Checking Lice: Identify them manually
The best way to deal with lice menace is to identify them and kill them manually. This time-consuming process is best result-oriented method to deal with lice infestation on the scalp. Just imagine, health studies on this aspect have found that six to 12 million people contract lice infection every year!
HOW DO THEY SPREAD: Lice spread fast and invade silently! These parasites survive on blood they suck from the scalp. They camouflage themselves by changing their colour according to the hue of the host’s hair. They crawl, jump and at times “fly” short distances to move from one head to another.
CHECKING LICE: They cannot survive without the scalp. So it is necessary that steps are taken to ensure that they do not have a hosting place in the first place. This can be done by not using the personal items of people who have head lice. These include combs, hair brushes, pillows, caps, head scarves, hats, towels and any other things connected with the head. This is primarily because these things are ideal places where eggs and lice can live for a short time. They move at the slightest opportunity to another’s head.
VULNERABLE GROUP: A single louse, be it a baby or adult, on the head is enough to transform your head into a maternity ward for lice. The single-louse infected head breeds lice within a few weeks time. The clusters of hair on girls’ heads are thick and thus provide the ideal hiding and breeding place for the parasites.
THE LIFESPAN OF A LOUSE: Lice have three stages of development. It all starts with the laying of eggs by adult female lice. These eggs called nits are of the size of grains. They are laid at the base of hair shafts close to the scalp. They are often confused with dandruff. Left untreated, the nits hatch to give birth to the new-born lice called nymphs within a weeks time. They look similar to adult lice but are smaller in sizes. Their sizes are that of sesame seeds. Within the span of 10 days they become adult lice that live for approximately 30 days. So, the entire life cycle of lice is about 50 days or seven weeks. The adult lice are like ants while the baby lice are like sesame seeds. They have head, abdomen, thorax and six legs.
