How to Calculate How Long You Have Had Head Lice

The news has broken, and your kid has lice. We know the drill. Panic immediately sets in while a million questions run through your head at the same time. You’re thinking how long could you’ve had lice? How did this happen? We’re tackling the first question among many—how to calculate how long you have head lice.

Lice Life Cycle

To be able to calculate how long you’ve had lice, we’ll need to understand the lice life cycle.

• Once the lice have spread to the person’s head, the female louse will start to lay their nits or eggs; an infestation has begun.

• The first nymphs, or baby lice, will appear 7-10 days later.

• Nymphs will continue to eat and grow over the next 7-10 days.

• Before becoming adults, nymphs will molt their exoskeleton three times in order to mate. You can think of this as the louse teenager stage, based on the various molting phases the louse might be.

• During the third and final molt, the gender is determined based on what is needed for a growing colony and are now officially adults.

• Once genders are determined, the females will mate, and the life cycle begins again.

It is important to note, after the first successful lice generation, the females mate only one time and lay nits for the remainder of her lifespan. The louse lifespan is usually between 30-33 days, and females can lay up to 10 nits (eggs) a day.

Calculating How Long You Have Had Lice

Now that we’ve learned all the fun details on the life of lice let’s get down to the bottom of how long you’ve had lice. Lice infestation is typically noticed in 30 days after the nymphs have become adults and begin to mate. Female lice are larger than male lice, which means they can be easier to spot in someone’s hair. When you examine the scalp of a person with lice, you will be able to see lice at the various stages in their life: nits, casings (shell after hatching), nymphs, teens, and the adults. By understanding the life cycle of lice, if there are more nits than adults on the head, we can assume you’ve had lice for longer than 30 days. This means there has been longer than one louse life cycle on the head because the adult lice were able to lay and hatch their nits.

For a more technical calculation of how long you’ve had lice, we can measure how far from the scalp the eggs (nits) are. Female lice lay their eggs as close to the scalp as possible, and hair grows about 1 cm per month. For example, if you find nits in your hair and they are measured 2 cm from the scalp, we can calculate you’ve had lice for two months.

How to Avoid Lice at Sleepovers

Sleepovers are one of the most fun ways that your child can socialize with friends. Whether it’s to stay up past bedtime with the neighborhood kids or to celebrate a birthday, staying over at a friend’s house away from home is an exciting rite of passage for kids in their adolescence.

But given the close contact that kids have at sleepovers, slumber parties are also an opportune time for lice to spread. Here are a few ways to help prevent your child from getting lice at a sleepover:

 Talk to the parents about lice

While parents always connect before allowing their children to sleepover at someone else’s house, they should also have a transparent discussion about lice to avoid an outbreak at a sleepover. Make sure that there is no history of recent lice infestation at their friends’ homes before letting your child sleepover. If one of their children has recently had lice, confirm that the home and all members of the household have been treated and cleared of lice.

 Avoid sharing grooming items

One of the most fun activities for girls at sleepovers is to do each other’s hair, but sharing hairbrushes and accessories is also one of the most common ways that lice spread among children. Before sending your kids to sleepovers, make sure that they have their own hairbrushes, ties, barrettes and combs. Also, have a discussion with them about the importance of using their own hair tools and not sharing them at a sleepover to avoid getting lice. If possible, also send them with their own pillow.

 Do laundry after the sleepover

After your child returns from a sleepover, doing laundry can help avoid spreading lice if a child in attendance was infested. Be sure to wash any clothes, sleeping bags, blankets, sheets, and pillowcases that accompanied your child to the sleepover to reduce the chances that lice came home with your child.

 Schedule a screening or treatment session with Larger Than Lice

If you find that your child does have lice or suspect that they do after attending a sleepover, schedule an appointment to be screened or treated professionally for lice right away. We offer in-home appointments 24/7, 7 days a week.

The secret costs of head lice

We have shared many posts about the dangers of home remedies for head lice, including safety, chemical exposure, and risk of cross pollination among family members. In this post, we want to address perhaps the most important factor – cost!

Professional lice removal can be expensive, especially when multiple family members in the home are affected. However, procrastination in the form of attempting to rid yourself or your family of lice via home remedies is the single highest cost many families experience.

By the time families come to see us, they have often already spent hundreds of dollars and have nothing to show for it.

There are many hidden costs to home lice treatment that many families simply don’t think about, and waiting too long to get professional lice treatment can mean spending more than double the typical cost of professional lice removal.

The Potential Costs of Home Lice Treatment

Dry Cleaning: $$

Lice co-pollinate up to 90% of the time in any given household; however, they are unable to live for more than 24 hours in the environment outside of a scalp. In other words, they cannot easily spread from the scalp to clothes, furniture, or other household accessories.

