Nits Can Help You Spot A Head Lice Infestation
Oftentimes, a person who suspects he or she has head lice will prematurely contemplate how to get rid of head lice without first confirming the presence of nits. Treating head lice without first determining if an infection is present is, of course, a mistake! Certainly you can't treat an infection that you do not have! Therefore, it is important to confirm suspicions at the onset, and the most effective way of doing so is through the search of nits in the scalp and hair.
A nit is a louse egg. You have probably heard the term "nitpicking" and this term refers to the picking out of the nits. When the lice eggs have been laid they rest on the scalp and it will be weeks before they hatch. If they are on the scalp then the person probably is already infested with lice or will be soon. This factor can be used to determine whether or not lice is present.
Nits are easy to spot as they share the same identifying characteristics. The tiny oval-shaped parasites attach themselves to scalp hairs. As the infection progresses, they will move further away from the scalp. Unlike dandruff, a nit will not come away from the hair shaft if you pull or shake it. They can be found in a range of colours, from brown and tan through to cream and yellow.
Although you can find nits with your hand, a better method is to use a nit comb - a fine toothed comb. These combs are manufactured to locate these eggs. You can use your hand or the comb to locate the eggs in your hair, and if you use the comb correctly, you might be able to remove the eggs in your hair.
You need to be sure that if you find anything, it's nits and not something else, as not everything that can be found on the head is a nit. Sometimes dandruff or hair product residue can look a lot like lice eggs. If you know what the identifying characteristics of nits are, you'll be able to tell whether what you've found is a nit or not.
If nits are present, then you definitely have an infection of head lice. Once you confirm that, you can then act to eliminate the lice. While searching for nits is time-consuming, you will appreciate the results when you infestation is no longer present.
The presence of nits needs to be confirmed before thinking how to get rid of head lice. Treating head lice without first determining if an infection is present is, of course, a mistake! They are louse eggs, which, once laid, rest dormant on the scalp and take weeks to hatch. They are tiny oval-shaped parasites attach themselves to scalp hairs and come in different colours. They can be removed by using specially designed comb. Dandruff or hair product residue is not to be mistaken as the louse eggs. The search will be time consuming but worth the trouble to get rid of them.
Published June 29th, 2007
