The head louse is a long-known and rather specific human parasite. This insect has "chosen" the scalp for its habitat, successfully infecting both adults and children, and therefore, in general, head lice are considered more common and numerous than another related species - pubic lice.
Apart from humans, head lice cannot parasitize any other animals.. The reason for this is a very high degree of adaptability of lice to living and reproduction on human hair, and such exceptional adaptability is manifested both in the appearance of lice and in the features of their biology as a whole.
Below in the photo - head lice close-up:
It is interesting
The pubic louse has become quite rare in the last few decades, and many experts even believe that it may soon become an endangered species. This is due to the improvement of the sanitary living conditions of an increasing number of people, as well as the popularity of the bikini haircut on the pubis, due to which lice, in principle, are deprived of their normal habitats.But the fashion for shaved heads has not received much distribution, and therefore the normal habitat for head lice is found almost everywhere where there are people.
An interesting evolutionary phenomenon was the appearance of a separate form of head louse, which moved to clothes, and moves to the human body only for feeding - this is the so-called body louse (otherwise - linen louse). Over the many centuries that people wear clothes, this form of the parasite has managed to acquire some changes in the structure of the legs and general lifestyle that allow it to feel great on clothes.
In laboratories, body lice and head lice are able to successfully interbreed and produce fertile offspring. However, under natural conditions on the human body, they are almost always isolated from each other, and therefore, over time, they become less and less similar to each other.
It is interesting
The division of the head louse into two forms is a unique precedent, allowing scientists to observe in real time the process of formation of a new species of insects. It is even more interesting that it is human activity and the appearance of clothing that is the main condition for the isolation of body lice. It is quite possible that head and body lice will take quite a bit of time to become completely different species - in this case, it will be safe to say that a person unwittingly gave birth to a new parasite with his lifestyle.
Knowing well what lice look like on a person's head, you can be able to determine the presence of parasites even before they cause much trouble. Below are some photos of head lice, as well as nits that are usually the first to be noticed on an infested head:
Review
“When Dasha brought lice from school for the first time, I was shocked. In my childhood, my parents removed lice, but I thought that today this problem is no longer relevant at all. It turns out that lousy children regularly appear at school, especially after the summer holidays. The first few weeks of lice are not visible, and then the child begins to scratch his head, such white dots appear in him. These are nits. And the child is embarrassed to say that he has lice - everyone will laugh. Such people are usually not even allowed to go to school until they are cured. The good thing is that it's easy to get them out. I took Medifox, did everything according to the instructions, and combed Dasha's hair with a special comb for another three days. But if it happens somewhere in the village, then you need to use kerosene, and this is dangerous - the child can ruin the hair. It’s good for parents with boys, they can just shave the child’s head, and all problems will be solved by themselves. ”
Anna, Novosibirsk
What does a head louse look like: photos and pictures
The head louse is a small insect. The body length of an adult is 2-4 mm, while that of a nymph (as the lice larva is called) is from 0.7 to 2 mm. Lice have a light brown color, which allows them to successfully camouflage on the scalp and in the hair.
The photo below shows adult head lice and several eggs (nits):
After saturation with blood, the body of the louse turns red:
Lice do not have wings, and they cannot fly or jump far. But at the same time, lice move quite quickly both through the hair and the scalp, due to which, even with short hair contacts, different people have time to move to a new victim.
Review
“My Vanya picked up lice for the first time at the age of two - he didn’t go to kindergarten then and got infected, probably from one of the children on the street, where we all walk together. I was shaking all over when I saw them.Such disgusting! I also thought that it was fleas sitting with lice - those that are white are lice, and those that are red are fleas. Only later did it dawn on me that the red ones were lice, only with blood in the stomach. God, I was hysterical then, well, my mother-in-law was nearby, and calmed me down, and quickly did everything - I went to the pharmacy, bought hellebore water and then sat in the bathroom with Vanechka while the lice were poisoned ... "
Albina, Moscow
Head lice have a rather characteristic body shape - an elongated abdomen and forward paws. To the naked eye, head lice look like small ants, but a closer look shows that they have a more massive abdomen. The photo below shows what a head louse looks like at high magnification under a microscope:
Lice larvae (nymphs) are lighter in color and are characterized by translucent body covers. Due to this, after saturation with blood, a dark spot appears in the center of their abdomen - the translucent contents of the stomach. Nymphs also differ from adult lice in smaller sizes.
