A lice life: from nit to lice bite

The Life Cycle of Lice

Have you ever been startled by the number of lice suddenly swarming in your child’s hair? That’s perfectly normal, as an adult female louse lays up to eight nits daily for about ten days. After seven to eight days, those tiny nits (grey-white specks) grow into young lice, called nymphs. Seven to ten days later, the nymphs mature and the females begin to lay nits of their own.

Adult lice don’t need much to survive. They feed solely on human blood and can even survive for eight to twenty-four hours without food and warmth before they die from dehydration.

A Predilection for Warm Spots and Static Hair

Lice prefer a warm environment and tend to lay their eggs behind the ears and in the neck area. So, make sure to check those areas extra carefully when performing a lice check on your son or daughter. Have you noticed that some children are more prone to lice than others? That has nothing to do with hygiene, but rather with the electrostatic attraction of their hair. The greater the static charge, the easier it is for a louse to crawl from one scalp to another – lice do not jump or fly. That’s why a large head of curly hair may carry a slightly higher risk.

Fighting Lice with a Safe Product

The better we understand lice and what they need to survive, the more effectively we can combat them. Fortunately, today we no longer have to resort to old wives’ remedies or dangerous chemical products. The anti-lice product Elimax contains a special oil that suffocates the present lice and dries out their exoskeleton. The Lice Protection Factor (LPF) in Elimax shampoo and lotion keeps new lice at bay. The LPF coats the hair and reduces its attractiveness to lice.

Elimax is safe for children from one year of age and is readily available at pharmacies.