Head lice are a very disturbing condition to suffer from primarily because of the fact that it is usually considered to be a sign of an unhygienic lifestyle. The actual lice are parasitic insects that live in the hair and scalp of humans and will develop through three main stages such as nits, nymphs, and adults. The nits are the eggs laid by an adult female louse and are very minute. In fact, they are so hard to see that they are very often brushed off as being no more than droplets of hairspray or dandruff. The nits attach themselves very firmly to the shaft of the hair and will usually take a week to hatch. Once the egg hatches, out pops a nymph, which is an immature version of the adult louse. Nymphs feed on blood and will mature into adults within a period of about 7 days. The adult louse is usually the size of a sesame seed and has six legs. The coloration of the insect may vary depending on the color of the host’s hair.
Adult lice have a lifespan of about 30 days during which they feed on blood. If the louse falls off a persons head and does not have a host to feed on, it will live for no more than a couple of days.
Head lice can travel freely from one person to another via direct contact. Simply wearing the clothing of someone that has head lice is also likely to allow the condition to manifest on your scalp. Avoid sharing any kinds of hair gear like caps and scarves as well as bedding with anyone affected by head lice.
The condition is likely to cause an excessive amount of itching around the areas of infestation.
Some of the effective treatment options when it comes to dealing with head lice include preparing a mixture using the yolks of two eggs mixed with 3 tablespoons o f vinegar and lemon juice each and apply it over the scalp. Allow the mixture to dry for a period of about 20 or 30 minutes before you wash it off with some warm water. Olive oil is also very effective when it comes to dealing with head lice and simply applying some of the oil over your head and covering it with a plastic bag for the duration of the night should be more than sufficient. When you awake in the morning, remove all the head lice with the help of a lice comb.