Head lice are causing fear and worry all across the United States this Halloween. More and more children are becoming infected as lice is worse than it has been in decades in our public school systems and everyday life.
In fact, Lice Clinics of Texas has opened clinics all across the country where we treat people who become infected with head lice. Our clinics help hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children with their head lice problems.
Here are 10 SPOOKY things you didn’t know about head lice that will surely cause your heart to race and your palms to sweat!
#1 – There has been a 30% increase this year in the cases of head lice reported! Some states, such as Washington and Oregon, have seen a 60-80% rise in head lice cases.
#2- Head lice bite the scalp and drink human blood. A louse will inject saliva into the scalp that actually prevents blood from clotting, allowing them to snack on the same spot a few times before they move on. If this doesn’t gross you out, you might need to stop watching vampire movies.
#3 – Head lice saliva and fecal matter are left on the skin of the scalp. These bodily fluids are the main reason that people infected with head lice feel itchiness and soreness. The traces of saliva and fecal matter from head lice can cause allergic reactions and irritations to the scalp.
#4 – If you are seeing adult head lice on your child’s scalp, they have actually been infected for several weeks. Head lice start out by a single adult who lays eggs. An adult louse takes up to two weeks to mature. This means that there have been lice and nits, or lice eggs on your child’s head for several weeks for symptoms and problems to start manifesting from several adult lice.
#5 – A single adult female can lay one hundred eggs in just a few days. Twenty four hours after mating, a female will begin to lay her first eggs. She continues laying again, and again, and again for several weeks. As you can see, if you have several adult female lice on a scalp, the problem will escalate quickly.
#6 – Head lice are more active at night. This frightening little fact could be a big reason that your child is not able to sleep. Think of all the little head lice slowly crawling from hair strand to hair strand while they lay in bed at night.
#7 – Water does not kill head lice. They are able to hold their breath underwater for several hours. This is why simply shampooing or bathing does not kill head lice.
#8 – Girls are more likely to attract head lice! Why is that? Head lice are more common in long hair because they can easily attach to it when in direct contact with another person who is infected. The longer your hair, the higher your chance of getting head lice.
#9 – Head lice can lie in wait on pillows, bedding, small crevices in the fabric on furniture in search of a new human host. If a louse does not have the blood and warmth of a human host for 24 hours it will die. Once a louse if knocked off of a scalp they will jump at the chance to find a new victim to infest.
#10- Over the counter shampoos DO NOT KILL HEAD LICE! Lice are showing resistance to insecticides that have been designed to kill them. For years overuse and reliance on shampoos and powders have created “super lice” that are immune to their potency. No single product from a general store can kill eggs and head lice in one treatment.
If these facts don’t start to scare you – we don’t know what will! Contact Lice Clinics of Texas today for the facts on how to be rid of head lice!