Not knowing this, we often see families rack up huge bills for dry cleaning in an attempt to eradicate what they thought was a house-wide infestation!

As we say, “don’t burn your house down” just because you find lice; simply doing the laundry with an all-natural detergent will do the trick.

Over-the-Counter or Home Treatments: $$

Put simply, these do not work!

New strains of “super lice” have built a resistance to traditional over-the-counter treatments. Applying Nix or any similar product to the scalp and hoping for the best is not going to solve the problem; in fact, it may make things worse by providing a short-lived, false sense of security that ultimately results in reoccurrence and the spreading of lice to others.

Nannies & Sitters: $$$

Want to know what is really great about head lice?

It always happens on a day when your schedule is completely free, with no obligations or responsibilities!

Ha!

Actually, head lice are one of the top three reasons kids miss school each year.

When receiving a call from school or daycare demanding to “pick up your child immediately,” many parents are caught completely off guard and wind up having to hire a nanny or babysitter to pick up and watch their child for the remainder of the day.

Even if lucky enough to find someone in the spur of the moment, costs accrue quickly. Hundreds of dollars, even! Couple that with failed home remedies and what was originally a one-day ordeal quickly turns into two, three or more.

Missed Work: $$$$

Can’t find a sitter? Family and friends not particularly thrilled about the prospect of looking over your lice-infested child while you head off to work?

Sounds like a missed day at the office!

Those of us with school-aged children know how hard it is to balance teacher planning days, holidays, sick days, and inconsistent school schedules with busy work schedules. It requires a lot of understanding by the boss and your fellow coworkers. For that reason, unplanned days off due to a lice outbreak can be especially stressful for working parents. Not to mention the lost pay or vacation days spent staying home.

The Alternative

Professional Lice Removal

Why spend unnecessary money when there is such a fast, easy, affordable and safe option available—with Larger Than Lice, you can rest assured that every single live louse and viable nit will be removed – in just one visit. After one lice treatment, and minimal laundering, you can rest at ease and be confident that you and your home will be lice-free. 

Parents warned kids at risk of ‘super head lice’

PARENTS are being warned their kids could bring home more than just homework when the start of the new school year begins

Experts say youngsters are at risk of "super head lice" which have evolved to become resistant to popular over-the-counter treatments.

The pesky bugs are a common problem, particularly preying on the scalps of primary school kids aged between six and nine.

Head lice expert Ian Burgess, of Insect Research & Development Limited, said when Lyclear Creme Rinse hit the market it "swept the board".

But, he warned, it leaves insecticide in a sufferer's hair.

While that may sound an appealing prevention measure, he said the bugs have slowly learned biologically to cope with it.

Research by Journal of Medical Entomology (JME) revealed that 98 per cent of head lice are now resistant to common treatments.

The 2016 study of 48 US states found that head lice were able to grow gene mutations, which helped them resist insecticides, also known as pyrethrins, pyrethroids, and permathrins.

Professor Craig Williams, of the University of South Australia, has been researching ways to outwit nits.

Speaking to 7NEWS, he said: "Super lice would be the name we would give to lice that have become resistant to some of the treatments to kill them."

He likened the spread of the super-strength lice to antibiotic resistance - the more we use insecticides, the bigger the problem becomes.

Be prepared

But dermatologists say that being better prepared for head lice season can help stop the critters in their tracks - and reduce the risk of them spreading to other family members.

The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) has come up with some simple steps to prevent an outbreak:

1. Make sure that you have the essentials at home already, include a large bottle of conditioner and a nit comb

2. Check for nits pre-emptively at home using a nit comb to identify infestation early, prompt treatment helps prevent further spread

3. If you do find evidence of nits, get to work with the nit comb.

Lubricating the hair with a generous amount of conditioner to wet hair will make the procedure easier, particularly for curly hair.

You should then comb through all the hair from the roots to the ends.

Depending on the hair type and length, the wet combing process can take up to 45 minutes

4. The comb must be immediately cleaned after each pass to remove lice and eggs.

This is best done by wiping on clean white paper or cloth

5. Check family members for head lice – they may have spread

6. To ensure all head lice are removed, you should repeat this wet combing process two or three times within the first two weeks following infestation

7. Continue to check for head lice every week for a month to ensure that they have not returned.

Holly Barber of the British Association of Dermatologists said: “Although it’s important for parents to be prepared for the increased risk of head lice infestation in their children ahead of the new school year, chemical treatments shouldn’t be used as a preventative measure.

