Superlice are head lice that have genetically mutated to become resistant to the active ingredients in some traditional lice treatment products. Superlice do not look any different from regular lice. They can only be identified by their resistance to traditional lice treatments.
Super lice are the same as regular lice, but contain a gene mutation which may be resistant to a widely-used over the counter treatment. Neither super lice nor regular lice carry disease.
Although some lice have been observed living up to 2 days off the scalp, most lice die within 15 hours of coming off the head. Head lice only live for about three weeks. An adult female louse will lay four to eight eggs each day.
Super lice can be hard to treat. If you've tried over-the-counter medications and are still having trouble, you should ask your doctor for other treatments.
Aside from being an annoyance, superlice are no more dangerous than regular lice, and can be treated with a safe, non-toxic and pesticide-free remedy such as Nix® Ultra All-in-One Shampoo.
Body lice don't burrow into your skin. They only bite your skin to feed on your blood, and they lay their nits in the seams of your clothes.
Females are usually larger than males and can lay up to 8 nits per day. Adult lice can live up to 30 days on a person's head. To live, adult lice need to feed on blood several times daily.
Untreated head lice may degrade the scalp and affects it health and that of the hair. If the follicles become blocked, then hair loss may occur. It is hard to have well-conditioned hair if it is covered in head lice eggs, lice and bacteria.
Vinegar contains properties that kill and get rid of nits and lice. This mixture should be applied directly to the whole scalp. Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of warm water. Next, distribute this mixture onto the scalp and cover your hair with a hair cap.
Super lice look like lice: sesame seed sized and shaped, translucent with a dark brown abdomen, and 6 short legs. Super lice nits look like nits; clear, tan or brownish teardrops, glued to the hair near the scalp.
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.
Their eggs, known as “nits” are about the size of a poppy seed and usually whitish in appearance. This can make them difficult to see, depending on the color of an infested child's hair. Studies estimate that two-thirds to three-quarters of lice present in the United States are super lice.
Much like regular lice, super lice spread through direct contact with hair or head gear with infected people. Make sure your child doesn't share combs, brushes, hats, scarves or hair clips with friends at school. They move by crawling and cannot hop or fly.
Can someone have nits but no lice? It may be possible to have nits but no lice. If a person cannot find any nymphs or adult lice in the scalp and the nits are more than a quarter of an inch from the scalp, these may be dead and from an old infestation. However, the lice could be in hiding.
A preventative shampoo and spray can break the life cycle. A shampoo that kills lice before they can lay eggs is critical for closing the “bridge” from one head to another.
Many people with head lice have no symptoms at all. It's impossible to diagnose head lice based on symptoms alone since the only symptom that matters is the presence of lice. However, experiencing the following symptoms suggests it is time to check the scalp: frequent unexplained itching of the head or scalp.
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.
Also look for lice feces, that look like tiny black specks on your child's scalp. If you see black specks, care- fully examine the rest of the head for live lice. Eggs: Female lice typically attach eggs 1/2-inch from the scalp. There can be from a few to several hundred nits in a child's hair.
Lice for Building Immunity
Recent studies have shown the benefits of having lice. While it may sound ridiculous and unbelievable, there's scientific evidence that a certain kind of louse can be beneficial in reducing the chances of developing immune deficiencies.
Most treated nits (lice eggs) are dead after the first treatment with Nix. The others will be killed with the 2nd treatment. Removing the dead nits is not essential or urgent. However, it prevents others from thinking your child still has untreated lice.