Below are a few more photos of head lice:
It is interesting
The body structure of the head louse is typical for insects, but it also has some features. Its paws have claw-shaped segments at the end, allowing the insect to easily wrap around a tuft of hair. The picture shows a head louse at high magnification: small antennae are located on its head, and the insect's abdomen has jagged edges.Interestingly, lice have underdeveloped eyes, and from their senses, they rely mainly on the sense of smell.
But nits are especially famous - lice eggs. They are very small - a little more than half a millimeter in length - and are glued to the hair by the female louse. Actually, it is the nits that first of all catch the eye, and therefore it is easiest to determine from them that a person is infected with lice.
Review
“I was the first not to see lice in a child, but their poop. Nightmare, I thought it was just some kind of garbage, but after all, he constantly appears. Such tiny black dots that if the hair were thicker, they would not be noticed. She started poking around in Lidochka's head and found it. First, nits on the hair, and then the lice themselves. A disgusting sight - they are so white, translucent. I don’t know how other mothers read something else on the Internet after that, find out. Ten minutes later I was buying shampoo at the pharmacy to remove this muck from my daughter ... "
Elena, Yaroslavl
Head lice in children look exactly the same as in adults. In many cases, it is from children that adults become infected with these parasites in kindergartens, schools and recreation areas.
When infested with lice, the head often takes on a characteristic scruffy appearance. No matter how inconspicuous head lice are, their nits are immediately noticeable in large numbers - they look like dandruff or just white sand in their hair.
The following photos show what a head louse and nits on the hair looks like:
Lice differ from other parasites primarily in size - mites and bed bugs are larger than them (small bug larvae, which also have translucent chitinous body covers, are a bit similar to lice). Fleas, a bit like lice, jump well and never breed on the head.
In general, a lice infestation sometimes looks more like some kind of skin disease than the presence of parasites on the head - parents often confuse the symptoms of the presence of lice in a child with an allergy.
The photo below shows lice on the head of a child:
Lifestyle and nutritional features of the head louse
The human head louse is a typical hematophagus. In other words, the only suitable food for this parasite is human blood. The louse sucks it, piercing the skin and the wall of the blood vessel with a special mouth organ.
It is interesting
Close relatives of head lice are lice eaters in animals. They feed on both the blood and secretions of the skin glands of their hosts, as well as pieces of dying skin. These parasites are generally easier to feed on blood than head lice, since most animals have hairy areas of skin with many blood vessels underneath. On the human head, the blood vessels are not equally easily accessible everywhere, and therefore lice are usually most numerous in the neck and behind the ears.
The louse sucks out about 0.5 mg of blood at a time, and must feed every four to five hours. When sucking blood, the louse injects saliva into the wound, the enzymes of which prevent blood clotting and facilitate its flow through the proboscis of the insect. These enzymes in many cases cause the characteristic blue spots at the site of lice bites, as well as allergic reactions in the victim.
The photo shows how lice look on the head during a bite:
Review
“We have long noticed that the little one constantly scratches his head, but we thought it was dandruff or some kind of allergy. I even bought medicated shampoos for him. Once I noticed some grayish spots on the skin in my hair, and then I read that such lice leave.I started looking - and indeed, these are lice. There were not many of them, but they came across, and the nits were on the hair. Before that, I never knew what lice look like on a child’s head, but here they themselves sat in some places on the hair. ”
Lydia, Rostov-on-Don
The following video shows how the circulatory system of head lice functions (under a microscope):
Interesting video: louse circulatory system
The optimal temperature for lice is 31-32 ° C, which is maintained precisely in the thick human hair. At this temperature, the louse dies without food for 2-3 days, and when the temperature drops to + 10 ° C, it can starve for up to 10 days
It is interesting
Lice are resistant to hypoxia and can survive up to two days after falling into water. Therefore, it is impossible to kill parasites by washing hair, as well as to strangle them by diving under water.
