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Posts Tagged ‘head lice reproduction’

Head Lice Hatching Routine
One of the difficulties involved in treating a head lice infestation comes from not understanding the life cycle of these annoying but oddly fascinating little creatures; diminutive they may be, miniscule even, yet they can cause a lot of trouble in a very short time!
Fortunately the age of the internet has led to us being able to understand the way these creatures live their lives – and feats on our blood – much more readily thanks to the prevalence of highly detailed and illustrated websites that show us exactly what happens, where and when. Summarizing the head lice hatching point is essential to understand where we need to be, and what we need to do, to catch these pesky creatures in order that they do not spread out of control.
The head lice is distinct from the nit – a point many people are unaware of; the former is the living creature, the tiny wingless insect that crawls around in your hair and pierces the skin to suck up blood – while the latter is the egg of the adult, and is by far the most difficult part of the equation to deal with. Indeed, the nits are so small that they may easily be missed with the best of head lice combs, and as such demand attention above and beyond that given to the living creatures.
In any treatment regime – whether using the likes of Malathion or Permethrin head lice treatment, or even the controversial Lindane, or resorting to herbal remedies or the bizarre suffocation by mayonnaise ritual – understanding that there may have been nits missed in the first treatment is essential and understanding the life cycle – and where the hatching point is – is essential.
An adult louse lives for approximately one month, and in that time she lays around 200 nits – around six every day – and the nits remain as eggs, attached to our hair by a very clever natural glue, for about one week. Once hatched they become head lice nymphs, young lice that are rapidly – in one to two weeks – advanced to breeding adults, and the whole episode begins again.
Knowing that we have one week from laying to hatching means we need to keep an eye out for new born nymphs for that period of time after clearing the head of lice, and we then have a further week to get rid of them before they begin laying. This is why regular, thorough examination is the best way to prevent head lice, and why understanding the hatching routine is vital.

Dealing with a Head Lice Infestation
The problems with head lice are many and one of the main ones is the speed at which they spread. It is a common misconception that head lice fly – they are, in fact, wingless – but they can only move between hosts by walking from hair to hair; this is why they spread very fast among young children – think of the playground and the physical contact.
It is also a myth that a head lice infestation can only occur where the child suffers from less than satisfactory hygiene; a head louse is not choosy about who it lives on, and all it seeks is head from which it can feed upon its staple diet – our blood.
Head lice multiply at an alarming rate: the female adult louse lays up to eight eggs – the famous nits – every day of her thirty day life, and a quick calculation gives you easily over 200 eggs. Each nit stays attached to a hair follicle for approximately one week then hatches as a nymph or young louse. In just a week to two weeks time it becomes a breeding adult, and begins the cycle once more. From that description it is simple to see just how quickly an infestation can spread, and how important it is that it is treated correctly.
Treating head lice is a subject that raises many arguments: there are many insecticide lotions – using Malathion, Permethrin or Lindane in the main – that are available by prescription, and these are widely proven to be successful in many cases, and there are natural shampoos such as those including Tea Tree oil, and essential oil that is used in many herbal medicines, and the choice is a very personal one that is left to the individual.
There also exist some more unusual ways of tackling head lice and nits – including the odd practice of smothering the hair, and the lice, in mayonnaise – that are known to be successful if somewhat messy, and the tried and tested head lice comb is an essential tool in all of this, whether in traditional close toothed form or in the shape of the new style of electric combs that shock the lice to death.
What is important to understand is that the first treatment will almost certainly not rid the head completely of nits, and the patient will need to be closely observed over the next two weeks in order that any emerging head lice nymphs are caught before they can begin to breed.

Head Lice Nymphs – an important part of the life cycle
The head lice is an ever present problem across the world, and one that has been with us for millions of years; scientists have discovered that even stone age man would have been prone to these irritating little creatures, and with the benefit of the digital age we are able to examine them in full detail via many websites that carry extremely impressive, and very interesting, pictures of them.
One thing that is helpful when looking to treat a head lice infestation is to understand the life cycle of these miniscule creatures, and it is quite a fascinating one that takes in three stages: the nit, or egg, the head lice nymphs and the adult head lice themselves.
Looking at the sequence it is easy to overlook the importance of the nymphs stage in terms of treatment, as this very brief period can be crucial to successfully treating the problem. Given that the nit remains as such for around one week, and then hatches as a head lice nymph, and that nits are particularly difficult to find and remove it is essential that we understand how long we have between the emergence of the nymph and its development into a fully grown breeding nymph.
In fact, the period is as little as one week, with two weeks being the most, and it is in this period that the patient needs to keep a very careful look out for newly hatched nymphs, and to repeat any treatment routine that may have been used in the first place.
Nits are difficult to remove as they are absolutely minute, and also they are stuck to our hair by a type of adhesive making them very difficult to dislodge, so many people – having safely cleared the head of adult lice – opt to wait for the emergence of the nymph, and to catch it before it reaches breeding age. Nymphs may be tiny, too, but they are big enough to be caught by a nit comb, or electrocuted by one of the newer devices before they can breed, while not even the most powerful Permethrin or Malathion head lice lotions can guarantee to kill every nit that exists.
The knowledge we have gained from careful observation and available information means that head lice have become easier to deal with; natural and prescription treatments are more widely available than ever before, and we are more understanding of what is needed in order to treat head lice at source.

