Des Moines, IA, Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After dealing with head lice in their own lives and finding that traditional lice products are no longer effective, sisters Bess Hayes and Kellie Hancock left careers in the healthcare industry to open their first Lice Clinics of America® business in Dubuque in 2018. Now they are bringing the fight against “super lice”—lice that are immune to the pesticides in traditional lice products—to Des Moines, much to the relief of parents in the area.
“The demand for this service is huge as families continue to try and fail to treat head lice with products that don’t work,” Bess said. “We’ve had people travel for hours from the Des Moines area and beyond, and now they won’t have to.”
Like the Dubuque clinic, Lice Clinics of America – Des Moines provides screening, diagnosis, and treatment for people infested with head lice. The clinic is staffed by certified operators of AirAllé®, an FDA-cleared medical device that kills head lice and lice eggs (nits) using just heated air in a single treatment that takes about an hour.
A 2016 study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology found that 98 percent of head lice in the United States have developed a genetic resistant to the pesticides—called pyrethroids—used in the most popular lice treatment products. So-called “super lice” are no match for AirAllé because it doesn’t rely on pesticides or chemicals. Instead, it kills lice and eggs by dehydrating them with carefully controlled heated air.
“Parents and children love our service because it’s fast, comfortable and guaranteed—no tedious comb-outs and nit picking are involved,” Bess said. “When they discover they can be lice-free in an hour, they are thrilled.”
AirAllé was found to kill live lice and more than 99 percent of eggs in clinical trials, and the device has successfully treated some half-million cases of head lice in hundreds of clinics around the world, with a success rate better than 99 percent.
The Des Moines clinic is located at 338 Grand Ave. West and is open seven days a week by appointment. AirAllé treatments take about an hour and come with a 30-day guarantee when all household members are treated or screened for head lice.
With more than 350 clinics in 36 countries, Lice Clinics of America (www.LiceClinicsOfAmerica.com) is the largest network of professional head lice treatment centers in the world. Lice Clinics of America and AirAllé are brands owned by Larada Sciences™, Inc., which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.