Lice on a person’s head live constantly, without changing their location. Unlike other parasites that crawl onto the human body only for feeding, head lice have adapted to the constant presence on the head, and therefore they are very sensitive to both temperature changes and hunger strikes.
Here are some more photos of lice and nits on the head:
It is interesting
Another parasite that has become completely dependent on the human body is the scabies mite. To solve the problem of saving eggs, it is introduced under the skin and lays its eggs there.
Adult lice live for about 30-40 days, and the larvae develop for about 15 more days. With a decrease in the temperature of the habitat, these periods increase.
And further: A very useful thing that allows you to get rid of lice and nits without any chemicals - a special medical comb ...
Lice on the head are kept mainly near the hair roots, in the zone of the highest temperatures. Only their females crawl up their hair to lay eggs, climbing to a height of 2-3 cm from the skin. In general, the parasite feels more confident precisely on the hairs, to which it can cling very tightly. In this position, the head louse (and especially the little nymph) looks like just a small growth and is difficult to see.
Review
“I don’t know where all these doctors on duty in the camps are looking - both my children and three friends came from the camp with lice. And you don’t even need to look for them in your hair - the whole hairstyle seems to be sprinkled with snow, nits hang on each hair. That's terrible. I called the organizers of the trip, stuffed everyone there, said that I would complain to the SES about the entire camp. So they apologized later, all in turn, from the director to the driver of the camp bus. They sent me home a box of chocolates and some kind of lice cream. No, well, not mockery?
Lilia, Odessa
Reproduction of head lice
Lice lay nits directly on the hair. Due to the sticky secret, which quickly hardens in the air, the egg adheres firmly to the hair, which ensures better preservation of future offspring. Some lice treatments, including vinegar and cranberry juice, soften the sticky substance, making it easier to comb the nits out of the hair after this treatment.
Each female lays about 100-120 eggs in her life, about 4 eggs per day. The development of the egg lasts 5 days, and the larva that emerges from it grows for about 15 more days. The larva is very similar to an adult insect and differs from it only in the absence of genital organs and smaller body size.
The photo below clearly shows how lice eggs on the head (nits) look like:
The entire breeding cycle at 32 ° C lasts about 18 days, at least 16. Its duration is affected by both temperature (on short hair in winter, the development of nits can generally stop, and the whole cycle stretches for months) and the availability of food. It is known that in people suffering from dermatological diseases of the scalp with the formation of dense crusts, the development of lice lasts longer.
The picture below shows the life cycle of a head louse:
Methods of transmission of head lice and their spread between people
Head lice are transmitted only from person to person, usually through direct contact. It can be children's games, sexual contacts, kisses at a meeting, hugs, contact sports.
Characteristically, lice actively infect a new person, even if their number in the host of parasites is small, and symptoms of infection are not yet observed. That is why parasites are actively spreading in children's groups: while lice on the child's head are found, he already has time to infect some of his friends.
It is interesting
There is a myth among the people that lice at a certain stage can be under the skin and not manifest themselves in any way until a person is very nervous. After the “nerves”, the parasites allegedly crawl out from under the skin and begin to multiply intensively. There are many variations of this myth, down to stories of bumps filled with lice and parasites in the brain itself. With the advent of new knowledge, such tales have become more "scientific" - today, lice under the skin cause cancerous tumors. Of course, such prejudices have nothing to do with the real state of affairs - lice never penetrate the skin, and their activity does not correlate with the state of the human nervous system.
