The Case of a Lice Outbreak: College Edition

We all think of lice as something that only school-going kids get and not college-going adults. While it’s true that lice outbreaks are more prevalent among young children, it doesn’t mean that adults are totally immune to lice. As it were, lice don’t discriminate between their hosts. They just need a nice, healthy, clean scalp to feed off from; it doesn’t matter if the host is a school-going kid or a college student. In between getting textbooks and registering for classes, college students should also think about lice. Living in dorms in close proximity with many others has great potential for starting a lice outbreak. Fortunately, lice can be easily prevented and if contracted, easily removed. You just have to take extra care.

Keep Your Laundry Separate

If you’re living with roommates, make sure to keep your laundry and clothing separate. Lice can easily spread via shared clothing. And although a louse can’t live for long without being on a human scalp, they can still easily spread in that timeframe. Make sure you have a separate closet and hamper.

Avoid Sharing Anything Hair-Related

While college is a great time to bond with others, just make sure you’re not sharing anything that touches your head with others. This can include pillows, hoodies, scarves, hats, hair accessories, headphones, etc. Also make sure you’re avoiding as much direct head-to-head contact as possible. This is the primary way lice spread. So, too many roomie selfies are perhaps not such a great idea.

Be Careful at the Gym

When at the college gym, make sure you’re exercising caution as well as your body. The gym is a place where a lot of people are sharing the same facilities so the chances of a lice outbreak are there. Make sure you’re bringing your own towel, and keeping your clothing and other personal items in a locker. In the chance you’ve contracted lice, do the following:

Don’t Start Panicking

Head lice are pretty easy to treat so it’s nothing to obsessively worry about. As long as you’re taking the right steps, you can get rid of lice pretty easily.

Let Roommates or Floor mates Know

While lice infestations are still quite stigmatizing, not letting others know that there’s a lice outbreak can make things worse. It can even restart the whole infestation because people are unaware and therefore not on the look out to take proactive steps if necessary. So make sure others know that there’s a lice outbreak.

Call Us!

We use pesticide free remedies for our lice removal services and ensure that the infestation is taken care of. Lice Troopers provide various services for lice removal such as home inspection & cleaning and in-home lice removal near you. Call us at 1.800.403.5423 for more details.