Lice and Hygiene

There are many misconceptions, both on the internet and in the world, about the role that personal hygiene plays when it comes to lice. Most people assume that if there are lice present, that basic hygiene is being neglected, which is almost never the case. What most people don’t take into account is that lice are a human parasite. Lice feed off of human blood and do not care about the state of the hair. While lice do seem to prefer cleaner hair, no human head will ever be too dirty for lice to not start an infestation.

Lice, like all living creatures, need a certain type of environment to survive. That environment is the human head. A human head with hair provides everything necessary for lice to thrive. Lice live at the temperature of the human head (about 90゜). Any louse that leaves the head will die within 24-48 hours without a new host. The nits (eggs) that lice lay, incubate like chicken eggs. If at any point these nits were removed from the hair strand, they would no longer be viable. Since these nits are glued to the hair strand the chances of them being removed by anything other than  a nit comb are minimal. Washing, conditioning or dyeing the hair will not kill nor deter lice.

Contrary to popular belief, lice do not fly, jump, or burrow. They climb, using loose hair strands as a bridge to transfer from host to host. This transfer, which has a 99% chance of being a result of direct head to head contact, only takes 3 seconds. Any number of daily activities such as quick hugs, selfies/group pictures or sharing hair brushes could introduce you to lice. This indicates that when dealing with lice, personal space is much more important than hair washing and a sanitized house.  Unlike fleas and bed bugs, lice are unable to lay dormant and do not infest the house. While some cleaning is suggested, if lice is found, your focus should be on manually removing all nits and lice with a nit comb.

Head Hunters, L.R.S.