Basically, the louse will have nothing to cling to so it will soon fall off the hair. Once that happens, the louse will die within a day as lice cannot live long without feeding on human blood. So we can definitively answer “can lice live on a bald head” with a confident and joyful no!
Getting Lice While Bald
Due to the lack of hair for lice and nits to attach to it is not common for bald people to get head lice. With nothing to attach to or lay their nits on it is not common for head lice to attach to a bald scalp. They find it difficult to feed and quickly die off.
Head lice survive less than one or two days if they fall off the scalp and cannot feed. Head lice eggs (nits) cannot hatch and usually die within a week if they do not remain under ideal conditions of heat and humidity similar to those found close to the human scalp.
What kills head lice instantly? No methods have been found to instantly kill lice, though tea tree and lavender oil combinations in carrier oils have proven to be effective and time-efficient.
You Have to Treat Them
Head lice will not go away on their own. If you think your child has an infestation, there are several steps you should take right away. Call your doctor to confirm the diagnosis. Notify your child's day care or school so other students can be checked.
Generally, if no live crawling insects are seen three weeks after the treatment, it's safe to assume that they are gone. Nits would have hatched by that time if they were alive.
If you spot nits, but do not see any lice, it is possible that they are hiding and scurrying from the light as you search the hair and scalp; they can move quite quickly! Focus your search to their preferred hideouts, behind the ears and at the nape of the neck.
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly. Lice infestations must first be treated by improving the hygiene of the infected person.
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. At 1% concentration, tea tree oil killed 100% of head lice after 30 minutes.
Vinegar is one of the classic home remedies for lice. However, if you are trying to find out how to get rid of nits using vinegar, you should know that using vinegar to kill nits or lice eggs is totally ineffective. Vinegar has no negative effect on the lice eggs.
Just like with mattresses, lice can only live on any bedding—whether it's sheets, pillows, or comforters—for 1-2 days. Without a human scalp as a source for food (blood) for longer than 1-2 days, lice cannot survive.
As with furniture and carpets, adult lice typically live for around 2 days on pillows and sheets without human contact. Nits will not hatch and will die within a week. People should machine wash any pillows or sheets someone with lice has used in hot water of more than 130°F (54.4°C) .
Treatments for lice typically involve OTC or prescription medications. These treatments typically kill live lice but do not affect the eggs. This means it may take several treatments over 2–3 weeks to eradicate head lice.
Shaving Will Not Get Rid of Lice.
If you're still ready to take the plunge to find out if shaving your head gets rid of lice, we've got news for you. It is not a solution to treating lice.
A buzz cut is not going to solve the problem. Head lice can live and lay nits in even ¼” of hair, so a buzz cut isn't an effective lice treatment.
Since eggs do not need a host to survive, they will continue to live until a nymph hatches from it. A louse will ultimately die without a human host. However, it can still live for 1-2 days on a pillow or sheet. Don't forget that a louse can also lay eggs while it's hostless.
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.
Lindane is a hazardous insecticide used to treat head lice and scabies.
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.
You should always consult with your child's doctor if you think they have lice and follow their instructions for treatment. “In addition to lice treatment products, manual removal of lice is encouraged using a nit removal comb, as no product is 100% effective at killing lice,” advises Dr.
The conditioner does not kill lice but stuns them for about 20 minutes enabling easier removal. The long toothed metal comb will remove nits and the stunned head lice. Wipe the comb on a white tissue and check for any lice or nits. Keep combing until no more appear on the tissue.
Spinosad (Natroba).
It can be applied to dry hair and rinsed with warm water after 10 minutes. It kills lice and nits and usually doesn't need repeated treatment.
In fact, it can take up to six weeks for a child or adult to develop the typical itchiness that might prompt a head check. And even then, half the people with lice still won't exhibit any symptoms associated with lice.
If nits are yellow, tan, or brown, it means the lice haven't hatched yet. If the nits are white or clear, the lice have hatched and just the egg remains. Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they're laid.