Head Louse Treatment – A World of Choice
Head lice present an annoying problem to many of us over our lifetime, and those that have children will undoubtedly be affected by the creatures at some point. They are very small insects and, therefore, very difficult to detect, yet when diagnosed there are many different, and wildly varied, methods of dealing with them – some which border on the downright odd!
The first method of treatment we have to talk about is the most important – the head lice comb. This is a specially designed comb that is intended to help to remove the lice, and their nits, from the hair: it does so by way of very closely coupled teeth, much closer than a standard comb and tight enough to snag lice, and by having extra depth that can reach right to the root of the hair, where the eggs, the nits, are habitually laid.
The comb must be used with whatever other treatments are chosen, as it is essential in removing any stragglers that may have been left behind; when one considers that an adult female lives for thirty days and lays up to eight nits each day you can see how many eggs there may be and how easy it would be to miss some.
Further to the comb is the use of head lice shampoo, and this comes in two forms – insecticide and natural; the former involves the use of chemicals, such as the Ovide head lice treatment that included the insecticide Malathion, and while these are scientifically proven concoctions it remains so that many people shy away from using them for fear of side effects.
The alternative is shampoos that include natural ingredients, sometimes herbal remedies that are believed to provide relief from the louse problem. Among the most popular is the use of the essential oil from the Tea Tree plant, whose leaves have been distilled for many centuries by the Aborigines to provide the oil, which is regarded as having very strong medicinal properties.
When any of these are used it is essential that the shampoo is followed up by a rinse and a comb through with the nit comb in order to check for any remaining lice.
The final method involves smothering the creatures, and is perhaps the most bizarre: the use of mayonnaise, smeared on the head, or olive oil may sound slightly ridiculous, but these substances at to fill the holes through which the lice breathe, leaving them suffocated and dead. Again, a comb through with the nit comb follows, and whichever method proves successful for you will become apparent.

Home Remedy for Head Lice
Incidences of head lice infestation are far from uncommon and it is often a result of finding these irritating creatures in the hair of our children, or ourselves, that leads us to seek remedies. The medical profession will undoubtedly point you in the direction of one of the many medicinal shampoos available, but these invariably contain insecticides that we do not necessarily want to introduce to our children’s heads, and furthermore some of these are now ineffective as the head louse has become immune to them.
Finding a home remedy for head lice is therefore a common pursuit, and one that can throw up some interesting, and often bizarre, suggestions. Using vinegar for head lice treatment, for instance, is a popular method of treatment, and one that comes among the more often used homemade remedies for head lice. What vinegar does is eradicate the very strong ‘glue’ that holds the nits – head louse eggs – to the hair, making them much easier to remove. Removal is done using an essential home remedy tool, the head lice comb; this specially constructed device is aimed at getting the at the lice and the nits, which live at the foot of the hair and on the scalp, effectively and successfully, and one of these is absolutely vital to successful treatment, whichever home remedy you use.
Many people swear by the use of Tea Tree Oil for head lice treatment, and this essential oil of the Australian Tea Tree, so named as the leaves were traditionally used as a substitute for tea, is known to have certain anti-fungal and medicinal properties, and is still widely used by the indigenous Aborigine people for many treatments. Widely available and harmless, this is one of the more favorable methods of treating head lice as it is known to drive them away. Tea Tree Oil is also found in some shampoos, so reading ingredients carefully, may pay dividends.
Getting into bizarre territory now we come across the suffocation methods; as the head louse breathes via small holes in its side it is believed that smothering the patients hair and scalp with certain substances – olive oil and mayonnaise are favoured – for a set time, and at repeated intervals, suffocates the insects and leaves the head lice free and clean!
All of these methods have some substance to them, and whichever one you choose there is plenty information on the internet to help you on your way to lice eradication.

