From An Egg to a Louse: The Life Cycle of Head Lice

Whisper this seemingly innocent 4-letter word inside a preschool within hearing distance of a teacher or parent. You’ll experience a similar reaction of panic and worry of screaming ‘cops’ at an all-night frat party! As practical and sensible beings, humans manage to lose their wits whenever faced with lice outbreaks. Calm down and think about this: lice removal is easy yet difficult at the same time. This doesn’t mean parents have little chance of effective and thorough lice removal. What about prevention?

Lice Are Highly Contagious

Head louse is actually quite common in the United States especially among preschool and elementary school-age children. Their household members and caregivers also come under the wrath of lice, which is a large number of people according to statistics.

Treating Head Lice? Understand The Critter First!

Every good battle strategy is designed after understanding the enemy first. What will happen if you jump headlong into a completely scenario without knowing how to win against all odds? Similarly, it’s important to know about head lice before starting a treatment plan as this will ensure better success. Lice doctors in Winter Park also reiterate importance of combating lice at every stage of their life. The three stages of the common head louse are: the adult louse, nymphs and nits.

Nits or Lice Eggs

Known as nits, lice eggs are difficult to identify as many can mistake them for dandruff. Nits are laid by an adult female louse and measure only around 0.8mm long. Nits are white to yellow in color and require warmth to hatch, which is probably why the females lay them about 6mm from the scalp. Other places nits are found are behind the years and nape of the neck.

Nymphs

The second stage of life of lice is called the nymph. After hatching, the egg shell remains to the hair shaft and becomes more visible (changing to a dull yellow color). The nymph is really small and fast, only the size of a pinhead but still looks like an adult louse. Nymphs become adult lice after 6 to 10 days of hatching.

Adults

This is the third and final stage of their life cycle. By then, head lice are around 3mm in size and have a tan to grey-white body with 6 legs. The female is typically larger than the male louse and can lay up to eight eggs in a day. Lice require human blood as sustenance and can live for 30 days on a person’s head. This means the adult female louse can produce up to 240 nits or eggs during her cycle. Coming up with a treatment plan can still be difficult especially if all your children catch head lice at once. The best course of action is to visit Lice Troopers and enjoy the many services offered by this lice treatment center Winter Park! Stay calm and let us do the job.