Much less commonly, lice are transmitted on combs, hats, hair ties, and headbands shared by more than one person. And in very exceptional cases, lice can be transmitted through water, accidentally ending up in a bath or pool.
The following photo shows head lice next to the invisible:
Important!
Lice can be transferred from an infected person's full head of hair in public transport or in crowds. Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised in such places.
Why are head lice dangerous?
The most common consequence of a head lice infestation is head lice. This is a set of symptoms caused by profuse lice bites. Among these symptoms are itching, bite marks, bluish spots on the skin, and allergic reactions. In advanced cases, a person develops pustular skin lesions and even pyoderma.
Head lice very rarely carry pathogens of infectious diseases. In rare cases, they cause typhus and the so-called trench fever, but in recent years these diseases have been associated almost exclusively with body lice.
Lice do not tolerate AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases transmitted through the blood and lymph.
However, lice bites and pediculosis themselves are extremely unpleasant phenomena, and at the first appearance of them, you need to start fighting parasites as soon as possible. Read about how to do it right and not harm your health or the health of your child in other articles on our website in the section “How to get rid of lice”.
20 interesting facts about lice
Useful video: where do lice come from in a child and what to do to destroy them
And so, in fact, it looks like a huge amount of lice in the hair of a child
The child began to scratch his head a few days after playing for half an hour on an inflatable attraction. They jumped and rolled. We are not one step closer to these slides and trampolines. Wash your hair with a special shampoo according to the instructions. This drug is not cheap. The pharmacists in the pharmacy are very familiar with our problem. It turned out that now the problem of lice has acquired a large scale.
I run a kindergarten, in one of the groups lice appeared, in November, two children. All necessary measures were urgently taken, but quarantine was not announced, parents usually do not want publicity. All the children were clean during subsequent examinations; in April, one of the girls in the same group had lice (and the same one as in November). At home on a day off, my mother informed the teacher by phone. No other children were found to have lice. The mother of the infected girl, together with another parent, complained about the kindergarten to the children's clinic, the education department, and the city administration.Quarantine was announced in the kindergarten, the necessary measures were taken, spending a lot of money. And the child returned to kindergarten with a certificate confirming that he was in home quarantine (and where is pediculosis?) All other children are healthy! The question arises: for what reason was quarantine declared?
Dear parents, be more attentive to the health of your beloved children! Remember - these are your children, and no one but you will take better care of them than you. Love your children and do not shift the problems associated with their health to educational organizations.
I have these lice and nits now.
Victoria, calm down, you just need to cut your hair and buy a remedy for lice. Or you can not cut your hair much, but dye it. And the lice will disappear.
And if they were painted, and did it several times with these means, but they still exist? (
It is necessary to paint it white, with peroxide. You burn your hair a little, but the lice disappear. I did this to my kids when I was a teenager.
So prevention should be done: hats, combs, underwear, elastic bands - all disinfected.
Why do they live at all, these bastards? They only ruin life.
Then the balance in the world will be disturbed)
Yes, because they are also insects.
I am asking the same question. These little freak insects are already giving me a headache. But I'll show them!
I had lice, only children and one female, although I am 8 years old.
I had lice 2 times, it's generally scary
I had them "32" times, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just that my head itches a lot. It's only disgusting if you realize that you have insects running around in your head 🙂
Exactly
My head was full of lice, and even when I combed them out, I ate one.
Are you crazy?!
