Business travel can be a whirlwind of meetings, networking, and crucial decision-making. However, amidst the hustle and bustle, one often overlooked concern is the risk of head lice. These tiny pests can cause significant discomfort and embarrassment, potentially derailing your professional engagements. This article explores the risks associated with head lice during business travel, focusing on public transportation, lodging, and the potential consequences of an infestation.

Discovering you have a head lice infestation the night before, or the morning of an important business meeting can result in seriously negative professional implications. As they say, “you only get one chance to make a first impression”. These first impressions are crucial in business, especially if it is your initial face to face contact with a potentially new client or supplier. Even worst, discovering lice during a meeting can be more damaging than having to cancel it. The embarrassment and discomfort can distract during your important discussions. As you try to ignore your situation, you can’t help thinking about affecting your professional reputation. By understanding the risks and taking preventive measures, you can ensure that head lice do not become an unwelcome companion on your business trips.

Tips to Avoid Head Lice on Business Trips

Be Cautious on Public Transportation: Subways, buses, and other forms of public transportation are popular options when traveling. However, lice can be lurking inside a train car or on a bus seat. Lice may crawl from an infected person’s head or clothing and make a home in a plush bus seat or in the nooks and crannies of a hard plastic subway seat. Although your chances of contracting lice this way are low, you can lessen the possibility by wiping off the seat with a wet wipe before sitting down. You can also stand and hold onto the handrail instead of sitting down.

Read Hotel Reviews Before Booking:: Like bedbugs, lice can infiltrate hotel rooms if left behind by a previous traveler who had lice. As long as the hotel changes the sheets and gives the room a proper and thorough cleaning, the risk of contracting lice from hotel rooms is fairly low. However, it can still happen. Lice enjoy nuzzling up in warm and cozy spaces like beds, couches, chairs, carpets, and other soft, plush areas. When making travel arrangements, read unbiased, unfiltered reviews of the place you plan to stay. If you find any reviews mentioning lice, it could be a sign to steer clear of that hotel or shared space.

Avoid Sharing Head or Hair Products:: This includes combs, hairbrushes, towels, and other items that come into contact with your hair. Even if these items belong to trusted friends and family you’re traveling with, it’s best to use your own. Although your travel buddies may not have any immediate symptoms of head lice, it’s possible that the tiny and bothersome insect could still be present in their clothing or hair. This also applies to trying on hats while shopping during your travels.

Keep Your Coat with You:: If you’re traveling to a cooler climate, keep your coat with you instead of checking it in the coat closet. In tight spaces, body lice can easily spread between coats, crawling from one to the other. This type of lice will live and lay eggs on your clothing. Make sure to hang your coat away from someone else’s jacket, like on the hooks at the end of your dinner table or stuff it in your purse.

Don’t Borrow Headphones: Using headphones to listen to music or catch up on your favorite shows is a great way to pass the time while traveling. If you forget your headphones, don’t borrow any from a neighbor. While rare, lice have been known to set up shop in earbuds and headphones. Most airlines have headphones for sale, or you can buy a spare pair at the airport or train station.

Do Your Laundry:: If you think you may have come into contact with lice during your trip, one of the best things you can do is your laundry. If you’re staying in a home with a washer and dryer, toss your clothing in right away. If you’re staying at a hotel, place your laundry in a plastic bag and send it off to be cleaned by the hotel staff or visit a nearby laundromat. To kill lice, wash your clothes in hot water and dry them on high heat for at least 20 minutes.

Maintain Personal Hygiene: Make sure to keep up with your personal hygiene when traveling. It can be easy to skip the shower and sleep in when you’re on a trip, but it’s best to maintain your regular hygiene routine to avoid lice.

By following these tips, you can reduce the risk of encountering head lice and ensure that your business trips remain professional and productive.

What are Head Lice and where do you find them?

Head lice are parasitic insects that inhabit a person’s scalp, behind the ears, and near the neckline at the back of the neck. In some cases, they can even be found on eyebrows and eyelashes. They are most prevalent among preschool and elementary school children. Lice eggs, or nits, are tiny – about the size of a knot in thread – and can be difficult to spot. They are often mistaken for dandruff or hair spray droplets.

Keep your head lice infestation in perspective.

While head lice do not spread disease, they are a tremendous nuisance that can cause significant discomfort. Discovering that your child has head lice can be upsetting, even angering. However, it’s important to remember that contracting head lice is a common occurrence and is not indicative of poor hygiene or parenting. Good health, hygiene habits, and a clean home or school environment do not prevent head lice infestations.

Who gets head lice?

Head lice can affect anyone who comes into head-to-head contact with an infested individual. Children aged 3 to 11 years are most susceptible. Household members of an infested individual are also at risk. Less commonly, lice can spread through contact with personal items such as hats, scarves, coats, or hair ribbons recently used by an infested person. It’s rare for lice to spread by using someone else’s combs or brushes, as lice struggle to cling to smooth surfaces. Similarly, it’s uncommon for lice to spread via a pillow or bed recently used by an infested person.