- Lice are wingless, blood-sucking small insects.
- Their color usually varies from reddish to whitish-brown.
- Children can acquire head lice from direct hair-to-hair contact with a person infested with lice.
Lice are very good at crawling and hiding. So, the most effective way for you to be able to find them is by simply following these steps:
- Put conditioner onto brushed, dry hair. This will stun the lice and make it difficult for them to grip onto the hair strand, or to crawl away.
- After applying conditioner, comb the hair into sections using a fine-toothed head lice comb.
- Wipe the conditioner off of the comb using a tissue or a paper towel.
- Check the tissue and comb for nits, or eggs, and lice.
- Repeat, combing each section of the hair at least 4 to 5 times.
If lice are found, it is time for you to start a treatment. Here is some information on the nits and head lice cycle:
- Nits are usually small, about the size of a pinhead, and are oval.
- Usually, these eggs are laid on the hair shaft.
- Adults usually emerge after an average of 6 to 7 days.
- Female lice usually lay their eggs 1 to 2 days after mating.
- A female head louse can lay up to 3 to 8 eggs per day for 16 days.
- Lice can live on human hair for as long as 32 to 35 days.
By knowing the head lice cycle, you can easily treat and eliminate these pests. You can try the following tips for treatment:
- As much as possible, concentrate on eliminating the pests from the hair. This is where they actually originated from, not your house or the classroom.
- You should know that there are no treatments that can kill the eggs all at once. So, proper treatment should involve 2 applications every 7 days.
- Lotions, for treatment, should be applied to dry hair.
- When one of your family members is suspected of having a lice infestation, be sure to also check the rest of your family to prevent the spreading and recurrence of an infestation.
- Pillowcases should be washed in hot water and put in a clothes dryer on a hot setting.
- Remember that there are no products available that can help you prevent lice. Conditioners and head lice combs can help you detect its existence as early as possible. They can also help you minimize the problem. Pinning up long hair can also help prevent the spread of these pests.
- Lice combs are known to be the most effective tool, when it comes to getting rid of nits and lice. Also, using a lice comb can help to break the head lice cycle.
There are lots of natural treatments available that can help you get rid of a lice infestation. Searching the web can be a good place to start looking for natural treatments that can be very helpful in eliminating nits and lice. Now that you understand the head lice cycle better, you can begin your assault on these nasty little critters.