Head lice are tiny, insects that cannot fly.
The adult head lice are similar in size to a plant seed.
Because they are susceptible to low temperatures, they stick to human hair, near to the base, keeping close to the warmth of our heads and close to their source of food - our blood! Around three million people in the UK catch nits and hair lice every year - and they're very common among school children.
This is because children tend to play close together and often their heads will touch.
Your child's hair can be long, short, straight, curly, light, dark, clean or dirty - they aren't fussy where they live.
As they feed, head lice can cause your child's head to itch.
Fortunately, with natural safe products getting rid of them it need only take a ten minute treatment! Crucial to getting rid of nits and lice is to break the nit and head lice life cycle.
It's useful to have a guide to help you understand the life cycle is the key to getting rid of nits and head lice infestations.
The life cycle is as follows: The life cycle starts with the mature female laying eggs on the hair shaft, she uses a strong adhesive to fix the egg (nit) in place.
The eggs hatch within about 7 days and 2 days later it reaches the 'First Nymph' stage.
It is at this stage that the nymph first sheds it's skin and it is often when the discarded white skins become noticed in children's hair.
The 'Second Nymph' Stage occurs approximately 3 days later and once again the nymph sheds it's skin leaving more tell-tale signs of the presence of nits in the hair.
The Third Nymph Stage - 5 to 6 days later this is the final time the lice sheds its skin before becoming an adult.
The larger female adults begin to reproduce and can be expected to lay their first eggs 2 days after mating.
The highly fertile females can lay anything up to 6 to 8 eggs per day for the next 16 days! So it's no surprise that just one or two infested heads in a class can quickly become an outbreak! 33 to 35 days later the adult head lice die.
Head lice are extremely effective at reproducing themselves so whenever lice are detected it is best to take action immediately.
A graphical version can be seen on the nit nurse life cycle resource page at www.
nit-nurse.
com/nit_lice_life_cycle.
html
The adult head lice are similar in size to a plant seed.
Because they are susceptible to low temperatures, they stick to human hair, near to the base, keeping close to the warmth of our heads and close to their source of food - our blood! Around three million people in the UK catch nits and hair lice every year - and they're very common among school children.
This is because children tend to play close together and often their heads will touch.
Your child's hair can be long, short, straight, curly, light, dark, clean or dirty - they aren't fussy where they live.
As they feed, head lice can cause your child's head to itch.
Fortunately, with natural safe products getting rid of them it need only take a ten minute treatment! Crucial to getting rid of nits and lice is to break the nit and head lice life cycle.
It's useful to have a guide to help you understand the life cycle is the key to getting rid of nits and head lice infestations.
The life cycle is as follows: The life cycle starts with the mature female laying eggs on the hair shaft, she uses a strong adhesive to fix the egg (nit) in place.
The eggs hatch within about 7 days and 2 days later it reaches the 'First Nymph' stage.
It is at this stage that the nymph first sheds it's skin and it is often when the discarded white skins become noticed in children's hair.
The 'Second Nymph' Stage occurs approximately 3 days later and once again the nymph sheds it's skin leaving more tell-tale signs of the presence of nits in the hair.
The Third Nymph Stage - 5 to 6 days later this is the final time the lice sheds its skin before becoming an adult.
The larger female adults begin to reproduce and can be expected to lay their first eggs 2 days after mating.
The highly fertile females can lay anything up to 6 to 8 eggs per day for the next 16 days! So it's no surprise that just one or two infested heads in a class can quickly become an outbreak! 33 to 35 days later the adult head lice die.
Head lice are extremely effective at reproducing themselves so whenever lice are detected it is best to take action immediately.
A graphical version can be seen on the nit nurse life cycle resource page at www.
nit-nurse.
com/nit_lice_life_cycle.
html
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