ridiculous”…it’s not ridiculous to get it, buts ridiculous to keep it!!
August 11, 2018 @ 10:26 am
So getting your hair cut with a zero guard will not get rid of the lice. I was always told if you don’t have long enough hair on your head there was no way of them attaching their eggs to your hair.
August 13, 2018 @ 9:39 am
Sure it will, but it’s not going to get rid of them from your pillows, furniture, stuffed animals, or any other surface they can stick to. Granted, they can’t live long on those surfaces, but many times not treating the home is what causes the problem to stick around. Treatment and extensive cleaning is essential to completely eradicating the problem! Plus, no kid wants to have their head completely shaved…that just adds insult to injury, IMO.
August 13, 2018 @ 9:41 am
Also, let me point out that YOU can cut someone’s hair with a zero guard and try that method if you’d like, but no licensed hairstylist is allowed to do that. 🙂
August 28, 2018 @ 12:05 pm
I’ve just dealt with this with my children, and am surprised about the level of ignorance around head lice and their nits in a profession that zealously defends the need for licensure and formal training of any who practice it. In some sense, its like a doctor turning away flu patients unless the flu has cleared up..
Lice is not a disease, as you’ve quoted. You don’t go to a doctor for treating it. The live lice don’t fly, or jump off your head to lay in wait.. they aren’t ticks or bedbugs. The nits – the eggs – stick on your hair and the task becomes combing them out over a week to make sure they are all gone before then hatch and reach maturity. Yes, replace your brushes, wash the towels and pillowcases,
There are very talented people that do the initial treatments and comb outs, to purge the live lice, and then we did daily comb outs with a very-tight-tine metal comb, designed for it, of our children until we didn’t see any nits any more.
I had one salon say she would have to throw away her scissors… and I had to laugh. Last time I checked, surgeons put stainless steel instruments into people during surgery, and then sanitize them for reuse. Was this stylist really thinking her stainless steel shears would be forever corrupted by a nit?
This ignorance and paranoia is part of the reason I not will tell any parents whose children get this to keep their mouth shut. Its the reason the American Assoc of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Assoc of School Nurses (NASN) both reject the use of no-nit policies in schools.
And it calls into question – if your training and licensure doesn’t give you the skills to deal with a simple instrument hygiene/cross-contamination issue, one restaurants and doctors and other professions deal with routinely, then what good is the license and training?
August 28, 2018 @ 3:00 pm
I appreciate your comment and thoughts, but let me explain it in this way.
First of all, licensed cosmetologists are NOT doctors. We get 11-12 months of training, not 8-10 years. Head lice is not a disease, you are correct. It is, however, a communicable issue, and an outbreak in a salon could cause stylists to lose days of income (we are not paid doctors’ salaries, not by a long shot, but losing several days’ pay due to either self-treatment, salon treatment, or possibly passing it along to their own children, causing them to be out of work until it’s corrected, could be detrimental).
I do wish the stigma could be broken about head lice, and that people would understand that it is not due to uncleanliness or neglect. It can happen to anyone. But, expecting a hair stylist to jeopardize her business, and possibly her own family, is just unreasonable. Yes, you absolutely CAN see a doctor to receive treatment for head lice, and I know many who have done just that. It is NOT, however, appropriate to expect a hair stylist to treat it. Kudos to those stylists who have chosen to undertake this task, and I’m thankful there are some who are willing to. My guess is, that is their primary service and they are not having to concern themselves with the other clientele who are there for just cuts/styles.
I agree that saying one would have to discard scissors because they were used in nit-treated hair is ridiculous…it sounds like this stylist was highly uneducated and looking for any reason to give besides the legitimate one…you cannot allow lice to run rampant in a hair salon, and it violates many state laws to provide services to customers who have lice OR nits. We have to follow the law.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
October 22, 2018 @ 1:57 am
Great article! I’m a hairstylist (9 years) and I don’t even allow the word LICE be spoken in my salon. 🙅🏼♀️ My daughter got it from summer camp when she was 5 and that was the worst experience I’ve ever dealt with. I would immediately escort out and stop any service if I discovered it in my chair. But I have a question, if a client discovers it at home and treats it their self (which is nearly impossible unless there is experienced help) how do I know it’s completely gone and allow them to book a upcoming appointment?
October 24, 2018 @ 8:01 pm
Thank you Erica! Unfortunately, you won’t know if it’s gone until you look. I had that experience with a few clients…they’d say they treated it and had it gone, but it was not. I started recommending they call their doctor and ask for the prescription treatment.
November 5, 2018 @ 9:14 am
Why is they can’t cut your hair if the nit/eggs are dead and no live bugs it’s not like it’s going to spread.
November 7, 2018 @ 7:38 am
There’s really no way to tell if the nits are actually dead. It’s safest to not cut until they are gone.
July 8, 2019 @ 11:54 pm
How long should you wait before going in to get a haircut? I treated my hair today (serious tears over here), but I was already dealing with snarls. I don’t want to infest others, I also don’t want to get to the point where I’m willing to cut my own hair to get a knot out.
July 9, 2019 @ 10:49 am
You will need to be sure to remove all the nits, which is daunting, but can be done. The treatment will kill the live bugs, but it won’t kill all of the eggs. It might be best to wait about 2-3 days and treat again.