ONLY DICHLOPHOS WERE BROUGHT OUT! I found these reptiles with my daughter in the 3rd grade (in 2015), and for 9 years I could not even imagine that they even exist and what they look like. She scratched her head a couple of months before the end of the school year, I tilted her, looked under her hair, did not find anything, but when once again after washing her hair she sits and scratches again, I put her under a table lamp - and then I’m a little did not faint! And nits, and lice, just under the lamp, but simply in daylight they are not visible. And just a couple of days before the discovery, my mother painted my head, and found this creature with me, well, we crushed it and had no idea that it was a louse, we thought some kind of beetle. So, I rather ran to the pharmacy, bought a product, I don’t even remember which one, on an oil basis. The hair was combed well with a lice comb, the daughters combed it all evening, then they did it to me, my mother (grandmother). I didn’t do procedures for my husband, because. he has a short haircut and I looked at him, everything was clean. At the end, they rinsed with diluted vinegar and all passed with an iron. All week I scratched my daughter every evening and found nits that click! I also ironed her once and myself a couple of times, with a hot hairdryer, washing, ironing all clothes, beds, towels, mopping. On the third week, the procedure was again for my daughter and me (grandmother lives separately, so she had only one treatment, and nothing was found with her grandmother at first). After the third treatment, a week of respite and in the second week after the third treatment again found a small, newly hatched louse.Again shampoos against lice bought, all over again! Again I found a healthy louse in a week, probably picked it up from school. Then my grandmother says: try the usual Dichlorvos, and I decided out of hopelessness. Daughter sprayed and covered with a bag for 20 minutes. And myself too. After washing with shampoo, a hot hairdryer, not a single lice for a week, and dry nits do not click)) A week later, I repeated Dichlorvos to fix it - my daughter for 40 minutes, and I for 50 minutes. And that's it! That's all, two months of vacation have already passed, and my head is clear, now I constantly check it. And we didn’t have any allergies from dichlorvos, there were no irritations, everything is fine. And if you do not suffer from allergies, then you can immediately try it, the effect is 100%. And all these shampoos from pharmacies did not help us, maybe we have thick hair - our friends have a daughter, their hair is thin, and they brought it out of the pharmacy with shampoo the first time. I don't know what it's about, what works for some and not for others. But DICHLOFOS turned out to be a miracle and salvation for us! I made a promise to myself that when I finished fighting these creatures, I would definitely write a review, because. when I myself encountered, I read a lot of advice and reviews, which helped me a lot in the fight. Don't lose hope! Everything will work out!
You have a whole poem.
Dichlorvos is very dangerous, especially under cellophane. A toxic state may develop. Once a child was seen (by a doctor) after such a procedure - toxic arthritis, all joints were affected, fever, vomiting - horror. So I don't recommend it.
It is easy to get rid of gasoline: it is good to moisten your hair with gasoline, preferably the very roots, cover your head with cellophane and tie with a towel, walk like this for 20-30 minutes.Will pinch the skin slightly, then go to the shower and rinse thoroughly with shampoo several times. Next, comb your hair over some rag to comb out all the corpses of these parasites. Then wash your hair for 3 days with shampoo to remove the smell of gasoline! Checked)
I am 12 years old. I had lice. In the 2nd grade. They smeared my head with kerosene and everything cleared up, only my head burned, this is f*ck! But I don’t recommend it, because no matter how much you wash your hair, it will stink, and the skin will peel off ... Lice are evil.
Yes, not pleasant. And shampoo does not help, but dichlorvos definitely helps, just be careful, dear moms. It is better to spray into a vial, dilute with water and apply with gloves so that there is no burn, God forbid.
More horror, wow. I have never had lice, I am 11 years old, oh how scary!
And I have a problem in general: when I don’t come home from school, lice immediately appear. Uhhh what a horror, they can only be removed with Dichlorvos and hair dye, it helps me the most.
In childhood, there was such a case. This is terrible. It's also embarrassing in front of people. Dichlorvos helped.
Kerosene helps, 40-50 minutes on the head with a plastic bag, then it is washed several times from the smell with a simple shampoo. Not as smelly and flammable as gasoline. And gasoline is tin.
My child is 12 years old, we don’t know where these nits came from, the story is terrible! The school nurse, in front of the whole class, found (according to her daughter) shame, shame and horror. They took them out all summer, I'm 20 years old and they have never been! How to fight, tell me? Kerosene, dichlorvos, paint and various shampoos and sprays do not help. He refuses to cut his hair. It's embarrassing, he says. Tell me please!
