What Are Lice and How to Get Rid of Them

Lice are small insects that don't have wings. They are brownish color and they are very tiny when they are born. That's why it is hard to see them. Full grown lice are about the size of a small sesame seed. Head lice cannot fly or swim and they only spread by person touching the other person.

How do the lice reproduce?
It begins with a female louse laying eggs near the hair roots to keep the eggs warm. The eggs hatch about seven days later and baby lice are born. The nits or the empty eggshells stay glued on your hair. When your hair grows out the nits become visible and you will notice that there is something white stuck to your head. Then you will know that you probably have lice. It takes them about seven to ten days to become fully grown. When they are grown they begin to go from one head to another, usually looking for a new home.

Females can lay eggs already after the sixth day after she was born. So to get rid of lice you have to act fast and get rid of all the lice before the sixth day. If you don't then the process starts all over again since one lice can lay up to 10 eggs per day.

How to find them
To find these small insects you must search very carefully. You have to search your entire head taking one small section of hair at a time. It is important to do this in a very good light or you might miss them. The eggs are extremely small but you can spot them because they are very white. You can only find the eggs very near to the scalp. The eggs are glued to your hair with a powerful substance.

Who should you treat?
Only people who have head lice should be technically treated, but it is a good idea to check your entire family for lice. Specially when a child is carrying lice, because you are in close contact with the child. The best method is to wet the hair and use a thin comb to go through the hair carefully. When you child has lice then it is a good idea to inform other parents that your child is in contact with and the school. Without treating everyone the child might be in contact with the lice will be back again.

How to prevent lice from coming back
The first thing to do is wash everything that you have had contact with. Make sure you use high temperature. You should clean sheets, hats, clothes, scarves and helmets to be sure. But you don't have to clean the entire house, because the lice can not live very long without humans. It takes them only few days to die from hunger.