The last thing you’d expect is to contract head lice at home. Your home is where you feel safest; it’s where you can be yourself without any judgments, without any external threats.
So when you’ve been enjoying the tranquility of your home and relaxing during hard-earned vacation days, the idea of contracting lice inside your house sounds ridiculous.
Lately, you’ve been focusing only on self-care and haven’t even hang out with friends. The occasional visit to the local grocery store is all the interaction you’ve had with people. Can a two-minute conversation with the cashier lead to an infestation?
Or did you contract the critters from your beloved furry friend?
Here’s why that’s not the answer:
You Probably Contracted it From Outside
But you haven’t been anywhere in the past three weeks! How is it possible? Don’t lice show up within two days once you’ve contracted them?
This is a misnomer and is not the case. Lice can survive in human hair for 30 days straight. And there are times when they attack silently. It takes a female louse one day to lay six eggs. These eggs hatch within a week’s time and grow into adults in 10 days.
So, it actually takes head lice approximately 2 weeks to show themselves. A louse on its own may not cause intense itching. But a flock of lice can make you scratch your head like there’s no tomorrow.
That’s exactly why lice victims don’t find out they have an infestation until it’s too late.
So think back to before the symptoms appeared: Did you go out with friends to a party? Did you just get back from a short vacation? If you stayed at a motel or hotel, you may have contracted lice from there.
Three Days Without Human Blood is Enough
There’s a common misconception that lice cannot live without human blood. That’s only partly true. Lice can survive up to three days without human blood.
Lice are similar to camels; they can store enough blood inside their bodies for three days so they don’t starve (camels store water, not blood, of course). Since head lice can crawl at a fast pace, they usually hide in places where they can easily get access to human blood.
This means that you can find them hiding underneath your pillow, bed sheets, and blankets.
They can also hide in carpets and then quickly crawl onto your bed.
Keeping Your Home Safe
Head lice love to hide in small, unnoticeable places. Because of their small size, it’s easy for them to camouflage themselves. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it!
Lice Troopers can help make your home lice-free. We offer
home inspection services to identify the areas in your home that have been infested by these strangers. We’ll make sure all of your blankets, carpets, pillows, and bed sheets are free of lice so you don’t have to worry about a re-infestation!
As for getting rid of the critters from your hair, you can visit our
lice salon Coral Gables or free to go for an in-home treatment if you want discreet solutions.
Call us at 800-403-5423 for questions and queries!
