Head Lice Information – Lice, Nits and Their Life Cycle

There are countless myths about head lice and this is why it is essential to have access to reliable, unbiased head lice information. Here is a detailed description of the head louse and its eggs, called nits, as well as details on the life cycle of head lice.

The Head Louse

The head louse is a small wingless insect, which body is flattened. Its color is white but once soaked with blood, it becomes red or black. It measures 2 to 3 mm. Wingless, it does not fly nor does it jump but it moves quickly (speed of 23 cm per minute under natural conditions) between the hair to which it clings tightly with 3 pairs of short legs. Its abdomen is wider than the rest of the body.

The head louse breathes through holes that can close themselves and become impermeable to water. These openings also have a function of excretion. Its head has short antennae and highly specialized mouthparts that allow the head louse to perform piercing and sucking actions. Feeding exclusively on the blood of its host, who it bites 2 to 4 times per day for meals that last about 30 minutes. It can live on the scalp for over a month (30 to 40 days).

Far away from his host, the head louse rarely survives more than 36 hours, it dies of starvation or dehydration. It must indeed be regularly fed with blood, and the weather and moisture conditions necessary to its survival are quite strict: temperature between 28 and 32 degrees Celsius with 70% to 80% humidity. The head louse is an external parasite of humans, which means that it absolutely must be on a human in order to survive. We know of no head lice predators.

Nits

The eggs of head lice are called nits and have the appearance of grain with a caramel color when laid, and they become more or less white when they are empty. Nits are very hard to spot as they measure approximately 0.8 mm and are glued to the hair by a secretion of the female louse.This secretion (cementum) coats the base of the nit and the hair which hold together firmly.

The female lays its nits at the root of the hair very close to the scalp (less than 1 mm) where the incubation is easier thanks to the heat and humidity. After hatching, the empty shell of the nit can remains on the hair for several months. Whitish, it gradually moves away from the root as the hair grows. Empty nits can easily be taken for dandruff but unlike those, they are resistant to washing and brushing hair.

KILL HEAD LICE NOW!

Purely Natural Treatments for Head Lice Could Be Stored Within Your Fridge

If your youngster has brought head lice home from school, you aren’t on your own and you merely need to open the refrigerator door in order to obtain natural treatments for head lice. These parasites survive off of human hair and lay their eggs there, they are termed as “nits”. To get rid of head lice you also need to remove the little eggs, and a lot of parents have spent evenings “picking” these kinds of nits out of their kid’s hair.

Adults could get a case of these parasites and they also may be spread rather easily by using another’s brush or comb, therefore making them contagious. If they aren’t removed speedily, they are able to damage the roots of your hair and you may experience hair loss as well as a fever. There are actually some natural treatments for head lice which are very effective and they’re typical ingredients are located within your fridge.

The sulfur content found in onion juice could be quite effective against getting rid of these types of little varmints. You could juice an onion and slowly massage the juice into the top of the head. Leave the onion juice on your hair for at the least 3 hours then wash it out. If you carry on this regiment for 3 continuing days, you may find this an effective purely natural remedy for head lice as well as eggs.

It is possible to rub the hair and scalp with finely-chopped apple bits thirty minutes every day. The juices from the apples can provide acids that are a natural treatment for head lice with continuous use over 3 days.

Garlic and lemon juice is certainly one of the natural therapies for head lice that could be made into a paste and rubbed into the scalp and allowed to remain over night. By morning, you can scrub the mixture out and you are going to discover the lice are completely eliminated within just 5 days of regularly employing this regimen. Garlic is really a member of the onion family, that contains the exact same sulfuric qualities and the acidic blend of lemon juice will get rid of the lice as well as their eggs.

Rubbing olive oil on your head will make the lice as well as nits easier to slide out, while giving the parasites less dead skin as well as hair follicles to feed on. Just apply the olive oil until the hair is rather wet and cover using a shower cap for approximately 3 hours. Comb the hair and they’ll slide right out!

Purely natural therapies for head lice include things like tomato sauce, put on the roots of the hair and allowed to remain in for a couple hours prior to washing. The acidic content of the tomato sauce will get rid of the lice and lots of people have had success with this particular technique.

Schools sometimes endorse this combination as 1 of the simplest all-natural treatments for head lice. You could make use of plain generic mayonnaise, left on for 2 hours, followed by shampooing as well as a vinegar rinse. For those who comb the hair by using a metal nit comb, you could easily get rid of dead lice and nits.

Read More Post!