Head Lice, Hair Lice, Hair Louse General Information
Hair lice or head lice or sometime even hair louse, also called Pediculus humanus capitis, is the most common type of lice. Other types of lice include body lice and pubic lice. For our purposes, we are talking about the type of lice that you find in your kids’ hair when they come home from school.
First off, you should NOT FEEL BAD if your kid gets lice. It can come from anywhere and does not reflect on your being a bad parent! Now that we have that straight:
Hair lice are parasitic insects that are found on people’s heads. Having head lice is very common. It is estimated that 6-12 million people in the USA get head lice every year. Head lice is not considered a serious disease, but is embarrassing to have and can cause uncomfortable itching.
Adult female lice lay hundreds of eggs, called nits. These nits are firmly attached to the base of the hair shaft, closest to the scalp. The nits are often confused for dandruff. After a week or so, the nit hatches into a baby louse called a nymph. Nymph’s look like adult louses, but are smaller. They become an adult in 10 days, and as an adult live for about 30 days. To live, nymphs and adult lice must feed on blood. If the louse falls off a person and cannot feed, it will die within 2 days.
When people check hair for lice, they are actually looking for the eggs, or nits attached to the hair. This is the quickest way to find if someone is infected.
The good news is that lice can be treated safely and effectively.
It is all natural, contains no harsh chemicals, and kills all lice and their eggs (nits) in just one application. For information on the best hair lice cure, follow this link to Naughty Nits. For additional information about lice, please continue reading.
Who Gets Head Lice?
Anyone can get lice. You are at greatest risk of getting hair lice if you come into close contact with someone who already has head lice. Head to head contact is the most common way to get lice, however, you can also get it from contact with an infected persons clothing (such as hat, coat, scarves, hair ribbon) or other personal items (such as a brush, comb or a towel). Head lice cannot jump or fly.
If your child plays sports like baseball, they are very likely to get it from sharing batting helmets!
Young children, ages 3-10, and their families are most often infested. Girls get lice more often then boys, and women more often than men. A person’s degree of cleanliness or personal hygiene has nothing to do with getting head lice. Hair lice are much less common in African Americans, due to hair type.
Hair Louse Symptoms
While, some people have no symptoms, most people will have some or all of the following symptoms:
· Frequent feeling of something moving in their hair.
· Nits that look like whitish shells are found attached to the base of hair strands near the scalp.
· Scalp itching that is caused by an allergic reaction to the lice bites.
· Irritability.
· Red sores that can become infected if repeatedly scratched.Where are head lice found
Hair lice are found on the scalp, behind the ears and near the hairline at the neck. They are rarely found in eyelashes, eyebrows or on the body. They are difficult to see, and can change color to match the host hair.
Lice have six legs. At the end of each leg is a hook like claw that they use to hold on to hair with.
We will now go over lice treatment, and discuss the best lice cure.
Hair lice treatments and cures
The best cures are a good haircut and lice killing shampoo. There are dozens of shampoos available over the counter at your local drug store. The haircut is not necessary but will save some picking because you need to comb the lice nits out of the hair after washing with the shampoo.
In addition to lice treatment, all household members should be checked for lice and nits. Also, the infected persons bed linens and clothing should be washed in hot water. Non-washable items like stuffed animals should be put in plastic bags for 2 weeks, and then opened outside. Combs and brushes should be soaked in alcohol or hot water for 5 minutes. The water should be at least 131°F or 55°C.