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 all share the same characteristics that make them easily spotted. The nits are not very large, they are oval shaped and will be found clinging to the hair near the scalp. The age can be determined by how far they are away from the scalp. The younger ones are on the scalp and older ones farther down the hair shaft. A nit will not slide or move down the hair shaft, unlike dandruff. They can be of varying colors including cream, tan, brown, and even yellow. You can search for nits, but it takes a lot of time. The best approach is to use a fine toothed comb, a comb especially designed to find the eggs. Either method will be effective, and if you comb correctly, you might even be able to detach the eggs from the hair. When you are looking for nits, be sure that what you find is actually a nit and not something else. Not everything you find on the scalp is a nit. In particular, certain kinds of dandruff and hair product residue can easily be mistaken for lice eggs. Familiarizing yourself with the distinctive characteristics of the nit will help you determine whether what you have found is indeed a nit or something else. If, however, louse eggs are found, then there is a good chance that you have an infestation, and you should focus on treating its treatment and removing the lice and nits. Only treating head lice will perpetuate the infestation. Their eggs can remain on the scalp for weeks before hatching. Nits are tiny oval-shaped parasites in colors ranging from brown to yellow that cling to scalp hairs and as infestation progresses, they move further away from the scalp. Their presence confirms infestation of head lice in a person. Instead of trying to remove them by pulling or shaking, one can use a fine-toothed comb to detach them from the hair. This is a complete solution to the problem of how to get rid of head lice infestation. Tags: nits, treating head lice Related PostsPost a comment
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