When you’re met with a case of lice infestation, the Google search engine can become your holy grail. After loads of information, DIYs, and recommendations it can be overwhelming when you try to decide what actions to take. The Lice Clinics in Anderson know how daunting treating head lice can be and we have the staff and equipment ready to properly treat and eradicate the condition for affected individuals.
Firstly, you need facts over fiction. Reliable information is vital to treating head lice because it’s a condition that can easily worsen and spread. At our clinic, we offer state-of-the-art treatment with our Lice Tech Machine which is so effective our patients need just one treatment. Head lice can be tricky to handle if not treated properly. Below we will discuss some common misconceptions, the basics of the condition, and treatment options.
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What Are Head Lice?
To understand how to treat a case of head lice, let’s first understand what they are.
These sesame-sized bugs live on the scalp and thrive off of a healthy blood supply from it. Full-grown louse are incredibly small and fast-moving so seeing them with a naked eye is difficult. At The Lice Clinics in Anderson, we use a microscope to determine whether or not a person has head lice. They also tend to be the same color as the hair of the person they infect, which also makes them incredibly difficult to see.
They have tiny hooks at the end of each of their six legs that allow them to firmly grip the hair shaft. This prevents them from being removed with basic combs or brushes. Even submerging them under water from washing will not effectively remove them because of these hooks. They can live on the scalp for up to 30 days and a female louse can lay an average of about 6-10 eggs per day.
How To Remove Lice Eggs
Now you might be wondering that if you remove the adult head lice then you’re all good. Quite the contrary. Lice eggs, also called nits, are just as tricky to remove from the hair as an adult louse.
Firstly, when female head lice lay their nits they do so close to the scalp, about ¼ inch above it. This alone means that a regular comb or brush will not properly remove them because the teeth of those tools are too large. Using those items will not get close enough to the scalp and will just graze over the nits. The texture of the eggs also makes them difficult to remove because they stick to the hair strands. They take about 8-9 days to hatch on the scalp and another 9-12 before they fully mature.
In order to properly remove head lice from the scalp you need a proper fine-tooth metal comb specifically designed for this type of removal. They will not just fall out of your hair, even the dead nits that remain after a nymph (the name for a head louse before it has matured) has hatched. If they are not removed by comb then the only other way they can be removed is by cutting the hair itself.
As you can see, removing dead lice eggs and adult head lice is an overall nearly impossible task without the proper tools and treatment.
Common Questions About Lice Eggs
Before we discuss treatment options, let’s first go over some questions we commonly get asked by patients when they visit our clinic.
Do Lice Eventually Die Off?
In short, yes they do eventually die off but not after they have done some significant damage. As previously stated, a female head louse can live up to 30 days and lay about 6-10 eggs a day. Basically, at the end of their life, they can lay around 300 eggs on an individual’s scalp. And that’s just from one louse. Imagine each of those eggs hatching and continuing the life cycle even after the original head louse dies off. So even though from a distance, head lice don’t live for that long they can rapidly multiply in a short amount of time. This means they can worsen the condition in less than a week for an affected individual.
Will Lice Go Away If I Shave My Head? Can I Feel Them With My Fingers?
Some might think that an easy solution to removing lice eggs and head lice from their scalp is to just simply shave their head. It makes sense at first because earlier we stated that one solution was to in fact cut the hair since lice eggs will not fall out on their own. Before you grab a pair of scissors or clippers, please remember that nits are about ¼ of an inch above the scalp. This is incredibly close to the root of the hair and simply shaving your head is not an effective way to remove them.
We also discussed earlier that head lice are incredibly small and can only be properly seen through a microscope. Nits are even smaller, about the size of a knot in the thread, and are often mistaken for dandruff. So you cannot feel either with your fingertips.
How To Remove Lice Eggs From Hair: Lice Tech
At The Lice Clinics our specialty treatment, the Lice Tech, is the most effective way in removing lice and nits from the hair. It is a 3-step 1-hour process that ensures patients will need only one treatment to be head lice-free. The Lice Tech is a guaranteed machine that uses warm air to decimate head lice and nits.
After going through a screening process, you can opt to receive a Lice Tech treatment. We will first go in with the Lice Tech to kill the head lice. After that, we will spend 30 minutes using a special fine-tooth metal comb to remove all of the dead lice and their eggs. Lastly, we will apply an oil treatment to the scalp.
We also offer a number of other treatments, such as a do-it-yourself-kit, an express Lice Tech treatment, and a traditional comb-out.
The Lice Clinics: Your Trusted Source For Treating Head Lice
At The Lice Clinics in Anderson, we pride ourselves on being the most trusted in removing dead lice eggs and lice in all of North Carolina and South Carolina. We are the largest professional lice treatment network with over 850,000 successful treatments and have been serving the cities of Anderson, Spartanburg, and Greenville for years.
Our experienced staff and top-grade technology are always prepared for any case of head lice and we are confident in our capability to eradicate your head lice condition the first time.
