Lice Conditions & Symptoms

Clean Hair

• Lice love clean hair because it's easy to grab onto. Contrary to popular belief, lice are not a dirty person's condition. The cleaner the hair, the more they like it. Greasy, residue-filled hair is harder for the louse to grab onto.
  
  

Warmth

• Lice also love warm places and cannot survive without warmth. That's why they enjoy the head. If lice are without warmth and a food source for more than 24 hours, they die.
  
  

Itching

• Lice cause intense itching of the scalp. The itching is a result of the lice biting the scalp. People with lice have sometimes reported the feeling of something crawling on their head.
  
  

Lice Eggs (Nits)

• An adult louse can lay up to six eggs a day and 100 in its life cycle. The eggs are glued to the hair shaft, a few millimeters away from the scalp.
  
  

Nit Characteristics

• A nit, a louse egg, is oval in shape, about the size of a period, and is glued at a slight angle to the hair shaft. They are brownish yellowish in color, often shiny. They are the most difficult to kill and remove.
  
  

Treatments

• Treatment options include medicated gels/shampoos with over-the-counter pesticides; removing nits by hand through combing or cutting the hair; shampoos with non-pesticide medications; herbal treatments, including tea tree oil; suffocating agents such as oil and mayonnaise; and anti-parasitic drugs.