Why is it so Difficult to Get Rid of Head Lice?

The key to getting rid of Head Lice is being able to effectively remove or eradicate all the nits or eggs that the louse or lice have laid in a person’s hair. All treatment options that are over the counter or in prescription form only treat the live lice not their eggs. Therefore, the eggs continue to hatch and reproduce and it seems that you will never be able to get rid of the lice.

Life cycle of a Louse

• Nits are laid by an adult female louse and hatch 7-10 days from when they are laid.
• When a louse is first hatched it’s called a nymph. during this first stage, the nymph needs to eat soon after it hatches or it will die; and its body is clear in color and becomes darker as it starts feeding. It’s outer shell is like a coat of armor and will shed out of it as it grows. From the day it hatches, it takes another 7-10 days and three stages of molting until it becomes an adult and the female is mature enough to start laying her own eggs.
• The adult louse has a life expectancy of 30 days and a female can be fertile for 20-30 days. Once the louse becomes an adult and mates she can lay 6-10 nits per day, therefore the female can lay more than 200 eggs in her lifetime.