The head lice cycle is something that will be good for you to know more about if you are having problem with lice and want to eliminate them. Head lice can multiply rapidly on a person's head if something is not being done fast. Hence, it is very important that you know what their life stages and how to deal with them at each stage, so that you can get rid of them once and for all.
Louse is the singular term of head lice. A louse will start off as nit (egg) stage first, which is in pale yellowish white colour. It has a type of glue that allows the nit to get firmly attached on hair shaft. It is usually found near the scalp because it needs the human body warmth in order to hatch. It can be quite difficult to remove nits and it is also difficult to spot them as they can be really tiny.
Nits will incubate for about 7 to 10 days before they start to hatch. After a nit is hatched, it becomes a nymph (baby louse), which is white or clear colour. As such, it is also difficult to spot nymphs. These nymphs will start feeding on human blood from the scalp and as they grow into adult lice, they will also turn to dark brownish red colour. Yes, you might have already guessed it. It is the colour of human blood that has filled up their bodies! As lice start to bite on the scalp, it will cause intense itchiness on scalp.
Female lice that have already reached maturity will go on to produce more eggs on the scalp, which make matters worse for the affected person. Lice do not have wings so they cannot fly off or jump to other places, so the only place they can lay eggs is still the scalp. Moreover, the scalp provides a 'nurturing' environment for female lice to lay eggs. The scary thing is that a female louse can lay up to 100 eggs each time. Imagine how many eggs can be produced potentially if there are 10 female lice on your head! Hence, I must stress that it is important that the infected person be quick to take action to eliminate these lice before they multiply!
There are many ways to deal with head lice. Whether is it using a lice shampoo or using home remedies, the important thing for an infected person to do is to start taking action to eliminate these lice before they start multiplying!
