Where do head lice come from?
November 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Head lice have been around from time immemorial. There are nit combs to be found in museums that date back to the 1600s….even royalty in those days suffered with lice….if it makes you feel any better! If you have a problem with lice at the moment, you need to know that they can affect anyone of any walk of life regardless of personal hygiene standards.
I have never had lice before…now my entire family has them. Where do head lice come from?
Basically head lice come from head to head contact with others…which explains their prevalence amongst younger children (up to the age of 12 and especially girls with long hair) as children of this age are more likely to share toys and work in closer proximity in the classroom. They literally walk from one head to another as head lice do not have wings.
If your child has come home with little visitors you can consider the head lice have probably come from another child working close to them, playing with them or sharing hats, scarves etc. Lice do not live for long away from the scalp. However, you shouldn’t be complacent about this.
The most common way for lice to be passed around the family is by sharing hair brushes in quick succession or enjoying a cuddle with your child. If you know that someone in your family has lice, it is best to avoid sharing hairbrushes, towels scarves, hats and head to head cuddles until the problem has cleared. If your child has a head lice infestation, it is best to check the whole family for lice as they may have spread already.
If you have had a nasty shock with your child coming home with head lice, you need a quick and easy solution that is not going to cost a fortune (like over the counter head louse remedies). Head Lice No More represents just that solution. With household items going into the preparation, you can download this cheap ebook and be on your way to conquering this problem this evening. Once you know you have the little critters in the house you need to get rid of them fast before there is a head louse infestation.
How can vinegar help head lice?
November 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Vinegar is often claimed to be the panacea that cures all evils. Vinegar to cure head lice is therefore a popular home remedy for head lice. The argument is that vinegar destroys the glue holding the louse egg onto the scalp. As this destroys its feeding opportunities, it will die.
How do I use vinegar so that I can help head lice to be killed?
Vinegar, on its own, is unlikely to help kill head lice. If vinegar can help head lice be gone by dislodging the eggs by destroying the glue holding them to your scalp…then it’s a useful tool in your armoury against the little critters!
As vinegar will not necessarily kill the live lice and the unhatched nymphs, nit combing is an essential part of the process. If you do not want to use a chemical treatment, vinegar can be part of your approach to make combing out the lice and nits using conditioner more successful. However, if you want to be absolutely confident that you have sorted the problem the following steps are recommended:
- Shampoo your hair then do a thorough rince of the hair with white vinegar. The glue holding the eggs to the hair will be dissolved by the acetic acid present in vinegar.
- The vinegar itself will not necessarily kill live lice so, at this stage, you may like to use an over the counter head lice preparation to kill the adults off.
- Once the treatment has been completed, do a further thourough rinse with white vinegar to dislodge the nits.
- Once this process is completed, take the time to thoroughly comb your hair using a high quality nit comb. Take your time over this…you don’t want any of the little critters escaping!
- Repeat this process every seven days until clear of head lice.
- Wash clothing and bedding that has been in contact with the scalp at the hottest temperature possible to kill the lice …it is heat rather than the soap that will kill them.
- Vacuum soft furnishings and car seats thoroughly.
If you prefer to use a home head lice remedy that is quick and effective, Freedom From Head Lice recommends Head Lice No More as an inexpensive and effective tool to rid your household of head lice quickly and cheaply.
Can mayonnaise kill head lice?
November 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Can I use mayonnaise to get rid of head lice?
Using mayonnaise to kill head lice is a home remedy and therefore has limited scientific testing done on the technique to assess its efficiency. However, using mayonnaise to get rid of head lice is a popular home remedy for head lice with the added benefit of deep conditioned shiny hair after treatment is complete.
Method for using mayonnaise to treat head lice
The idea is that the hair and scalp are smothered with mayonnaise and then a cap is worn over it for 12 hours. For this reason, people using mayonnaise to treat head lice tend to do their treatment overnight.
The question is, can mayonnaise kill head lice? The answer is that mayonnaise can probably suffocate head lice and, through the oil in mayonnaise, make the lice easy to comb out using a nit comb.
However, it is doubtful whether the mayonnaise will have any impact upon the unhached lice. The result may be that these lie dormant and then hatch out a few days later causing a recurrence of head lice infestation. The only way to completely avoid this is to do repeated treatments every few days before newly hatched lice start to breed.
