7 Things You Never Thought to Ask About Lice

7 lice questions

“Mom, Dad, My Head Itches”

Your heart sinks, you automatically assume the worst. But surely those gross little critters wouldn’t pick your precious child to infest. Right? You hope that maybe the school bully just gave them an exceptionally tough noogie.

You whip out the comb for a quick check, and yes. The lice have landed.

You freak out. What to do? You whip out the hair clippers, or maybe the mayonnaise and prepare to battle the tiny creatures. Not today…

Does this sound like a familiar situation? At Lice Clinics 805 in Vertura, CA we know this feeling.

Most people when confronted with a lice problem feel scared, confused, maybe even angry. And they definitely have questions. Here at Lice Clinics 805 we hear all the questions you could think to ask.

Here are some of the more interesting question we have heard since we have been in business. And If you are one of these people and you have a lice problem right now, we are here to help you take care of it.

No, lice can’t jump, hop, or skip onto your head because they have a really big abdomen (bug butts, if you will) and no hind legs to get any lift off.

There is a common rumor that lice can fly which is also, thankfully, false. Lice do not have wings and have not figured out any other method of flying.

The way a louse gets from place to place is by crawling, so this is the only way they can get to the one place we don’t want them to get.

Head to head contact is the only way to transfer lice. Don’t worry about being in the same room as someone with the nasty creatures, but do be cautious of any cuddling, close hugging, selfie-taking, or other noggin tapping.

Although HEAD lice are most common, the answer is yes eyelash lice is a thing. Lice can live on any hair on your body, head, eyelash, eyebrows, armpits, chest…you get the idea.

That being said, we usually don’t have to worry about the eyelashes and eyebrows because lice prefer areas that don’t get much sunlight. They tend to live at the top of the neck or behind the ears.

They also need warm areas to maintain their body temperature. This is why they tend to go for the warmest part of the body, the head.

In rare cases, If a case of head lice gets very severe, it can spread to other parts of the body. But this won’t happen if you take action as soon as possible. This (rather yucky) video from The Doctors shows what can happen when lice get out of control.

The answer to this one is both comforting and a little bit eerie.

The answer is no, your pet won’t get lice from your kid or vice versa. Lice are species specific. The same way you don’t need to worry about getting fleas from fido, you don’t need to worry about little timmy giving the family dog or cat lice.

This means that human lice can only survive on human blood and dog lice can only survive on dog blood.

The next time you are feeling unimportant just remember that there are creatures out there who will literally die unless they drink your blood! Comforting right?

Lice can only live for about a month, up to thirty days if they have the best possible conditions. But, what they lack in time they make up for in effort.

Females lice can lay about 8 nits (lice eggs) per day after they become fully grown, which takes only about a week.

But that life span is only for lice who have a head to live on. If their little lice claws were to fail them and one fell off they would die in 1-2 days.

Thats why, while is a good practice is to wash and dry your recently worn clothes, sheets, bath towels, and any stuffed animals your children might cuddle with at night, it’s much less likely they will get re-infested if you forget to put Mr. Snuggles in the dryer.

The hair straightener remedy is one of the more irresponsible ways to tackle a lice problem by yourself.

It is true that the amount of heat coming from a hair straightener would most likely kill a louse. The problem is that lice live very close to the scalp, about 6 millimeters.

Getting that close to the scalp with a hair straightener is not only difficult, but dangerous.

The best way to get to the lice without hurting the scalp is with an Full Service  Treatment offered at Lice Clinics 805.

Yet another misconception about DIY lice treatments. True, some hair dyes do contain chemicals that can kill lice. Some of these same chemicals are harmful to human hair.

The fact of the matter is that hair dyes are made to do one thing, dye hair. And they won’t be effective in getting rid of a lice infestation.

Even though I respect anyone who is daring enough to dye their hair just to MAYBE get rid of SOME of their lice it is always better to use proven remedies.

Lice can and do survive underwater, but the chances of catching lice from someone actually decrease when the hair is wet.

Lice enter a state of shock when confronted with water, they hold on to the hair for dear life while they hold their tiny breath…for up to eight hours! This means that if you already have them they are not going away easily, and if you don’t, you should not worry about getting them in a body of water.

No one ever wants to utter the word ‘lice’ into existence, so hopefully some of your questions have been answered before you even knew you had them.

Although you may feel like an expert now, there are people who are trained and specialize in lice treatment (I know, glamourous).

Lice Clinics 805 is made up of these people. People that can handle the problem for you so you don’t have to worry or even think about it.

Get all your lice question asked during your lice screen session.

Schedule yours today!