"This can encourage the resistant head lice to develop, making them even harder to get rid of.

“Instead, the British Association of Dermatologists recommends regular examinations with a nit comb in order to detect an infestation early, as starting treatment sooner rather than later will help prevent further spread.

“Parents should also keep in mind that head lice can spread to anybody, no matter how clean their hair or home is.

"It is unnecessary to keep children home from school if they have head lice, however, treatment should be started immediately.”

While there are also some over-the-counter treatments that don't contain pesticides, so lice can't build up a resistance to the product.

Dr Burgess said: “It is important to deal with head lice promptly to prevent the infestation from spreading further.

Avoid Catching Lice During the Spring Sports Season

Spring is in the air, sports are getting started, and kids are getting ready to put on their helmets. Helmets and hats are easy ways for lice to spread quickly, but it doesn’t stop there. Once one child on a team has lice, they quickly spread to the rest of the members of the team. So it is essential to do everything possible to help our children to avoid catching lice in the first place. By paying attention to a few details, we can put an end to lice outbreaks.

Use Your Own Helmets and Hats

During the spring, baseball, softball, and tee-ball are all in full swing. It doesn’t matter if your child is playing in the outfield or pitching up a storm; they will be wearing a hat or a helmet. Lice are surprisingly resilient and can survive for around two days on different surfaces. If there is a child on the team with head lice, sharing their equipment could easily cause others to catch lice. The best way to avoid this is by simply not using helmets and hats used by teammates.

Don’t Share Brushes

When your child is getting ready for a game, it is common to get ready with the other kids. That means getting into uniform, looking over plays, and for female athletes, putting their hair up. Sharing brushes is one of the most common ways that head lice can be spread. Avoid catching lice this spring by making sure that you bring your combs, brushes, and barrettes.

Pay Attention in Huddles

At the beginning of a game, after a break in the action, or during a substitution, huddles are everywhere in sports. Your children could be rubbing their heads against each other unknowingly catching lice. As soon as their heads touch, lice spread from player to player. It isn’t practical to avoid huddles all together in sports, but you can warn your kids to avoid catching lice by not making head-to-head contact.

Bring a Fully-Stocked Duffle Bag on Team Trips

Away games are always exciting for children taking a trip with their friends. These experiences are amazing, and we want to make sure that they are enjoying their trip and their game. However, it will be hard for your child to enjoy anything if they have itchy head lice. The best way to avoid catching lice is to ensure that your child is using their own clothes, towels, hats, and pillows while on a team trip.

Keep Everything Clean

Being safe is better than being sorry. Even if there has not been a lice outbreak on your child’s team, it is important to keep their items clean. Take extra care to make sure that their sheets, pillowcases, combs, and everything else are clean. There may be no need to worry, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure.

Test Your Lice Knowledge

With so many scary stories and misconceptions out there about lice, it’s easy to get the wrong information and completely panic when you think (or know) your child has head lice. But, much of the talk that’s swirling out there are just myths and have no scientific backing. So, how much truth do you really know about head lice? We’ve put together a quick True or False quiz to test your knowledge and help ease your fears.

#1-TRUE OR FALSE: Having lice means you have poor personal hygiene.

Answer: FALSE
Lice are non-discriminatory when it comes to hair cleanliness. They simply require any human hair, whether squeaky clean or completely greasy. Lice feed on tiny bits of human blood, and the hair is just a place where they hang on. Also, washing your hair repeatedly as a way to get rid of the lice will not work. They can withstand being submerged in water for hours and have a pretty firm hold on the hair shaft.

#2-TRUE OR FALSE: You need to throw everything away and start over if you get lice.

Answer: FALSE
This is a common myth that has everyone frantically running around, cleaning their home from top to bottom, washing and rewashing their linens. Lice do not live in the house, only on the human head. Lice can only live removed from the human head for 48 hours or less, so only the items that have come into contact with persons’ heads will need to be cleaned. Items to clean include the infected person’s bedding, hairbrushes/combs, and any hats, scarves or helmets worn recently.

#3-TRUE OR FALSE: Pets can’t carry lice.

Answer: TRUE
Have no fear. Your pets do NOT carry human head lice. Lice are a human parasite and only survive on human blood. Dogs and cats can only get fleas.

#4-TRUE OR FALSE: You can get lice by being in the same room as a person who has lice.

Answer: FALSE
Lice cannot jump, nor do they have wings! They can only crawl, which is why they are passed through direct contact. This is one of the reasons why avoiding direct contact with another’s hair or head is the best way to protect yourself from getting head lice.

#5-TRUE OR FALSE: Lice are resistant to over the counter shampoos.

