Why Lice Are So Hard To Kill

Lice can be hard to get rid of. In fact, head lice are now resistant to many over-the-counter treatments. Turns out, lice are a problem humans have been itching to fix for over 7 million years. Lice are small, tricky to spot, and can even hold their breath for eight hours, so they’ll be fine in the shower or in a pool. They’ve also developed resistance to many of our common treatments. In the last decade, experts have developed new weapons of attack, but we still haven’t managed to eradicate them altogether.

Following is a transcript of the video:

You might not have known this, but ancient Egypt was an itchy place to live. Lice were rampant. Cleopatra, for example, was buried with solid gold lice combs, while other Egyptians would shave their entire bodies to try and get rid of the parasites. So, it’s a problem we’ve had for a while, and probably won’t be solved anytime soon.

Humans and lice have been living together for about 7 million years when our ancestors split from chimps, and we’ve been itching to get rid of them ever since. There are 532 species of lice out there, but let’s take a look at the most common type that plagues humans: Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis).

For starters, they have six legs, and each one has a tiny hook at the end that helps them climb from one head to another, latch onto your hair, and quickly crawl down to your scalp, where they’ll feast on your blood several times a day. And once they’ve made themselves comfortable, lice are tricky to spot.

Adult lice, for example, are about as large as a sesame seed, while baby lice, or nymphs, are a fraction that size. Lice are well camouflaged too, matching the color of the hair around them. Not to mention, your scalp is a perfect breeding ground. In one day, a female louse can lay up to eight eggs. Those eggs only take about a week to hatch, and once they’re 10 days old, they’ll start laying eggs of their own. While it’s rare to find more than 20 live lice on any head, there could be dozens, or even, hundreds of dead bodies lingering on your scalp. Feeling itchy yet?

Perhaps even worse is that they’re a pain to get rid of.

Lice can hold their breath for eight hours, so they’ll be fine when you take a shower or go for a swim. They’re also notorious for developing resistance to insecticides. During WWII, for example, militaries dusted millions of Europeans with DDT to control lice-borne typhus, and thanks to our overuse of it, lice grew a resistance to the poison. Even today, we’re seeing the repercussion from it. Many over-the-counter shampoos and lotions use similar killing mechanisms to DDT, which has made it easier for lice, in some place, to grow resistant to these treatments as well.

But scientists are striking back. In the last decade, experts have developed new weapons of attack for when initial over-the-counter treatments don’t work. Like prescription ivermectin lotion, which paralyzes lice by disrupting their nervous systems.

And of course, shaving your head is a cheap and surefire bet, but let’s face it, most of us probably can’t pull off that look.

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Why Lice Are So Hard To Kill

[yourdailydada]

Bald people be flexing on us with their Lice free head

[chicaalterego]

Ive had Lice twice in my life: one in primary school and 1 in university.

The first time I asked my mom over and over to please check my hair, which she didnt, and everyone in my home got it. It was a pain then to get rid of them.

The second time I felt the itch, I checked my own hair, blindly with my nails until I got something moving, then went straight for the pharmacy, bought a medical shampoo and got rid of it in less than a week...

Morale of the story: if your kid asks to look into his/her scalp, just do it.

[evangelinaharyani]

"lice can hold their breath for 8 hours"

me : alright im just gonna soak my upper head area in water for 10 hours then

[tokyoalt]

Me: *Sees lice in hair*
Me: *Burns my hair*

[LetMeSayThis]

My head feels so itchy while watching this 😂

[MegaJacko]

I used to be infested with them as a kid. I had really thick, black hair and lice loved the taste of my blood. I was constantly put in the lice chair with my mum scraping the hell out of my head with harsh chemicals, and she could never fully get rid of them. Within weeks, I would be right back to square one.

One day after I turned 13, I decided I had enough. I sat in the bathtub ALL NIGHT with my comb and simple conditioner and scraped and scraped and scraped until every single one of those tiny buggers were gone. It was about 5 am by the time I was done. My back was killing me, and my neck was on the verge of snapping. But I did it. They were all gone.

