Head lice out break in my house I was supposed to tear out carpeting this sunday should I?

Question

I was suppose to tear out my carpets on Sunday for a company that's redoing my hard wood floors on monday (obviously the carpet needs to be removed). The second treatment can't be done until next Thursday. Should I cancel because even though I have been vacuuming like a crazy person I could have missed one and tearing the carpet out could make it fly onto one of our heads. I'm freaking out over this. I've either washed everything in the washer, dishwasher, bleached or sealed everything. Also vacuumed everything and sprayed. I can't stand bugs.

Answer 1

You really have nothing to worry about. Go about your plans, if you change them or put them off you will honestly just be wasting your time.

Headlice have adapted incredibly well to living in human hair, as they need human blood to survive. They have powerful hooks on the ends of their front legs which enable them to move at lightning speed through hair to avoid danger, and swing to new hosts.

They can only survive on humans and so therefore do not reside in the ground or on pets. Leaving the human head spells almost certain death so they rarely (if ever) do it, except to transfer to another human. People seem to think they leap in a kamikaze fashion onto anything they touch which is totally untrue. If they did this they will almost certainly die, so why would they? That is why compulsive cleaning is totally unnecessary.

Head lice are not fussy where they live as long as it is clean so they can attach their eggs, and simply travel from human host to human host.

Feel free to check out the articles at the following site for more advice.

Good luck.

Answer 2

tear it out

best thing you can do

Answer 3

lice can jump up to four feet. though, like the person above stated they live on heads and they need blood to survive. ones that have been in the carpet or bedding or what have you have prob. died at this point. i wouldn't worry, i am sure you have dealt with the problem. i would say it's okay to go "ahead" with your plans. best wishes.

Answer 4

Head lice live on heads, they lay their eggs on heads(nits). It's highly unlikely that they would be on carpets unless they were dead. They are usually spread by head to head contact.Go for it but just don't bump heads.........!

Answer 5

tmb,

They live up to 55 hours off of your head.  If you have done a great job of cleaning already you shoudl be fine.

You will want to watch closely as there are some reports that alot of the current strains of head lice are immune to the chemicals that are in the shampoos out there.

If you find that to be the case the best natural solution I have found are sold under the NitFree brand.  Also, if you used the plastic comb that comes with the shampoo, they are usually not fine enough or strong enough to get all of the nits.  NitFree has a great steel comb that you could likely have in hand by Tuesday when you do another treatment.

But for the floors, go ahead - you should be fine.

And hopefully the lice treatments will have worked for you and your family.  

Answer 6

Make sure you treat your bed linens, pillows, hair brushes, and your car also.  As much as you have done, you should be okay.  Just make sure you've cleaned anything that might come in contact with the "head".  I use to work for a pediatrician and we had several families that re-infested themselves several times because of missing just one item.  Good luck!!  Now my head is itching!!