As a natural and harmless home remedy for head lice, using mayonnaise to treat head lice probably has a slightly greater efficiency than using conditioner to comb out live lice (as hopefully any lice missed out during combing have died) and may be a lot more messy due to the duration of application of mayonnaise.
For a really efficient and speedy method of treating head lice naturally at home, Head Lice Be Gone is a highly recommended resource costing little more than a couple of jars of mayonnaise and giving you the expertise to conquer head lice infestation quickly and discreetly.
Getting rid of head lice
November 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Getting rid of head lice involves a dual pronged attack on the little critters – head lice clearance followed by head lice avoidance.
What head louse avoidance techniques can I use for getting rid of head lice?
A key fact that you need to be quite clear about is that having head lice is not about having poor hygiene (either personally or at home). You do not catch head lice from being a neglectful parent, by not washing hair often enough or by not being particulaly handy with a duster around the house. They spread from other people carrying them and, as discussed in previous posts, they like clean scalps as it is easier to breed there successfully.
The best avoidance methods to get rid of head lice are:
- avoid head to head contact with children who may have lice.
- Likewise, avoid sharing towels, hats, scarves and coats between people who have or may have head lice.
- Stuffed toys, bedding, couches and pillows may have stray lice on them if used by someone with lice. Be cautious when visiting somewhere where you know then to have lice about letting your head come into contact with any of these items.
What head lice treatments can I use for getting rid of head lice?
Treatments to eliminate an existing infestation of head lice can come into three different categories:
- chemical treatments that kill lice and their eggs leaving you with only the job of combing out the nits.
- natural head lice remedies such as mayonnaise, vinegar, tea tree oil etc.
- combing the hair with a nit comb and conditioner as a totally natural and cheap head lice solution.
All of these approaches will be discussed in detailed forthcoming posts so that you are able to make an informed choice as to your preferred method of head louse elimination and carry out that method correctly.
How to prevent head lice
November 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Why does it seem easier for adults than kids to prevent head lice?
It’s frustrating – isn’t it? The kids just keep on coming home from school with lice …. yet adults seem to prevent head lice without trying. What’s their secret?
Head lice love clean fluffy hair that isn’t oily or full of hair products or generally dirty. Hair that’s clean like this makes it easy to glue those eggs onto the hair shaft…so they will breed more successfully.
Us adults tend to use gels, mouse, hair spray etc on our hair to achieve the style we want. This doesn’t make our hair a nice place to set up home for a head louse. In addition, we adults are less likely to share hats or snuggle our heads against pillows or toys where a person infested with head lice may have been before us. All these behaviours help adults to prevent head lice.
What can we learn from this about how to prevent head lice for children?
- You can help to prevent head lice on your child’s head by tying back long hair as much as possible and using styling products on it. This will avoid stray hairs giving a route for lice to move from one head to another as well as making your child’s scalp less inviting for head lice to set up home.
- Whilst it is important for your kids to learn to share, part of what they need to learn is to share appropriately. Sharing hats, hair brushes and towels should always be avoided in the effort to avoid cross contamination of head lice.
- Using a head louse repellant and treating outbreaks promptly are all part of the effort to prevent head lice. Headlice Be Gone is an excellent ebook detailing how to make a home remedy for head lice and a head lice repellant. For less than the price of an over-the-counter treatment for head lice this great little guide will save you a fortune and make your child less likely to have recurrent head louse infestation.
Head lice life cycle
November 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Potential multiplication of one breeding pair of head lice
Stage 1 of Head Lice Life Cyle – Laying louse eggs to newly hatched nymphs
When a female head louse has been fertilised by a male head louse, she will lay a number of eggs. Each of these will be glued firmly to the base of the hair shaft where there are two benefits for her to successfully breed:
- the head louse egg will derive warmth from the scalp which created an ideal environment for the head louse to develop in the egg; and
- there will be an instant source of food for the newly hatched nymph from the scalp.
The eggs take approximately 7 days to hatch and newly hatched head louse is called a nymph in its infancy. The empty egg shell remains glued to the hair shaft and will grow out with the hair unless removed.
Stage 2 of Head Lice Life Cycle – Newly hatched nymph matures into adult head louse.
The newly hatched nymph has three developmental stages or growth. As they have a hard shell, this will be moulted three times during this phase (which lasts 10 days).
