Small, Wingless Parasite: Head Lice

Louse is a small, wingless parasite, with 6 legs they live on humans and feed on blood. There usually white or brown, there is three different type a lice that live on humans, but I will only be talking about one, which are head lice. Head lice are just crawling in your hair feeding from your scalp. They are very tiny so it is hard to see them but they are visible. Luckily they do not carry any diseases.

Lice have to be on human body in order for the lice to survive. If it is not on human body the lice will die within 24 hours. They only spread if someone with lice goes hair to hair contact with yours. In salons there is no rule that the clients who have lice cannot get service. I feel like hairstylist feel somewhat safe with a client who has lice because lice cannot jump or fly they just crawl so in order for it to spread it’d have to be head on head contact which is unusual to do. The hairstylist does not have to do any disinfecting after a client with lice comes in.

Lice is common for most kids in elementary school because they play together and get really close going hair to hair contact and use each other’s personal stuff such as hair brushes and headbands. Adults who also have children is common to get lice because their child has it and sometimes you may not be aware of it yet.
Lice does not have much symptoms to tell if you have it or not, itching does occur but not right away it can be months until you start itching your scalp, unless you have an allergy the itching from the bites can lead to red swollen skin in that case you’d have to contact a doctor for medical help.
Lice aren’t big they’re visible but not big. Lice do multiply, once they mate after a 24 hour period the female lice lays her egg (which are called nits) onto the scalp, it takes 7-10 days for the egg to hatch, only 1 lice per egg. They can lay up to 10 eggs a day. Lice’s normal lifetime is about a month, but if more keep being produced, your problem won’t go away by
itself.

If you are wondering if you or someone else has lice after you shower, make sure to condition for your hair can be detangled it’s less easier for them to hide with detangled hair and thoroughly check through your hair with a head lice comb (you can buy at any local store that carries hair products such as hair treatment brushes etc.) wipe with a napkin and check if there is any eggs or lice, the brush is designed to pick the lice and nits up then you’ll know, check thoroughly through your whole scalp if they aren’t in one place they can be on by the other half of your scalp, don’t wanna chance that, especially if your head isn’t invested yet it may be easier to get rid of the problem.

If you have lice you should get treatment as soon as possible to prevent spread from the people around you, check every ones head in the household as well, it’s better to treat everyone at once. Lice killing products you can buy over the counter, and should be applied on all areas of your head, follow the directions, there is shampoo and sprays also the comb to get rid of the nits. If you are consistent with the combing and shampoos the lice should go away. There are salons you can go to that help you get rid of lice they specialize in just getting rid of them. Lice do not live long being off of the human body but it is best to put clothes that were recently worn and your bedsheets in the washer if you are being treated for lice.