Head lice don't care how "old" your hair is

I was speaking to a parent the other day while removing head lice from her daughter and she was under the impression that adults don’t get lice as much because their hair is “old.”  Lice do not discriminate by age. To them, hair is hair.

Lice are, however, particular about the kind of hair they live in. There are several types of hair they can’t tolerate.

• People with hair that’s less than ¼” long. Lice need hair and warmth to survive.  Therefore, no hair means no lice.
• Some African American hair does not seem to get lice especially if it’s short/corn rows and has lots of hair product/oil in it.  It is a myth that African American hair will never get lice.
• People with balding or thinning hair don’t typically get lice.
• Hair on babies that is thin and wispy.
• Head lice only like head hair, not other types of body hair. There are different types of lice for different types of hair on the body.

Lice heaven would be long, straight, thick hair.  If I were a louse and I made it to the pearly gates of lice heaven, I would want to be in an 8-year-old’s thick long hair. I could set up shop and no one would be able to find me for months!

I get calls every day from frantic parents who don’t know if their child has lice and need me to help them diagnose it over the phone.  Well, diagnosing can be tricky business when you have no idea what you are looking for.  Hopefully this article will help you really know if your child has lice or not.

What do nits look like?

Nit and lice compared to a penny. Photo courtesy of CDC website.

First, when looking for lice you are actually looking for the nits, or eggs, that the lice have laid in the hair. It’s difficult to find an actual bug since they will scurry and hide.  Nits are stationary and can’t hide so they are easier to find. Another fallacy, nits are not stark white!  Color is purely dependant on the color hair of the person in question.  On white blond hair, nits appear brownish and on black hair nits appear a light tan. Nits will be very small and FIRMLY attached to the hair shaft about ¼ to ½ inch away from the scalp.  They are 3-dimensional teardrop to oval shape and only on one side of the hair, not wrapped around the whole hair shaft. The only way to get a nit off the hair is to actually pull it down the length of the hair. Dandruff is white, flat, irregularly shaped, and will easily come off the hair strand. You may need to use a magnifying glass or use strong reading glasses so you can see the individual strands of hair more clearly to identify nits.

If you are lucky to find a bug in the hair, then you will know that you definitely have lice. The bugs can range from tiny as a pinpoint size to 1/8 to ¼ of an inch long. They are dark brown in color, long oval shaped, and have six legs. They do NOT have wings.

Fool-proof method of detecting lice

Always use a good metal lice comb

If, after all of that explanation, you’re still unsure I always recommend the following: either buy a metal lice comb at the drugstore or use your dog’s flea comb and comb through your child’s hair after it’s been thoroughly washed.  With the hair wet and detangled, comb through the hair, scraping gently along the scalp (remember the lice and nits are close to the scalp) and pull to the ends of the hair.  Swipe a couple of times through the hair and then wipe the comb on a WHITE paper towel.  If you see little brown oval dots (nits) or brown bugs, then you have lice. If you see yellow or white, this is not lice but just scalp naturally coming off in the comb. Make sure you are sampling all over the head and not just in one section.

Good luck!  Hopefully you will not have to implement this article but if you do…… I wish you all the best!