Head lice and nits
The lice cycle
Unchecked, eggs are laid every day for three to four weeks. This means that there is a daily "supply"
of new eggs that are incubating and nymphs hatching every day after 10 to 14 days. These in turn
mature and start producing their own eggs, so the problem just grows.
What are head lice?
Are they are sign of uncleanliness??
What do I do if someone in the household is found to have lice and or nits?
How long do they live away from the head?
Inspection and removal of lice and nits.
Head lice are small wingless insects, about 2 - 3 mm long that feed on human blood. They are about
the size of a sesame seed.
They live on the head of humans in warm spots, such as the nape of the neck and behind ears and
feed on human blood only.
Nit is the common name given to the egg of head lice. The female lays eggs on hair shafts close to the
scalp and "glues" it strongly in place. If an egg is more than 1cm away from scalp, it is probably dead.
When the lice feed, they inject saliva at the point where they break the skin to take tiny amounts of
blood every few hours. Their saliva irritates many peoples' scalps.
Are they a sign of uncleanliness?
No - anyone can get head lice - it just takes enough contact for the lice to move from one head to another.
Lice crawl, they do not jump or fly. They are quite quick, moving at up to 30cm per minute!
The most common way is one person's hair touching another's hair. Sharing hats, combs, headbands,
etc. can also cause transmission. Transmission via furniture is unlikely as the lice need to stay at scalp
temperature and near their source of food, so why would they move to furniture.
What do I do if someone in the household is found to have lice and or nits?
Everyone in the house should be carefully examined. If there are live lice or eggs closer than 1cm to the
scalp, then treatment and cleansing must be done.
How long do they live away from the head?
Lice usually do not live longer than one day away from the head. The eggs cannot incubate and hatch
at a temperature lower than that near the scalp.
Clients and staff of Gabi & Ricardo report excellent success with the Eco.Kid range of products.
Avoid head to head contact and sharing combs, brushes, hats and anything else that may come into
direct contact with hair. Longer hair tied in tight plaits or pony tail also may help.
No - head lice that affect humans only feed on human blood.
Treatments - Follow the instructions!
Clients and staff of Gabi & Ricardo report excellent success with the Eco.Kid range of products.
Eco.kid is an organic range of treatment and prevention products made in Australia. Visit their web site
for more product information Eco.kid
If using chemicals on your family does not concern you, there are a chemical treatments available.
Click here to read more about them on the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.
Whatever you choose, it is critical that the treatment is repeated after seven days, as the treatments
may not kill the eggs, so you have to kill the nymphs before they grow into adults and start to breed and
lay eggs.
Lice and eggs do not survive more than about 24 hours away from the scalp. To make sure, wash fabrics in
hot water and where possible tumble dry with heat. Hanging fabrics in sunlight also helps kill lice and eggs.
Other things that cannot be washed or subjected to heat, such as toys or delicate fabrics can be sealed in
plastic bags for a few days.
Inspection and removal of lice and nits.
Lice can move fairly quickly around the scalp, so just doing a clean up with a lice comb by itself may not be
as successful as with a treatment. Often treatments are thick in nature and slow the lice down, which makes
it easier to see and comb out.
Start at the nape of the neck, work around towards the ears with a nit comb (double metal toothed
combs are reported to be best) and remove all lice and nits. Carry on combing and inspecting the whole
head, even eyebrows.