I'm 31 now. They have never come back since.

[mariavicens]

As a kid I got lice so many times, all the way up to grade six i got them at least once a year with no idea why or how. My mother said it's because I didn't comb my hair enough, being a mixed kid and not knowing quite well what to do with my hair, I definitely shirked. Eventually she blamed me for getting lice, and would get so mad at me for getting them time and time again. Each time I got them my hair would be cut really short... I hated it because I'd get bullied for having short hair. Eventually she threatened that if she saw one more bug on my head she'd shave it. Enter me in the sixth grade at school trying to ignore the itching and make sure no one stood directly behind me for too long in case they'd see. Combing my lice out in the shower with conditioner treatments etc and just praying they'd go away until they did. Horrible memories. Parents, please remember that lice go to clean hair, check your kid's heads regularly, and don't take out the frustration of getting them on your kids... Don't make the experience traumatic for them.

[sparkle.jumpropequeen]

If you have never had lice, I am sorry to say this...
*You have never experienced a real childhood...*
Edit: Don't get triggered, it's just a joke!

[renihardiyah]

Tbh, picking lice was daily routine in my place when I was child and that was fun. That satisfying feeling when you get a lice and kill it through the nails of thumb was indescribable lol.

[espy_alitrix]

Oh my I had lice when I was 7 and it took me up until I was 13 to get rid of them. We tried every treatment, combed my hair for hours, bleached my hair, I stopped washing my hair for awhile to see if they would leave since my hair was always really clean and they like that. Nothing ever worked. Then I moved out of that house and we TOOK NOTHING WITH US THAT WAS MADE OF CLOTH. We got new clothes, new blankets, new furniture, new One last treatment. And they finally left. Haven't had them since. But if you have them and they keep coming back, your furniture and carpets are the problem.

[dabeetrayed]

I DONT have lice but I am cursed with dandruff

[graziaweston]

Y’all remember when there was head lice checks at school?💀 there’s always that one kid that disappears after the check ..

[CallieRoseMartinsyde]

My son and I both got lice when he was in middle school. I got rid of mine using mouthwash. I saturated my hair with it, put on a shower cap, left it for an hour, washed thoroughly, and repeated a week later and they were gone. For my son, I just gave him a thorough combing with a nit comb every day until I had removed them all.

[mariaeduardalourenco]

I've suffered with lice for years as a kid. Tried everything: medical shampoos, lice combs, blood poisoning pills, vinegar. Once I used s medical shampoo but it gave me allergy. My whole face started to swell and burn and I ran to the hospital to take anti-allergy meds... Luckily, I got rid of them after that incident lmao.

[urbigboi]

I guess im gonna spend 8 hours with my head in a bucket of water

[esteruwu]

I have incredibly thick hair which is also curly. I got lice when I was 11. They stayed for a YEAR. no matter how much treatment or combing, they always came back. My mom eventually pulled an all nighter coming every single one of my strands. I’ve never gotten them again since.

[alixgil]

I remember like 6 or 7 years ago I got a ad in the mail for free lice removal so i went (by that time i had lice for like 7 months) and they used poisons and hot combs and they used lots of heat so i sometimes felt like my scalp was going to burned or something. After that day i have not had lice for the like the past 7 years and it was a relief.

[randhehe]

*I don't have lice but.... I guess just incase im gonna have to take a bathe for 8 hours and 1 min*

[drnt]

Who else scratched their head watching this video

[emo-nordegraf]

i got lice a lot in 5-6th grade and after then i thought they were PERMANENTLY gone
and, here i am, literally years later with them again because my sister also in 6th grade got them from her friend and then didnt tell anyone for a few weeks and they got literally everywhere and basically everyone in my household has had them at this point. i am in agony.
the last ever time i had them, i was way too scared to tell my mom so what i did was drown my hair in water for like half an hour and then just pull them all out on my own and it somehow worked, eventually they were just all gone and didnt come back... until now apparently. my mom is gonna buy me treatment later today but for now i hate everything