Lice are everyone’s worst nightmare! Not only are they irritating as you have to scratch your head continuously but they affect your health as well. Every parent dreads that one phone call from the school to inform them that their kid's hair is infested with lice.
It is important to know what lice look like! This will help you identify the parasite and get a treatment to eliminate them from your system. Around 6 to 12 million children who are under the age of 11 get infested with lice every year. This problem is not confined to just a young age, but the main group often affected by it are always kids.
Lice are a parasite that feeds on human blood. The scientific terminology for them is Pediculus humanus capitis. They survive on the blood that they suck out of the scalp and multiply by laying eggs in the hair.
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What Do Lice Look Like?
Lice are tiny blood sucking parasites, and in singularly they are referred to as louse. The adult louse is roughly the size of a sesame seed and has around six legs. Their color differs but is always in various shades of beige to gray; lice tend to grow darker after feeding on blood. Their color and size make them extremely difficult to locate, often they take appear to have the same color as the hair of the infested person. An easier way to spot lice is to not look among the hair strand but rather focus on the areas near the ears, on the back and around hairlines.
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Forms Of Lice
There are three types of lice: nits, nymphs, and mature adults. Nits are eggs that latch themselves to the hair shaft, and they hatch pretty soon almost within a week. Since their size is tiny, it's difficult to locate them on the hair strands. Thus, most often people end up confusing them for dandruff. The eggs on latching produce lice that are termed as the nymph. These are gray and an immature form of the parasite. It takes 9-12 days for larvae to become a full grown adult.
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Preferred Environment Of The Parasite
Head lice stay on the scalp to get their daily supply of blood. The nits remain on the hair strand from where they move to the scalp to find nourishment. These lice which are the nymph and the adult ones are located on the scalp mostly around the neck and ears but can often move up to your eye brows and even the eye lashes. Lice can live up to a month provided there is a steady supply of blood minus which they die within days.
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Symptoms And Cure
The basic symptom that most kids and adults experience is the itching of the scalp, this happens because head lice bite you to feed your blood. The saliva of the parasite is irritating, and constant scratching can create sores. To find lice, the most effective way is to part your hair properly and go through each section with a fine comb. Washing your hair with Pyrethrum is also very useful. They can spread very easily just through contact, so it is advisable never to share the comb of lice infected person. Household animals and pets though do not spread lice to humans.
Did you know even smartphone usage can cause lice? Share your feedback using the comment box below.
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