Alternative Head Lice Treatments

Worrying Development

The fight against head lice has been ongoing for centuries, but in recent years, a battle has also emerged within the professional head lice treatment market.
A sudden rise of clinics using non-certified devices and promising to kill all lice and eggs with a guarantee, without being able to fulfill these promises, is causing concern.

Lice Clinic

The possibility of visiting a lice clinic for professional treatment in the Netherlands and Belgium is relatively new. However, this concept has existed since 2011 when the Lice Clinic opened its doors.
For the first time, one no longer had to struggle for weeks, months, or even years to remove lice and especially eggs. A treatment method emerged that kills everything in one safe and effective treatment.

AirAllé®

This was made possible thanks to a revolutionary device called AirAllé®, which kills lice and eggs by dehydrating them.
This dehydration method was developed in the U.S. by a leading entomologist. Independent scientific studies have shown that the AirAllé® device neutralizes all eggs and kills almost all lice.
Any remaining lice are easily removed with Dimethicone. But it was the device's ability to effectively destroy the eggs that was the breakthrough!
It works solely with warm air, without pesticides or the risk of resistance, and offers a 100% guaranteed result.

As simple as it sounds, it's not. Only when the exact right temperature, air volume, and distribution of warm air are applied, can these results be guaranteed.
AirAllé® is a 'powerhouse,' the only one that offers this; a unique device that only certified practitioners may use. These practitioners undergo an intensive training and practical course lasting an average of three to four months.

 

Alternatives

Those wishing to open a clinic without access to the AirAllé® device and certified practitioners cannot guarantee that all lice and eggs will be killed in one treatment.
In an attempt to approach this effectiveness, such clinics use non-certified blow dryers and/or lice hoovers, often combined with Dimethicone and comb treatments.
These methods fail because they are not effective enough against the eggs. When you consider that an average infestation involves 10 lice and 500 eggs, it becomes clear that the eggs are the real problem to tackle.

Lice Hoover

This device, which is attached to a regular vacuum cleaner, is used to suck lice from the hair. However, the eggs, which are firmly attached to the hair, are not removed.
Sometimes a lice comb is attached, but only the eggs that are combed out will be vacuumed. Many eggs are missed because they slip through the comb's teeth.
In short: Many eggs are missed.

 

Alternative Blow Dryers

The biggest problem with alternative blow dryers is the limited airflow. It barely reaches the scalp, there where the eggs are, and doesn't spread sufficiently over the surface. Furthermore, the air cools when it flows this slowly through the hose.

Compare it to drying laundry indoors versus outside in a strong wind. Even when the temperature is the same, laundry dries much slower indoors.
To effectively dehydrate eggs, this must happen within 30 seconds, the time the device is aimed at the egg.

If the blow dryer were truly 100% effective against the eggs, with Dimethicone being 100% effective against lice, then using the lice hoover would be entirely unnecessary.
The fact that both the hoover and blow dryer are often used together shows the inadequacy and necessity of both devices.

In short: eggs are not guaranteed to be killed.

The Dimethicone oil used afterward may kill any surviving lice, but it absolutely does not kill all the eggs. The combing removes dead matter but never all the eggs, as is known from combing at home.

Conclusion

All treatment steps of alternative methods are insufficiently effective against the eggs.
For a mild infestation, these treatments may be sufficient, but for a more heavy infestation or thick hair, a second or third treatment is likely needed.
Some clinics are honest about these limitations and admit that multiple treatments may be required. Unfortunately, others are not.

Many people have already been disappointed by misleading promises of lice shampoos and lotions. They have often spent a lot of money on home treatments without success. When a professional treatment turns out to be an empty promise as well, the disappointment is huge and discouraging.

We have no objection to having competing colleagues; in fact, we see potential added value in that.
But to see our potential clients becoming disappointed and skeptical about this service in general, or having to undergo another treatment with us to finally get rid of it, is the opposite of what we had in mind when we introduced this service in 2011.