Oh, Head Lice Give Me The Creeps!

So it is time for school again and one of the things that many teachers will face this year just like in the years past will be the battle of the head lice.

It simply does not matter if you are rich or poor, if your hair is short or long, or if your hair is dirty or clean, head lice really aren’t all that picky, they simply love a hair shaft. So if you have one then you are at risk for getting head lice.

There are three kinds of lice that can infect humans.

Each of the varieties of lice have different characteristics and experts vary over whether they are all even the same species. Head lice, body lice, and pubic lice all create problems of their own. The head louse is common while the body louse is rare.

The body louse can be found on people living in unsanitary, crowded conditions and where people wear the same clothes for days. Pubic lice, also known as crabs, invade the pubic area and are transferred from person to person by intimate contact.

The most common of all the lice in the United States, these little buggers are a significant problem for school age children. While they are known to be spread by physical contact, lice can be found all types of conditions, including both sanitary and unsanitary conditions. Of all the folks in the US who endure head lice, 75 percent of those suffering with lice children under the age of 12.

While the numbers of those suffering with head lice are higher for girls, it certainly does not mean that boys are exempt from lice infestations. With school children, it is easy for the infestations to be passed on from the child to another member of the family.

These little critters love the hair shaft and they aren’t that particular about where they live. If one person is infested with lice, it is easy for the rest of the family to be infested. Because of the shape of the hair shaft, those of the Caucasian decent have more infestations of head lice.

Head lice are reddish-brown in color and they are wingless. Because the poor little things are wingless, they are incapable of leaping from one person to another. The adult female head lice is only 1/8 inch long and the adult male is 1/10 long.

Female lice are busy little mamas, laying anywhere from 50 to 150 eggs. Less than half the size of the head of a pin, these eggs called nits, are shiny white and they securely glue themselves to the hair shaft as close to the scalp as they can snuggle. The eggs hatch in approximately five to ten days and they then become known as nymphs.

In three weeks time the little nymphs shed their skin three times and then they are pronounced to be an adult head lice.

With a mild infestation, the lice are found around the ears and along the hairline at the back of the head. However, with a more serious infestation of head lice, the entire scalp may be covered and as disgusting as it sounds you may even see nits in the eyelashes! Totally gross!

The itching related to head lice can be more intense at night which can even begin to interfere with sleep. Scratching while asleep and then scratching another area of the body can even lead to a secondary infection, making things even worse. With extreme cases of head lice, you might even see other symptoms such as fatigue, rash, chills and even leg cramps.

Head lice must be treated to assure a complete eradication of the problem. If the over the counter head lice treatment doesn’t take care of the issue then contact your physician for the best course of action for you and any family members suffering from a head lice invasion.

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