Lice Information

Educate yourself on the problem.

Lice Facts

Lice are parasites that need blood to survive. They can’t survive for more than 24 hours without food. Louse eggs can’t hatch off of your head, and they can’t reattach. For this reason, sterilizing your entire home is unnecessary.

What are the symptoms of head lice?

A tickling feeling of something moving on the scalp or through the hair. Red bite marks caused by excessive scratching, or a red rash on the back of the neck.

How do you get lice?

Lice is transmitted mostly through head-to-head contact. It’s more common in young school-aged children, but lice do not discriminate. If your child has lice, chances are that they’ve contracted it from a friend at school. During nap time, dress-up, circle time, and telling secrets are all common ways for lice to be spread. Lice can also (though less commonly) be spread through the sharing of hats, helmets and brushes. It’s contracted easily, so, if your child has lice, it’s important to have your entire family checked.

Who gets head lice?

Anyone can get lice. They don’t care about age, gender, or hygiene. To have lice doesn’t mean you are dirty!

Lice on hair

Lice cannot jump or fly – they are crawling, wingless insects.
Head lice are not a symptom of being dirty – they actually prefer clean hair.
Symptoms include itchy scalp, red bite marks or red rash on nape of the neck.
Lice cannot travel to other parts of the body.
Over-the-counter lice shampoos do not kill nits or young lice bugs.
Head lice cannot live on your pet.

Lice Life Cycle

DAY 0: Egg is laid on shaft of hair.
DAY 6-10: Baby louse(nymph) hatches.
DAY 11-16: New baby lice grow to adults.
DAY 17-18: Adults begin to reproduce.
DAY 18-19: Females lay their first eggs.
DAY 19-32: Females lay 4 to 8 eggs a day for the next 30 days.

Lice in different development stages.

What are head lice and what do they look like?Head lice are tiny, six-legged, wingless, blood-sucking parasites. They can’t fly or jump but they can crawl quite quickly! Live lice can range in size from 2-4mm. The baby lice (nymphs) are extremely small, about the size of a period. Ordinarily nymphs will be transparent and often extremely difficult to see. Also nymphs live flat on the scalp which makes them even more difficult to see. Adults can vary in color from grayish white to reddish brown. Like a chameleon, they camouflage to fit their surroundings!

Louse under microscope

What are nits and what do they look like?

Nits (louse eggs) are very small, about the size of a sesame seed. They are laid by the adult female and attach at an angle to a strand of hair with very strong glue. They are yellowish, tan or coffee color ovals. Additionally, louse eggs are often found near the crown of the head, around the ears and near the nape of the neck. Usually nits take 7 to 10 days to hatch.