Nit Facts

How to get rid of nits and head lice

To understand how you can get rid of head lice and nits, it helps to know a bit more about them. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty:

• The scientific name for a head louse is ‘pediculus humanus capitis’.
• A head louse infestation is sometimes referred to as ‘pediculosis’.
• Head lice are tiny (2-4mm long) wingless brown hair parasites that live in the hair and on the head of humans, feeding on blood that they suck from the scalp.
• Head lice are highly contagious and are easily spread through head-to-head contact.
• Head lice cannot survive for long away from a host as they need regular blood meals.
• The head louse lifecycle lasts approximately 30 days, during which the louse passes through three stages:
  • Eggs:
    An adult female louse will lay approximately six or seven head lice eggs (nits) a day which she cements firmly to the base of the hair shaft with a glue-like substance.
  • Nymphs:
    After seven days, an immature hair louse (nymph) will emerge from the egg (nit); the empty nit remains glued in position.
  • Adult lice:
    After shedding their skin (moulting) three times, head lice nymphs become sexually mature adults; this normally takes 10 to 14 days. Within a day of becoming adult hair lice, male and female lice will start to reproduce – and numbers can grow at an alarming rate if left untreated.

Effective, naturally

The key to treating a lice infestation – and preventing re-infestation to get rid of nits – is to break the lifecycle.