Heat Dryers for Head Lice: Miracle or Myth?
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Getting lice is no walk in the park. We understand that trying to get rid of these nasty little clingers can be stressful! If you are looking at the variety of options out there for treatment, you may feel a bit overwhelmed at first. Heat dryers such as the AirAllé are one treatment option you may have discovered during your research. These devices claim to kill lice and eggs through heat and dehydration, but do they really work? The process of using the heat dryers is three steps, meaning that professionals must comb out and remove the dead lice and eggs, then apply oil before using the heat dryer on the scalp. It can take 30 minutes to an hour for the treatment — not including the manual comb out — then additional application products at home are required after that. When researching if they really work, there a variety of mixed reviews out there and there are some issues that should be pointed out.
#1: Expense
Heat drying treatment on the first go-around is not always effective, and the person may need to return for another treatment session. This is generally about $200 each time. This is very expensive for the average family. If there are multiple people in the house with a lice infestation, this quickly becomes a very costly way to try a system that may not be effective in the long run.
#2: Manual vs. Machine
Before the heat treatments begin, there is always a labor-intensive and time-consuming comb-out treatment. It is hard to tell if these manual lice removals are what is helping best, or if the machine and the heat are doing most of the work. We believe that hair dryers are simply not effective without the additional manual process.
#3: Appearance
We are not going to lie — heat drying systems like the AirAllé look like something out of a terrible infomercial gone wrong. Anyone remember the Flowbee? Effective or not, sitting there with this device on your head may be a bit of a setback to the ego.
#4: Presentation
Purveyors of these products often present them as the only non-toxic alternative to harmful chemicals, but this is a false dichotomy. In fact, there are many non-toxic alternatives on the market today that can treat head lice, and they are much more effective than heat dryers. These include…
- Comb-outs and nit picking For manual lice removal, Hair Fairies’ Nit-Zapping Clenz Cream is an all-natural mixture that loosens the glue lice use to attach their eggs to the hair shaft. Say goodbye, little nasties
- Tea tree oil Hair Fairies offers a one-of-a-kind custom recipe in the Nit-Zapping Clenz Shampoo that combines all-natural, non-toxic ingredients. These will stop the bugs in their tracks. Tea tree oil, the primary ingredient which is proven to treat lice infestations, is combined with lemongrass, rose hips, witch hazel, and more. This winning combination damages the nervous system of head lice, restricting their ability to reproduce. When used alongside Clenz Cream, lice don’t stand a chance.