Tea Tree Oil for Head Lice
Home remedies for head lice take many forms, and some are more likely to work than others, but the problem of eradicating head lice, and the hard to move nits, remains one that is tackled in many different ways by different people. Indeed, the use of special insecticide shampoos is recommended by many, yet others do not wish to use these chemically formulated lotions, and there are alternative natural substances that have been shown to achieve very impressive results when tackling the head louse problem
The use of Tea Tree Oil for head lice treatment and remedy is very popular indeed, as this is a natural product that is proving very versatile and is used in many different herbal and natural remedies. Tea Tree Oil is one of the ‘essential oils’ and comes from the Australian Tea Tree plant; its real name is Melaleuca alternifolia, and it obtained its popular name as for many years the leaves of the plant have been used as an alternative for real tea.
Indeed, it is the leaves that provide the oil, and it is extracted by an age old method of steaming that has been used by the Aborigines – who are enthusiasts of its many medicinal properties – for many years; this oil is then sold across the world in health food suppliers and on internet websites, and it is frequently found in some shampoos that may well be viable alternatives to the insecticide versions.
So how does it help to treat head lice? It seems that the oil contains substances that are known to cleanse and also have anti fungal properties, and it has been discovered that it helps drive the head louse away, and also deters it from choosing your head as a hiding place, hence its presence in some shampoos.
Many people use tea tree oil with the traditional regular combing with a head lice comb, and with some of the related techniques whereby the head lice are smothered by such as olive or oil or, rather more bizarrely, mayonnaise, but whichever method you choose you will find that the oil has a great effect.
Finding out how to use it as a home remedy for head lice is simple in these days of the internet, and a simple search for ‘head lice and tea tree oil’ will undoubtedly provide you with a myriad of suggestions; make sure you use it regularly and with care, and you may eradicate the head lice forever.

About the Head Louse
The proliferation of head lice infestations, particularly spreading among young children in schools, shows no signs of abating, and a great part of that is down to the way these irritating creatures live their lives.
Put simply, head lice live on our scalp and feed off our blood – it is this that causes the irritation and itching that are prime head lice symptoms – and lay eggs which, in just a matter of days become adult lice and begin the process again, but it is the way they move around that gives us the clue as to why they spread in the situation they do.
A head louse has no wings and does not jump, so therefore the only way it can move from person to person is by walking from hair to hair; this means close contact must happen, and children are prime candidates for such.
It pays to be able to recognize head lice, and the nits – or eggs – that they lay, and this is why it is advisable to look at some of the head lice pictures that are commonplace on the internet. Many of these websites can also offer advice on prevention and treatment, and give more details on the head lice and its life cycle.
Head lice prevention is perhaps the best place to start: if you are aware there is a head lice infestation in your child’s – or your – close circle then you need to do all you can to keep contact with the infected to a minimum. Furthermore, a regular inspection routine is essential in order to keep an eye out for the creatures, and regular washing of the hair, perhaps with one of the herbal or natural shampoos that are supplied as home remedies for head lice, is also advisable. Do not be fooled into thinking, however, that head lice will stay away from clean hair as they are not confined to the unwashed, despite common belief.
Using one of the specially made head lice combs – designed to remove the nits and therefore reduce the population explosion – is a recommended course of action and will also help identify if lice are present: combing over a white sheet of paper will highlight any fallen creatures or nits.
Head lice are creatures that appear only too often, and the methods used to treat them are many and varied – some use vinegar for head lice treatment, others olive oil – and if you prefer home remedies then there is much in the way of advice, but it is also worthwhile looking at those lice pictures and familiarizing yourself with their appearance.