Nastya, did you give birth at the age of 8?
I am 10 years old, I have had lice 7 times.
My head has been itching for two months, I thought seborrheic dermatitis, allergies, well, maybe bedbugs in feather pillows ... But today I caught first one, then the second louse. I thought it was some kind of beetle (I sifted flour before that, I also found a beetle there). Googled it, ooh. We examined under the lamp - a head of eggs is full. Where? I have no idea.
Lord, what should I do, these lice do not pass. I tried everything, nothing works, and I'm afraid to come to school, there are checks going on, heads are looking.
Who knows? Is it enough to wash clothes and bedding to protect yourself from the spread of lice in the future? (it’s clear with the head what we’ll process, but what about personal things?)
I caught a huge louse, immediately checked my daughter. She has too. Bullet rushed to the pharmacy. I bought something very expensive, which was given in a pharmacy. Both smeared, all according to the instructions. The next day I caught it again, so lively and nimble. I ran back to the pharmacy, bought something even more expensive. Spent a lot of money. Eventually they reappeared. I was advised a simple hellebore water. Handled by her. Now I'm afraid to see them again. I didn't think it would be so hard to get rid of them these days.
The person who is infected with lice is not to blame.
I have lice, nothing helps me. Say something strong.
I am now 15 and this is the 2nd time I have lice. Right now I have them. My head was constantly itching, but my mother and grandmother looked at the head and found nothing. And so I sit and scratch my head, then I notice that there is something under the nail, I took a closer look - and this is a louse.I wanted to check and click, but she fell. But that's her description. And now I'm sitting, puffed up with dichlorvos with a plastic bag on my head.
Try pediculene, sleep on a towel all night, I got through it. No need to cover, wash in the morning with regular shampoo and comb out with a fine comb, starting from the hair roots.
I have yellow lice, tell me what to do?
I caught it from my son, he is 11 years old, took it out with dust. It stinks, but what to do. First, she cut her hair bald, and added vinegar when washing.
I had lice, they were quickly taken out. But when we comb it with a comb, some black dots remain on it, and I don’t know what it is. The Internet writes little about this: someone - that it is lice excrement, others - that it is, as it were, unopened lice, something like that. It is urgent to find out what it is and get rid of it, because it is very scary. And you need to hurry, because in a day to go to the competition.
It's my daughter's second time. We started with Pediculen, but it’s just tin (she screamed so that she didn’t have the strength to listen, it burned badly). Now smeared with some oily garbage. Let's see!
In Soviet times, there was a grandmother's way: after washing the hair, comb out with a small comb (bone - there used to be such, the teeth of the comb did not break), and kill lice and nits right on the head, clicking them.
In the morning I sent my daughter to the dance, and she sits and scratches her head, suffers. I thought he was just playing around. Then, I think, I'll look, and there are these larvae. I'm hysterical now, damn it, what a mother I am, that I have a child with lice!
Lice are terrible, I have them now.
What to do, how to get rid of them?
Lice - this is some kind of kapsdets, as soon as I saw the pictures, my head was spinning right away ...
I took it out a week ago, and yesterday I found it again with my daughter. I am very worried about those who walked with us!
Lice are the norm. I even like it.
I'm 18, my sister brought these bastards from school (14 years old). I thought I had dandruff and my head itched because of it. But when the “nymph” remained under the nail, I realized that things were bad. It was 2 weeks ago. Only she and I have lice, thank God, no one else thought to sleep on her bed (90% that I picked them up from her pillow). Today, without a second thought, I decided to brush my hair with a fine comb after washing my hair. There are 2 of these creatures left on it! I was with a guy on the weekend, and now his family is also in danger. Lice, see you in hell! You can't be anywhere else! And ruin my life.
Hygiene helps, it costs around 200 rubles.
Lice are dangerous, they drink a lot of blood, lay a lot of nits. Spray NUDA is the best, removes these freaks immediately, with 1 application.