What Are Head Lice?

Head Lice: what are they and what should I do if I or a loved one has them?

About the size of a flattened Sesame seed, head liceare parasites that are commonly found in the scalps of humans. These pesky bugs need blood to survive, which of course they take from their human hosts, and it’s the insects saliva that causes the host to experience the extremely uncomfortable and persistent scalp itching associated with an infestation. For more information on head lice symptoms, Click Here.

Head lice go through three stages of development to reach maturity. Lice eggs, called Nits, will either be laid in the host’s hair by an already present adult infestation or the host will pick up the eggs from infected clothing or contact with another person who has head lice. The eggs will eventually hatch into an immature version of the adult louse. During this stage, the young louse, or Nymph as it is called, will begin feeding on the host’s blood; saliva from the bug will trigger an allergic reaction which will cause the severe itching infected people experience during an infestation.

It takes the louse about 7 days to develop into a fully grown adult, all the time it’s growing it is also feeding on its host. A fully grown adult louse will have six legs and will appear tan or grayish in color, although they are known to take on the same color of their host’s hair, especially in people with darker hair. Once the louse reaches adulthood, it will live for approximately 30 days (during this time it continues to feed of its host) and during this time it will mate and produce more eggs and the cycle will continue.

Somewhere between 6 and 12 million people experience the unpleasant effects of head lice infestation annually worldwide, and while numerous treatments have been developed, the majority of them have either been proven useless or potentially harmful to the human host, due to the toxic chemicals some of the “cures” contain.

Lice Busters NYC are internationally recognized experts on preventing, treating and eliminating head lice infestations. Our guaranteed treatment involves the use of the world’s best lice combs to remove the bugs from the infected individuals head by hand. Developed and manufactured in Germany, this state of the art comb, when combined with our specially formulated non-toxic and all-natural head lice solution, will remove the infestation usually within an hour. To learn more about how to successfully treat a head louse infection, please Click Here.