Using Olive Oil for Head Lice Treatment
The reason children are prone to head lice infestation is that the louse cannot fly; it’s only method of transferring is by walking, and this necessitates the sort of close personal contact that children achieve in play. Removing head lice is a troublesome affair – they are tiny creatures that are hard to find, and their eggs – the nits – even more so – and many are put off using the medicinal shampoos on offer as they contain insecticides.
A quick we search for ‘homemade remedies for head lice’ will bring up many suggestions, some of them seemingly odd and others more straightforward, yet an investigation into using olive oil for head lice treatment may prove that what appears to be a very strange idea is actually practical, cheap, harmless and often successful.
To understand why olive oil works as a remedy for head lice it is worth knowing a little about the biology of the head louse, particularly how it breathes: it does so by way of two holes in the side of its body, something like the gills of a fish, and like all creatures it needs to breathe to be able to survive. The use of olive oil intends to fill these holes, to block them so that the creature cannot breathe, and when you consider that it makes covering your child’s head in olive oil rather more sensible!
There are routines to be followed, and one suggested is this: wash the hair thoroughly and comb through with a head lice comb – a specially made comb that is intended to get right down to the scalp where the louse and her eggs will be – and then smear the olive oil all over the hair and the scalp. Cover the head with a shower cap or plastic sheet – the messy side of this procedure is the only downfall – and leave it for about an hour. This should be enough time to suffocate the lice, after which you shampoo the head thoroughly, perhaps with a shampoo containing Tea Tree oil – another substance known to affect head lice – and then comb through again with the nit comb.
You should find, at this combing, that the dead lice are easier to find, and that the nits have become detached from their hairs, making things much simpler to deal with. Olive oil is a harmless and entirely natural product that will also leave the hair feeling soft and revived, and without the presence of annoying head lice.

Homemade Remedies for Head Lice
The problem with head lice is that they are a surprisingly common phenomenon, and many people are averse to using the many chemically formulated, insecticide based shampoos that are prescribed for the condition. It is often the case that parents search for homemade remedies for head lice, and a quick internet search will show you just how many of these there are.
They range from the logical – regular attention with a nit comb and the application of natural herbal remedies that are known to have combative properties – to the absurd – coating the head in mayonnaise to smother the head lice! The question is, however, do these home remedies work? Will they kill the head louse population?
It is so that the methods all have their basis in actual fact, so let’s have a closer look at the different sorts of home remedy for head lice, how they work, and whether they should be considered valid.
First, the combing: as head lice live and lay their eggs – nits – close to the scalp a conventional comb is unlikely to be effective against them, hence the invention of the head lice comb. This device is smaller than a standard comb but has very closely ranged, and longer, teeth and is specifically designed to remove the lice and the eggs, too. Regular combing after washing can be very successful indeed, and is recommended in conjunction with all other home based remedies.
Next, the natural remedies: many different substances are used to combat head lice – Tea Tree oil is popular, an essential oil distilled from the leaves of the Tea Tree plant native to Australia, and used by the Aborigines as a remedy for many things – and it can be added to shampoos for extra effect. There are special shampoos available that already contain the substance, specially formulated for head lice treatment.
The smothering method is perhaps the most bizarre, but it does have claims based on fact: the head louse breathes through holes in its side, and coating the head in substances such as Olive Oil, Vinegar or the aforementioned Mayonnaise can serve to block the breathing holes of the louse, effectively suffocating it in a couple of hours.
Finding and choosing a home remedy for head lice is something that involves trial and error – what works for you may not work for others – but the sheer amount of information available on the internet, and in publications, should enable you to find a successful method.

Head Lice Life Cycle – Why You Need to Know
There is a strong chance that many of us will suffer from head lice at some point during our lives, particularly during childhood, as the problem of head lice infestation is surprisingly common. To understand the best ways to treat the problem, and to recognize head lice symptoms, it is helpful to understand the head lice life cycle, which we shall look at here.
There are three stages in the life cycle, and for simplicities sake we will start with the egg. More commonly known as Nits, head lice eggs are among the most obvious of symptoms, and it is helpful to view some of the many head lice pictures that can be found on the internet in order to recognize both the nit and the lice themselves.
The nit is laid by the adult lice, and is attached to the hair follicles by a very strong adhesive, this making it very difficult to remove at this stage. Nevertheless, one of the recommended head lice home remedies is regular combing with a nit comb, a special device designed to detach the eggs from the hair.
The nit will hatch in a week, and begin the second phase of the cycle as it exists as a nymph for a short time. The nymph is very small – roughly pinhead sized – and difficult to spot, and feeds vigorously for a week before it matures into a fully grown head louse. It is at this point that the creatures are easiest to remove, and they can be seen crawling around on the head on close examination.
This third stage of the life cycle is the most troublesome and problematic if the infestation is left unchecked, for a female louse lives for up to 30 days, and on each of those days can lay as many as eight new eggs. As we now know the cycle, it is simple to understand why the population can expand very rapidly in a short space of time: one adult, for example, can produce over 200 nuts in her lifetime.
The head is not the only place where the lice like to live, as pubic hair is also a preferred place, and pubic lice prevention follows the same basic routines, and displays the same symptoms, as with head lice: intense itching and discomfort, and the sight of creatures crawling around, all point to lice and should be taken as a sign that instant treatment is needed.