Did you find head lice in your library search?
OK everyone, did you find anything? What? Nothing at all!
Well that was a bit unfair really because I already knew the answer.
Head lice live on heads and nowhere else.
More’s the point; they don’t try to go anywhere else either.
Not bedding, not clothes, not hair slides and ribbons, nowhere.
How can I be so sure? Well, ever seen a fish try to live on dry land?
Ever seen a bird try to nest underwater?
Sound’s crazy when you put it that way but it is just about as unlikely that a head louse will stray outside it’s perfect environment as these other living creatures will go where certain death threatens.
Yes, certain death.
A head louse is highly evolved to thrive on us, humans.
So highly evolved are head lice in that, in fact, any other environment is a huge threat to their very existence.
Except on we humans, head lice die because there is no suitable shelter, warmth, food or fluids.
They need us for all these basic provisions and there is nowhere, except on human beings, that they find all these needs met.
That is why they are not to be found lurking in the house, its furnishings or the bedding.
So if they aren’t there why should you be wasting your time and energy cleaning for them?
Poor advice comes from well meaning people who do not know that they are ignorant.
They don’t mean to mis-direct you; they just don’t check their facts.
They read something and just accept it as true then pass it on without thinking.
They pass on their ignorance not someone else’s knowledge.
And you suffer the consequences.
So, save yourself a lot of time and energy and confine your efforts to clearing head lice and their eggs from your child’s hair and you will be more successful and much happier too!