Head Lice Symptoms – What Does Head Lice Look Like?

When a child is sent home with the dreaded head lice notice or is noticed scratching their heads, a fear like no other takes hold of a parent. They know what this means, they’ve heard the whispers in the playground; they know all the horrors they’ve heard are true. If they have been though this before they know exactly what to expect, but if they haven’t, the first thing that springs to mind is… “But, what do head lice look like? What are the symptoms of head lice?”

Due to the tiny size of head lice, they can be very difficult to identify properly. They are one of a few types of lice that can invade the body, all of which have symptoms that are impossible to ignore.

The first dead giveaway is the scratching that is caused by the saliva and faeces of the head lice, but this may not start until the child has been bitten a few times and the irritation starts to occur. The child may complain of a tickling sensation in their hair against their scalp or they can feel something moving around in their hair.

If you know that have been exposed to a carrier, it is a good idea to be proactive and try to check whenever possible of an infestation.

When you have been alerted to the head lice symptoms, part your child’s hair at the nape of the neck or just behind the ears. Head lice congregate where the hair is thickest, warmest and most humid so check these places first.

What you should look for:

Head Lice Adults: You will see lightning fast creatures, about the size of a sesame seed. They move so fast they are most likely only to see a flash and then they will be gone. Females are bigger than male lice and will lay 6 eggs a day in her lifespan of 30 days.
The louse is perfectly adapted for moving through hair and has a powerful claw like hook at the end of their front legs, making it very easy for them to swing from person to person. They can get around the head very easily and quickly making it very difficult to catch them.

Head Lice Nymphs: These look just like adult lice only smaller. The only difference is they change colour to suit their surroundings, so will closely resemble the hair they are living in.

Nits, or head lice eggs: You will usually find these tear shaped droplets around 2cm away from the scalp, where it is warmest.

Live eggs are brown in colour; the dead eggs are white or clear. The adult will attach these eggs with it own glue; this is a bond that is extremely difficult to break. The result is an egg that is attached to the shaft with a small donut of glue, meaning the egg needs to be slid all the way down the shaft in order to be removed.

While you are hunting down eggs and lice, you may come across small red welts where the child has bitten already, causing irritation. This may show as a rash or reddened area of skin. If scratching has already occurred this may have led to infection, in which case you will see crusty sores and oozing. The infection may have cause the area to be hot and inflamed and very sore to the touch.

If this has occurred, I strongly urge that you do not use a chemical formulation for head lice, as some of these preparations are highly toxic and can be harmful, even if used 100% as directed. Most will instruct that they should not be used on broken skin, as this gives a direct route for the chemicals to be absorbed straight into the bloodstream. As children’s scalps absorb up to 60% of anything used on it, it is best to never use pesticides to kill had lice at all.

Instead please try to only use a natural remedy to kill head lice and some chemical head lice preparations have been known to cause brain tumors and even death in children. Try to use one containing Neem oil, as this causes the lice to become sterile, therefore unable to build up a resistance.