Why Knowing The Sex Life of Head Lice is Important

It usually it begins in one of two ways. The dreaded letter alerting parents to yet another infestation of head lice sweeping the school. The other more personal way is to spot a child persistently head scratching or worse still realise your own scalp feels constantly itchy. Yes, it's another bout of head lice.

Most people have their own favourite method of eliminating the little monsters, (the head lice, not the children!) some trusting good old head lice home remedies of vinegar - mayonnaise - tea tree oil and all manner of recipes. I found the traditional nit comb and over the counter shampoo more than adequate, but each to their own. One thing's for sure though, it is vital to do a thorough job of completely eliminating head lice or they will become part of the family for a very long time. Here is a basic run through of the head lice life cycle. It's purpose is twofold, on the one hand to show you just how quickly these parasites multiply and spread and to educate you so you know what you are up against. Forewarned is forearmed.

Head lice are wingless and cannot fly, nor can they leap or swim. They are tiny, about 3mm long and are a greyish colour until they feed when they take on a brown tint due to the ingested blood. There are just two ways you catch them The first is by direct contact and that means your hair must be actually touching the hair of someone infected so lice can crawl onto your hair and begin breeding. Because they crawl around the second way to become infected is indirectly, from something like a hat, scarf, brush or even bedding such as a pillow. The lice simply crawl onto the item then onto your hair.

It helps if you are aware of how long these things can hang around. Here then is a brief peek at the head lice life cycle.

After breeding the female will lay around 6 eggs per day. She bonds each egg to a hair shaft with a special glue about 1.5mm from the scalp. The glueing process is the reason they cannot just be washed out of the hair. The incubation period is then some 7 to 10 days until the egg or 'nit' hatches. From then on the new louse begins feeding almost immediately and does so every three to four hour by punching a hole in the scalp.

Thereafter the hatchling or 'nymph' moults their skin three times as they grow and mature into adulthood. By the time they are ten days old the louse is sexually mature enough to begin breeding and this continues until the end of their life at about thirty days old. A month doesn't sound long but in that time a female can produce an average of 90 eggs. Given that much interbreeding takes place an unchecked male and female can expand into a population of over a thousand by the end of their life span.

Even just learning this snippet of information will I hope show that prompt action is therefore necessary if you are to get on top of the situation. Head lice are no respectors of cleanliness in fact they find it easier to clamber through washed ungreasy and unmatted hair. The key to success once they have been eliminated is vigilance. A regular comb through on a weekly basis can do much to keep them at bay.