If termites cause headaches for homeowners, then lice can cause headache for most people as well. Lice can be both an embarrassment and a bother to most people especially when one is suffering from lice infestation. To be able to have a better understanding of lice, one has to be well informed and knowledgeable about this pest that invades our body.

What are the kinds of lice?

There are three kinds of lice. The most common is the head lice. These lice stay in our hair and hair strands. The second kind of lice is the body lice. These are mostly present in the seams of our shirt or clothes. They feed on our body but they do not usually stay on it. They usually prefer the clothes. The third kind is the pubic lice. The pubic lice stay in the pubic hair of a person.

What do lice nits look like?

Head lice are the most common type of lice. Most people can be affected by it, but as studies show, the school age children are the ones mostly prone to head lice infestation. Before it becomes head lice, they start as lice eggs or nits.

Lice nits can look like dandruff flakes. Most people still have difficulty in distinguishing between nits and dandruff. But on closer inspection you would be able to tell the difference immediately. Lice nits are oval in shape and their color range from white to pale yellow. They are mostly found on the strands of the hair. They would attach themselves very firmly to the hair strand that is why it is sometimes difficult to remove them immediately.

What do lice look like?

When the eggs grow in to adults it is now called head lice. They are usually compared to sesame seeds in size. They have oval-shaped bodies. They have six legs with tiny claws at the end. Head lice can be dark grey or dark brown in color. The adult lice are measured at 2 to 3 millimeters.

Head lice like to stay in the dark places of the head like the nape and behind the ears. These are the places where they thrive best. The adult female lice lay around 300 eggs.

If you want to know more what lice look like you can research some images from the web. They can give you concrete examples of what lice look like to guide you on what they really look like.

What Are the Stages of Head Lice?

There are three stages of head lice. The first stage is the nits or the eggs. Nits hatch in about 7-10 days. Once the eggs are hatch, the shell become transparent and are still left on the strand of the hair. The second stage is the nymph; this is when the nit has hatched. A nymph looks like lice but only smaller. The third stage is the adult lice. An adult lice usually live for 30 days.

What do lice look in hair?

Head lice would mostly stay near the nape or behind the ears. You can only see it if you part your hair near that area. What you can see mostly are the nits that are staying on the strands of the hair. The nits would be similar to dandruff flakes but one test you can do is to flick it. If it did not easily come off then chances are those are lice eggs or nits. The head lice would mostly be moving around the hair so it may be difficult to pin them down. Their color is also similar to ones hair so you will need a closer inspection for you to find them. If you check them using a microscope you will have a different view of what do lice look like to the human eye and from the microscope.

What do Fleas look like?

You might be wondering why I added this question; well there are some people who still confuse head lice with fleas so it is also important to distinguish one from the other. Also, this is also to debunk the fallacy that you get head lice from your pets. That is not really true, because head lice feed on human blood and once they lose contact with their human host they die immediately. So, it is safe to say that humans cannot be infested with fleas and head lice did not come from your pets.

Fleas are different from head lice. They are a bit bigger and have a more rounded shape. They also have a flatter body shape than the head lice.

The next time someone would ask you about what do lice look like, you are now better prepared in answering their question. Plus you are already equipped with the knowledge of what do lice look like and know how to tell them apart from other insects like fleas.

You feel your head itching; there are tell-tale signs of dandruff like substance found in your scalp. Could it be? No, it couldn’t be!? Is it lice egg that I see? More often than not, these are the questions that plague our mind when we suspect that we may have lice infestation. Lice infestation is mostly common to school aged children, but it does not mean that adults can’t have it too. In fact, head lice cannot really choose where they want to stay so anyone can suffer from lice infestation.

Lice Egg or Nits

The problem usually starts when we see tiny particles that cling to our hair strands particularly near the nape and back of the ears. These are what you call lice egg or nits. Based on the head lice eggs pictures, the nits or lice eggs look like very small transparent cocoon that houses the eggs. When it is almost empty or the nits died already, it would just look like very thin plastic casings.
These lice eggs are found mainly on the strands of the hair. On these pictures of lice eggs, you can see that they really stick to the hair strands like glue. They are also found in definite areas preferably the ones that are dark and warm.

Head Lice

Head lice are the grown-up of the lice egg. They are able to exist by sucking the blood from the human host. Usually, the main symptom of head lice is the itching. This is not really something to be alarmed about but you need to look into the matter quickly to remove the head lice that can really cause more of a discomfort to someone who has it.

How to Kill Lice Eggs

There are several effective ways to get rid of lice eggs. The tried and proven way is to use a nit comb. Based on this picture, you can see that the head lice comb is made of fine teeth. This allows the user to get most of the lice egg once you run it through the hair of someone that has head lice and lice eggs. You have to do this several times to make sure that the lice eggs are thoroughly removed from the head

Sometimes a nit comb is not enough. You might need some other substance to make the hair strands more pliable and softer. This will make the removal of the lice eggs easier and quicker. You can use conditioner, mayonnaise or even olive oil. Massage it through the entire hair and then try to use the nit comb. This can help more nits or lice egg to be removed. Make sure that you wash your hair with a shampoo to thoroughly remove the traces of the mayonnaise or whatever material you have used.

You can also use lice shampoo or lotion for faster removal, although you will need to have a prescription from the doctor because some of the chemicals used to remove the lice egg may be harmful for you.