Media Articles
Article By Elizabeth Tilley
WHEN head lice are turning you into a head case, who you gonna call? Lice Doctors!
Hairdresser Janine Heard always had an odd fascination with the itchy little critters, but it was the frustration of having to turn away young — and old customers on a daily basis, that convinced her to set up the unique service eight months ago.
And now business is booming. While the itchy issue is running rampant in schools across the region, Janine has surprisingly found lice are crawling on the heads of just as many adults as children.
The Mountain Creek mother is run off her feet as more and more desperate Sunshine Coast families discover her effective treatment, which she personally delivers in the comfort and privacy of residents’ own homes.
“I’ve only ever done six mothers that have not had (lice),” Janine said. “It shocks adults, but I treated one mother- who had the worst case of infestation I’ve ever see in my life. “Everybody should get treated, because often if the children have, so do the parents.”
Buderim mother Chana Seeney had never had head lice as a child and was terribly embarrassed when she found out three months ago that it bad finally caught up with her. “I was quite upset with the whole thing,” she said.
Janine said she dealt daily with unhappy parents who were seriously considering shaving their daughters’ hair off because they did not know how else to get rid of the problem. So why would anyone want such a lousy job?
“This kind of service was screaming out and no one was answering,” she said. “I absolutely love it.” Janine said most families were at their wit’s end because they did not know how to correctly apply head lice treat meats to their children.
“The treatment has to be applied to the scalp, not the hair, and you need a hairdresser to get the application right,” she said.
“The treatments I use kills eggs and louse and is 100% effective.” Lice
Doctors can be contacted on 0414 806 994
Article By Caroline Hutchinson
My scalp may never be the same
IS IT just me or is everyone feeling a little bit itchy?
A lifelong record was broken this week. I don’t get nits. Never in my life have I had nits. None of my children get nits. At least we didn’t used to. This isn’t an elitist thing. I’m well aware nits love children¬ with clean hair. My very best friends in the world have children with nits.
But I was proud of my lifelong nit free record. It meant bi-weekly notes from school announcing yet another case of headlice, requesting once again we check our children’s hair, did not apply to me or mine. I could get by with a cursory glance, sign the note and hook it back.
We’ve even had notes titled The Treatment of Headlice which I didn’t bother to read. Now, before the more nit-experienced among you react with horror, denouncing me as a rampant nit carrier, with scant regard for otherpeople’s children; trust me, I have regularly had the scones in my care checked by others. Mothers, teachers, even a couple of nurses, always to no avail. Nit free. Very happy.
That was until this week. Jemima (the baby, obviously we’d run out of the nit free gene by the time we got to number three) got in the car after school on Tuesday and her loving brother and sister were fighting each other to get in first. “Jemima’s got nits, Jemima’s got nits, Mrs Johnstone’s checked and Jemima’s got nits.” Thank you Mrs Johnstone. Thank you Gabe and Millie for handling the situation with such sensitivity.
We rushed to the pharmacist, had the diagnosis confirmed and as a punishment I bought enough nit extermination formula for all three children. My friend described the war on head lice as similar to the Bush Adminstration’s approach to Afghanistan. Carpet bomb the area with chemicals of mass destruction and spend the next couple of weeks combing the joint for survivors. Hopefully my campaign is more successful. Albeit, almost as expensive.
There’s also the washing. Bedding, towels, hats. A super mother suggested I even wash the car seat covers, but I drew the line at hats. But we’re done, nit free. Jemima’s can once again return the nit note to school, declaring herself nit free. In the meantime, as I send my sparkling clean, combed and carpet bombed children back to school, I’ve got to admit my head is itching. Really itching. I think I’d better see Mrs Johnstone.
Article By Rae Wilson
Janine’s a real head case when it comes to lice
One Mountain Creek woman sure has a lousy job. Janine Heard, a qualified hairdresser, has started mobile business Lice Doctors, to louse headlice from the Sunshine Coast’s children.
She says the Sunshine Coast lice problem is chronic and runing rampant across all schools and all ages. Mrs Heard said she could not remember a time without headlice in her hairdressing years and started Lice Doctors to help parents. “Nearly every day at the salon we turn away kids with headlice because we can’t cut their hair,” she said. “And we have the poor mothers come in despair who need help. “They’ve tried treating the licethemselves, but without success.
“It’s not so much the product, but the application on the hair. “If they miss one hair with an egg or lice, the *hole treatment is ineffective.” Headlice are tiny insects that cannot fly but have strong claws to swing from hair to hair. They can only survive on human heads they live on thehair and suck blood from the scalp. Headlice can only spread to another person by direct headtohead contact
To find out more phone Mrs Heard on 0414 806 994.