Are you driven mad with the ongoing head lice? Do you know the best way to get rid of head lice? What is the most effective lice treatment and lice comb?
First of all let’s clear up some common misconceptions on head lice removal and head lice treatments.
- Lice cannot jump onto your head, your head must have direct contact to someone else’s head who has them.
- Head off lice need to feed off your blood by inserting a tube like structure called the haustellum, this is what causes the itching.
- An individual louse must feed off your blood every 4-6 hours, therefore cannot survive off of the head for more that 1 day.
- It is less likely to catch head lice from hats, brushes linen and towels.
- The lice lay eggs and attach them to the hair strand with a glue like adhesive that is more easy to dissolve with an oil like substance.
- Conditioner is a water based solution which will swell the hair shaft and make it harder to remove the nits (lice eggs).
- A mature female will lay eggs after 10 days, keeping on top of the live lice will control the lice infestation.
- Only a certain percentage of eggs will be killed with lice remedies, so the best head lice treatment should be repeated in 7 days to kill the mature lice.
- Eggs that are more than 6mm away from the scalp are most likely already hatched or dead, so it is common to see the with dots on the hair shaft in someone who isn’t actually infected.
Pediculosis Captis is the formal name for head lice and has been document as far back as biblical times in Exodous 8:17 when Aaron “stretched out his hand and struck the dust on the earth, and it became lice on man and beast”. It is most common, but not exclusive on girls aged between 3-10yrs. Usually found around the crown of the head, these creatures have 3 pairs of legs and narrow sucking mouth parts that inject saliva into the scalp causing the itch. Head lice remain close to the scalp and live for up to w 4 weeks, the adult female aged around 10 days lays the eggs which attach to one side of the hair shaft with a sticky glue like substance. She will lay approximately 8-10 eggs per day and the larvae will hatch in about a week.
The issue with treatment is that over time head lice have become resistant to a lot of chemical treatments available. Each country has a slightly different resistance to the various chemical treatment offerings available.
At Salon Apothecary we believe the best natural lice treatment for hair lice removal is Eco Kid, it’s an Australian made product for the Australian market. This can be purchase in salon or online. Eco kid also has a full range of lice shampoo and conditioners for head lice prevention.
To treat lice professionally you must repeat the head lice treatment within 7 days to break the cycle once the larvae have hatched and are not mature enough to lay eggs.