After only 10 days the nymph has become an adult head louse capable of reproducing in its own right. This is why head louse treatments need to be repeated to catch lice before they become sexually active.
Stage 3 of Head Lice Life Cycle – Life expectancy of a head louse
Head lice only have a life expectancy of a maximum of 30 days. During this time their efforts are focused upon reproduction and feeding from the scalp. Generally speaking, a female head louse can produce 5 – 10 eggs per day. This may reduce as she gets older.
As the illustration above shown, the potential of the briskness of the head lice life cycle to serious infest a scalp in a short space of time is spectacular. However, not all of these hatched nymphs will survive.
Apart from dying anyway at the end of this approximately 30 day life, combing, brushing, styling and straightening hair will kill some of them off….or at least harm them significantly. Some will also travel to other poor victims’ scalps reducing the burdon on the initial carrier.
However, you cannot rely upon all of the above to completely rid yourself of lice….some form of head louse treatment or removal of the lice and eggs will be necessary to avoid a head louse infestation.
What does head lice look like?
November 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
How do I identify head lice?
Head lice are small flat insects approximately the size of a grain of basmati rice (2 – 4 mm long) when fully grown. They do not have wings and are therefore crawling insects that can only be caught through head to head contact. They can not fly.
As shown in the banner picture for this site, they have six legs. The front two legs have strong claws allowing the head louse to grip to the hair follicle or the scalp whilst feeding or procreating.
Are head lice easy to spot?
Head lice have a useful ability (for them) of changing colour to blend with the hair colour of their host. For this reason, when considering “What does head lice look like?”, you need to be prepared for the colour of these insects to range from almost translucent (when on blonde hair) right through to almost black (on dark hair). When my family has had lice I have seen all manner of shades by the time I have checked everyone’s scalps. Delightful!
The tickling sensation of lice moving on the scalp if often experienced most intensely on the crown of the head, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. With a serious head louse infestation, you will be able to detect movement on the head without even going close. With a small number of lice a bit more detective work is needed.
Newly hatched lice usually appear as almost black and start life about the size of a pin head.
Using good lighting, move slowly over the scalp separating hairs. By looking closely at the scalp you may strike lucky and spot a moving head louse. The more effective way to catch them is to check the head with a nit comb and some hair conditioner or by spotting eggs or nits (empty cases of hatched head lice).
What other visual clues might identify head lice?
The growing louse eggs look like tiny white / brown ovals. These will be glued firmly to the hair right next to the scalp so that the newly hatched louse can start feeding straight away. If you see white dots (in severe cases like little grains of sand on the hair – but particularly under the hair near the ears or the nape of the neck) these indicate newly hatched lice. However, if nits are more than a quarter of an inch away from the scalp then that will identify head lice that hatched some time ago.
Can hair dye kill head lice?
November 11, 2008 | 1 Comment
Can hair dye kill head lice or is it a myth?
Some people claim that permanent hair dye can be useful in killing head lice. This is on the basis that the chemicals would, at least, suffocate lice as well as sterilising their eggs.
There may be some merit is this as an idea….and for mature women, who might dye their hair anyway, it is as good as killing two birds with a stone (or is that two bugs with a bottle?). However, the effectiveness of this approach has not been scientifically proven.
What are the risks of killing head lice with hair dye?
- The most obvious risk is that excessive dying of the hair will cause permanent damage to the hair by drying it out. This may leave your hair more brittle if you need to nit comb it later on ultimately leaving it in bad condition.
- There is much anecdotal evidence on the forums of the success of this method to treat head lice. There is also a similar amount of evidence that it is not an effective head lice remedy as eggs remaining will still hatch withing the next 7 – 10 days and further hair dye application to kill head lice is not a healthy option for your hair.
- The fact that you will still need to comb out nits means that your newly treated hair (already susceptible to damage due to treatment) may be left in poor condition….especially if you have a pre-existing health condition or take prescribed medication that increase risk of hair loss.
On balance, there are safer and less harmful approaches that can be taken in the treatment of head lice that will probably be more reliably effective.
One such product is Joy Elizabeth’s “Best Head Lice Remedy”. This inexpensive book will give you a tried and tested home remedy for head lice that will cost less that a single treatment from your local pharmacy yet can be used again and again when your kids pick up lice from school. Training videos, audio support and email answers to questions from the author make for a really successful and safe home treatment that I can personally recommend.
