lice actually do not infest dirty hair. so, telling the person to wash their hair wouldn't help the situation because them being clean is actually why they were infested.

And you would actually have to wash it with special formulated shampoo to actually kill the lice. Or wear tight enough tights like I did to suffocate them.

29, that's actually a myth. While lice do not only infest unwashed "dirty" hair, they appear to have no preference. Lice will infest any type of hair, greasy or not.

35-- Noooo! Don't burst my bubble! I will let my kid go without washing his hair for a few days during lice season due to the dirty hair myth. (I know, I am a terrible mother, but I would rather deal with dirty hair than lice.)

They will go either or, but prefer clean hair. Many people consider dirty hair to be the reason for love, but it's not, that's the point.

Yeah I thought this was a lot more common for hairdressers to go through but I guess not.

I voted YDI for the same reason. I am not a hairdresser but I remember some things that were taught in highschool cosmetology class. Inspecting your client's scalp for problems was one of the first rules we had to learn. I'm sorry OP. It does suck but at least this is a lesson hopefully learned for the next client you work on. Try to have a good day at work regardless. :)

Even with a full scalp check you could still miss one.

THREE ran across the counter off the comb. That sounds like a pretty hefty infestation to me.

you could miss one, but if the client is complaining about her scalp being itchy she's already infected. and probably been that way for a couple days. meaning it isn't "one" to miss its colonies, that is hard to miss. scalp irritation, flaking and obvious clusters of things moving. if you comb through the clients head like you are supposed to, it shows on your comb immediately. a lot of people will come into the salon and expect you to take care of the lice and not tell you that they have it, because people are assholes and won't take blame for anything.

Seriously??

You deserve it because the client has lice, dammit! Though I agree she should've checked, that wouldn't have changed the fact that they were there.

If she checked and noticed them, she would have just treated them. The risk of clients having lice is in the job description, and if OP didn't check that's her slacking on salon safety/ sanitation.

Do you guys, um, prejudge if you will use your fingers or a comb? I would freak out if I saw a louse jump on my hand.

visibly dirty, use a comb and shampoo first

65 - Lice can't jump, they are strictly 'walkers'. ;)

where do you live? in most places it's just soaking the instruments in a hospital grade disinfectant, marvicide 2, for 5-10 minutes then finding in hot water and left to dry. the removing of ask hair is of course still the same, but that sounds like some old old school practices and not anywhere near as sanitary.