What are White Nits ?

Although the matter of head lice is one that most people know about, the issue of White Nits is one that many people do not know about. Basically, the term a white nit just refers to the nits that come with head lice; they are the eggs of the louse and they are found close to the scalp. They can be the biggest problem in regards to the matter of head lice because they are the hardest to get rid of.

Why Louse Eggs are Called White Nits

Lice infection is actually a very gradual process. First, one or more lice “migrate” to your head after which they almost immediately lay some eggs. The eggs of the lice are called nits, and these nits are in the beginning a dark brown color, but in a few days however, they turn to a more whitish color, or a tan color sometimes.

Now, what remains behind while hanging on the hair, are empty egg shells. These empty egg shells dry up, and as they dry up, they become white, hence the name white nits. These white nits remain stuck on the hair for all posterity because they are fixed to the tresses with certain hair glue by which the louse lay.

If you want to remove the white nits from your hair, you will have to literally pluck each and every one of the nits attached to the hair until all the hair has been cleared. This is, as you can imagine, a very difficult task which is time and effort consuming. In order to do this you will want to use a fine-tooth comb, and always remember that you should never use your fingers, because if the nits are still alive they may be able to get under your fingernails and survive there for a period of time.

There are instances when the white nits infestation is so much so that the hair looks more white than anything, and in these cases the infestation would be too much to be feasible and the easier and better way out would be to cut the hair short enough to eliminate all the infected hair, at least to a point where you can remove the remaining infestation yourself.

Prevention is Always the Best Method

As it is obvious from the above, to rid hair of lice and nits involves a tremendous effort. This is why it makes more sense to have the infection prevented than to be faced with curing it post-infection. There is no easy way of doing this besides making sure your hair is clean at all times and remaining aware of whether you have n infestation or not. You can also use special lice prevention products when you know of an outbreak in your school or other community area.