«revengeA louse lives around 30 days. It takes 8-10 days for an egg to hatch and another 8-10 days for a louse to mature enough to lay eggs of its own. During the 8-10 day maturation process, the young nymphs molt 3 times, growing larger with each molt. The nymphs are very hard to see because they are very nearly transparent and only about the size of a period. Adult lice are very fast on a hair shaft and hard to see because they hide from the light. When you part the hair to take a look, they've already moved on. That's why most people diagnose a head louse infestation by finding nits.
A mature louse lays about 6 eggs a day. When dealing with a head louse infestation, you want to make sure to check for nits and remove them. The only way to know if you still have head lice is to remove all the nits, then see if you find more nits a day or two later. If this is the case, you still have live lice on your head, whether or not you have seen them in their travels. » |
