What are head lice?
Head lice are insects that live on the human head, which is the perfect warm, humid environment for them to thrive. These parasites feed on blood from the scalp and even inject a substance to make sure their meal doesn't start clotting before they've finished eating. This can cause itching, and although they don't carry disease, scratching can break the skin, leaving it open to infection.
Each head louse has an adult life span of 30 days, during which it could lay up to 300 eggs. While alive, they can be difficult to get rid of because they can survive washing by holding on tightly to the hair, and closing the holes along the sides of their bodies that they breathe through (spiracles) for long periods of time. Luckily, there are ways of removing them, such as those available in the Lyclear range of expert solutions.
What do they look like?
Head lice are only about the size of a sesame seed when they're fully grown. They can't jump, hop, fly or swim, but they can crawl extremely fast. Their 6 legs end in hook-shaped claws to tightly grasp the hair, and they only let go when they die or are physically removed. Contrary to popular belief, brushing the hair vigorously is unlikely to break their legs or get rid of them.
Head lice attach their pearly-white eggs to the base of individual hairs close to the scalp. 'Nits' are dead, unhatched eggs, which are brownish in colour, and empty egg cases, which are white and look a bit like dandruff. As the hair grows out, so the nits grow with it, making them easy to see.
