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!