Did you know that your eyelashes are vulnerable to lice infestation?
Becausehead licespread easily from person to person, cases are seen often in schools, affecting all socioeconomic groups.
Do you know how to spot eyelash lice?
Verywell / Laura Porter
Lice are wingless insects that feed off of the blood and skin of people.
An adult louse may attach itself to the skin around the eyelashes.
then lay eggs or nits.
The nits are attached to the shaft of the hair itself and hatch six to 10 days later.
Within 15 days, the nits grow into adults and lay more eggs.
Types of Lice
Lice varietiesare categorized based on their shape and area of infestation.
Recurrent eyelash lice infestation in children can be an indication of child abuse.
Symptoms
The most obvious symptom of a lice infestationis itching.
You should be able to detect them by looking through a magnifying glass.
You might see tiny white-colored eggs at the roots of your eyelashes and will appear white.
Under high power magnification, the crab-like lice can be seen at the base of the eyelashes.
Treatment
Getting rid of eyelash lice is not usually an easy task.
Treatment of eyelash lice is focused on physically removing the lice with fine forceps.
The nits must also be removed, if possible.
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