Like most insects, head lice are oviparous, which means that they lay eggs just like fish, reptiles and birds do, with little embryonic development within the female louse. Head lice eggs (also known as nits) contain a single embryo, laid close to the human scalp and are firmly attached to an individual hair shaft. The female louse secretes a glue like substance from her reproductive organ which is the "sap" that fastens the nit to the hair shaft.
In the warmer months head lice eggs can be found further down the hair shaft (away from the scalp) and in the cooler months they are generally laid within 1cm of the scalp surface. These eggs can be hard to see as they can be mistaken for dandruff. They are a yellow, white colour but unlike dandruff they are not so easily slid down the hair shaft. Once laid this glue quickly hardens around the hair shaft and covers the egg leaving a small cap opening from which the embryo breaths. Head lice eggs are an oval shape and are between 0.5 millimetres and 2 millimetres in length.
The female louse can lay between 50 and 150 eggs and these eggs will hatch about one week after they are laid. Once laid, a nymph emerges, leaving its shell behind and still attached to the hair shaft. The egg will eventually disintegrate but this can take months and sometime years, generally the empty shell would be physically removed during head lice treatment.
Where nits are left in the hair after treatment, which is quite possible being so small, these eggs will proceed to hatch and start a new generation of head lice. You'll find majority of treatments on the market recommend you repeat the process 7 to 10 days after the initial treatment. This is not fancy marketing but quite a solid recommendation as the second treatment will target any undetected hatchlings from the first infestation of head lice.
As removal of the head lice eggs is essential to eradicating the problem it is important to use a nit comb. A nit comb has teeth that are very close together, designed to get a good grip on the tiny eggs and detach them from the hair shaft.
Young children with longer, thicker hair may find head lice removal a little uncomfortable. However there are many conditioners, combing solutions and detanglers on the market that make removing head lice and their eggs with a nit combs much easier.
It is said that using a conditioner or combing solution will actually slow the head lice down allow you to see where they are and assist in head lice removal. As they do crawl exceptionally fast in some cases you may find them difficult to locate. Apply the solution after treatment to complete the treatment or you can use the combing solution to examine the hair.
Apply and then work to untangle any knots which will help to make the combing a little easier. The hair should be divided into 4cm sections and, using the metal teeth of the comb, run the comb from the root of the hair to the tip. After every comb wipe off the head lice and eggs on to a tissue and repeat until every strand of hair has been combed.
Posted in: Lice Eggs
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