Lice are easily killed with a special shampoo, but these parasitic insects become super-tough squatters when left untreated.
TikTok account, what if showrevealed that up to 20,000 tiny insects could be living on your head after a month, many of which would resist treatment.
These blood-sucking parasites are killed in nine to 10 days with FDA-approved permethrin lotion and a fine-toothed comb that traps lice and eggs.
However, ignoring the bugs allows them to make your scalp their new home, which can lead to infections.
The TikTok account whatifshow revealed what happens when head lice go untreated. In the first week you will see nits, which are developing insects.
Lice can also be contracted by sharing tools such as brushes, combs, or towels with someone who has an infestation.
And they are more common in elementary school children who pass the insects during play.
These tiny insects can fly to jump from person to person, so if one child is infested with lice, the rest of the family is likely to be as well.
Symptoms include extreme itching on the scalp, a tingling sensation on the scalp, and sores or scabs on the scalp from scratching.
The term “feeling sick” comes from having lice, where lice feeding on someone’s blood can run over that person and give them flu-like symptoms.
Extreme infestations that have not been treated for a long time can lead to toxic shock syndrome.
The TikToker explains that the infestation would be visible in two weeks.
The hair strands would be covered in tiny white eggs, known as nits, which appear yellow.
A week later, the adults will begin to appear and crawl all over the scalp.
The fully grown and developed adult louse is about the size of a sesame seed.
Lice can also be contracted by sharing tools such as brushes, combs, or towels with someone who has an infestation.
The hair strands would be covered in tiny white eggs, known as nits, which appear yellow. A week later, the adults will begin to appear and crawl all over the scalp.
Adults can live up to 30 days on the scalp.
It has six legs and is tan to greyish-white in color. And adults can live up to 30 days on the scalp.
‘Now things are getting spicy. You would scratch to try and get rid of that horrible itch, but this would only leave you with painful pangs that are at risk of becoming infected,” the TikToker said in the video.
Adult lice can lay six to ten nits a day when they find a host, and the eggs take about nine days to hatch.
If left untreated, these nits can multiply by the tens of thousands.
“Eventually, you could end up saddled with 20,000 of these unwanted hitchhikers, including treatment-resistant super lice,” the narrator said.
Lice feces are the next nightmare of this parasitic infestation.
Your scalp will then begin to smell due to the buildup of bacteria on the lice, on their eggs, and in and on their excretions.
At this point, the person’s sleep is interrupted due to the itching and stench coming from their head.
Australian infant and child CPR experts recently dispelled the biggest myths and misconceptions about head lice, including the fact that they cannot live anywhere but on the human head and are not spread by jumping or flying from a person to another.
Keeping the locks clean and shiny will not deter lice as they ‘don’t discriminate’ and are not the result of dirty hair or poor hygiene.
CPR Kids does not recommend insecticides to treat head lice.
“Insecticides can actually have more serious health effects than lice, as they can cause skin irritation,” the post said.
Finally, keeping your children away from school or daycare will not eliminate a lice infestation, and CPR Kids says that eradication is more effective.
“Lice eradication is most effective if schools and the community work together to treat an infestation, for example by running a Nitbuster program,” they said.