A lot of people assume that short hair is the answer to prevent lice, but this is only a myth. Lice are transported via direct head-to-head contact with someone who has lice. Therefore, if you have any amount of hair, you can still get head lice.
MYTH #3: Lice like long hair.
Sure, lice like long hair – and short hair as well! Bottom line: boys or girls with short hair are not protected from lice any more than those with long tresses. Even kids with buzz cuts can get lice!
Yes, males can get head lice. Lice feed off the blood in the scalp and if they can get access to a boy's head then they will go there. In fact, because girls generally have longer hair, it is easier for a louse to find and climb up the hair of a female. Nonetheless, each year many boys are diagnosed with head lice.
Moms Often Get Lice Before Dads
However, moms typically get lice more often than dads. This is because lice does discriminate based on hair length and hormone levels of the host. It's no surprise that moms typically have longer hair than dads. This essentially makes them a more desirable target for a lice infestation.
Head lice need a human host to survive. If the hair is gone, so are head lice. While cutting a child's hair may seem like an extreme solution, it may be a viable course of action for some parents. If your child already gets short haircuts, it may make sense for you to deal with head lice by destroying their habitat.
Shaving the head does not cure lice. The itching should go away within a few days, but the medicated treatment will need to be repeated in 5 to 7 days to kill any new lice that may have hatched since the first treatment.
The common braid, a French braid, a fish tail braid, or a crown braid are all excellent hair styles to keep your hair up and out of the way of others. Any braid type that keeps your hair pulled back and contained is perfect for helping to prevent your contact with head lice.
Getting Lice While Bald
Lice may attempt to attach, but the environment is unsuitable for their survival. While bald people may become temporarily affected by head lice they often leave for a better suited host or die off. Thin or sporadic hair can still attract lice.
Who is at risk for getting head lice? Head lice are found worldwide. In the United States, infestation with head lice is most common among pre-school children attending child care, elementary schoolchildren, and the household members of infested children.
Although head lice can feed on different blood types, they cannot thrive on different Rh blood factors. Therefore, lice will only prefer to move to somebody else of the same rhesus factor irrespective of the blood type.
Adults are not immune to head lice. In fact, if you have any close contact with children or even parents of children you can be at risk of catching them if they have them. Lice transfer primarily through head to head contact, so you would have to get close to the other person.
A person gets head lice because the insects crawl from person to person by direct contact or by sharing items — including combs, brushes and hats — with another person who has head lice. Poor hygiene doesn't cause head lice.
In the United States, infestation with head lice is much less common among African-Americans than among persons of other races. The head louse found most frequently in the United States may have claws that are better adapted for grasping the shape and width of some types of hair but not others.
Despite what you may have heard, shaving your head will not get rid of head lice. In fact, head lice can survive without a host for up to 48 hours. This means that they can easily reinfect someone who has shaved their head.
Once a stylist or barber realizes a client has lice, they will tell them, as politely as possible, they can't continue to cut or work on their hair because of potential contamination from lice to other clients.
Body lice infestations (pediculosis) are spread most commonly by close person-to-person contact but are generally limited to persons who live under conditions of crowding and poor hygiene (for example, the homeless, refugees, etc.).
Coconut, tea tree oil, lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemon grass, and peppermint are scents popularly believed to repel lice. Using any coconut scented shampoo and conditioner is an easy way to increase your defense.
The basics about lice
Anyone can get lice, regardless of age, social status, race or gender. Luckily, lice don't spread disease contrary to popular misconception, but they do itch! Lice are parasites that live off human blood. They leave their saliva where they bite, which makes the bite itch.
Completely shaving a head will get rid of lice eggs, but Pollack says that's a needless tactic when there are so many other effective and less drastic ways to solve the problem. Head Lice Can Kill: Nope, that would be body lice.
Lice and nits can't survive the high heat. It's true that lice and nits can't survive temperatures above 113°F (45°C). This makes them susceptible to any heat source, such as a hairdryer or the plates of a hair straightener.
Hairspray makes it harder for the louse to grab hold. The smell of hairspray and the use of solvents (sad but true) in them can also deter creepy crawlies from finding their way in. Not to mention that if you're tying longer hair back, you've got a double whammy.
Sorry to break it to you, but a buzz cut with clippers will definitely not get rid of lice. The reason shaving will not work is because lice live on the base of the hair, and on the scalp. The nits are laid right at the base of the hair oftentimes against the scalp.