Doctor
ASK THE
Our healthcare partners will be answering your questions. To submit a question,
please email [email protected].
Preventing and Treating Head Lice
then go through 3 stages, becoming what’s considered
adult age after 9-12 days, then subsequently laying their
Eww creepy crawly things in my kid’s hair! What is this?
What do I do about this? How do I keep the rest of the
own eggs and continuing the cycle some 1-2 days later.
The empty eggs are then referred to as nits.
family from getting this?
Head lice can cause a lot of anxiety among parents
Head lice, pediculus humanus capitis, are wingless
insects that live in the human scalp. An adult louse is
2-3mm long, has 6 legs, is tan to gray-white in color.
The female lives up to 3-4 weeks and can lay 10 eggs
per day. The eggs attach to the base of the hair shaft
and incubate using body heat, hatch 8-9 days later. They
16 | S T. J O H N S parent M A G A Z I N E
of school-aged children but despite stigma, having
lice does not result from poor hygiene, is not a health
hazard, and is not responsible for the spread of any
disease. Lice do not hop or jump from surface to surface
– only crawl. Therefore, the most common way to get
lice from someone else is by direct personal contact.