Answer: TRUE
Lice have developed resistance to the chemicals in the most common over the counter treatments. A study published in 2016 shows 98% of lice now have mutated genes and developed resistant to over the counter shampoos and many prescription treatments as well.

#6- TRUE OR FALSE: Lice prefer blondes.

Answer: FALSE
Since lice hang out as close to the scalp as possible, hair color (natural or chemically dyed) is never a factor.

 #7-TRUE OR FALSE: You can “outgrow” lice.

Answer: FALSE
While it’s uncommon for babies to get lice, toddlers, school-age children, teenagers, college kids, and adults are all susceptible.  Close living quarters where items are shared (like college dorm rooms) and taking selfies are some of the most common ways for lice to spread in older kids and adults.

#8-TRUE OR FALSE: If one of my kids gets lice, everyone in the family should be checked – even if they don’t share hairbrushes or beds.

Answer: TRUE
It’s recommended that all family members be checked by a professional if you suspect someone in your home has lice. About 80% of mothers whose children have lice are also positive.

#9-TRUE OR FALSE: Short hair is the answer to never getting lice.

Answer: FALSE
This is a very common myth associated with head lice, and it’s simply not true. So many people have chopped or shaved hair off of their children’s head when confronted with head lice, but the sneaky parasite can live on hair as short as 0.1 inch! They like to hang out as close to the scalp as possible, so go ahead and keep your locks as long or as short as you like.

#10- TRUE OR FALSE: You should keep the fact that you have lice a secret.

Answer: FALSE
Since lice can be contagious, it’s recommended that you make friends or family with whom you have come in close contact aware – this will only help in getting rid of the pest as fast as possible! Plus, you don’t want to get lice again, right?!

If you scored 7 out of 10 or better, congratulations! You know your stuff! If you didn’t, take a look at our other lice blogs on our site where you can learn some interesting facts about lice and what to do about it if it happens to you or your child.

Does Head Lice Spread During Winter Season?

Parents might think that lice won’t thrive and spread during the colder months, but that’s just another myth about lice. With kids back at school and especially with holiday travel, colder weather months are actually times with the highest amount of lice outbreaks.

 While lice nits won’t hatch when it is below room temperature, they survive based on the body temperature of a human – not the temperature outside. But there are precautions you can take to avoid getting and spreading lice. Here are some prevention tips and what to do if you do become infested with lice:

 Prepare for back to school season

Make sure to be in touch with your child’s teachers and school administrators if you suspect an outbreak may be happening at school.

 Avoid sharing winter attire

It may be tempting to let your kids share scarves and hats during the winter, but this is one of the most notorious ways that lice are spread. If you think that you or your child has lice, be sure to wash all of your attire thoroughly, especially winter accessories. Also, check out the blog about what to do in your home after a lice outbreak.

 Be aware when traveling

With families traveling during the holidays, it’s important to take precautions to prevent a lice outbreak. Make sure to read hotel reviews before booking, use your own personal hygiene tools and get screened for lice at the first sign of any lice symptoms.

Four ways to deal with head lice and nits

Parents dread discovering an infestation of the itchy menaces, but with the right approach you can stop them in their tracks

Act fast

“People are not treating an infestation at the earliest stages,” says Ian Burgess, the director of the Medical Entomology Centre in Cambridge, whose research is cited in the Nice guidelines for this persistent problem. “We quite often find people with hundreds and occasionally thousands of lice,” he says.

Dee Wright says: “If you check your child’s hair and find a bunch of nits [eggs], you should be combing immediately, rather than waiting to spot a live one. It’s good to do a weekly check.”

Comb with Care

“Lice are movement-sensitive and scraper when you touch the hair,” warns Wright. Dividing the head into sections helps avoid missing any. Detangle the hair first and use conditioner. Metal combs, especially, can shred individual hairs, says Burgess. “We have even come across pseudo nits, where the comb has peeled back little knots that look and feel like nits,” he says. “So if you’re going to comb, you need to use a lubricant and do it carefully.”

Forget chemical pesticides

Burgess says that we have known about pesticide-resistant lice in the UK and US since 1995, yet chemical pesticide treatments are still sold – and frequently recommended by pharmacists and prescribed by doctors. “GPs aren’t listening,” he says. “It’s hardly surprising there are a lot of lice.”

Play the long game

Silicone-based shampoo treatments, otherwise known as physical pesticides, may effectively smother the lice, but some of the dreaded nits can survive. “We looked at nearly 1,895 case records,” says Burgess. “Most of those who had baby lice appear after a treatment had them within the first week, but the longest case was 13 days.” Either treat again a week or so later, or keep combing for a few weeks to catch any late hatchers.