Head lice are easily killed with a special shampoo, but these parasitic insects become super-resistant squatters when left untreated.
The TikTok account, whatifshow, revealed that as many as 20,000 tiny insects could live on your head after one month, many of which would resist treatment.
These blood-sucking parasites are eliminated in nine to 10 days with the FDA-approved permethrin lotion and a fine-toothed comb that catches the lice and eggs. However, ignoring the critters allows them to turn your scalp into their new home, which can lead to infections.
Lice can also be contracted by sharing tools such as brushes, combs or towels with someone with an infestation. And they are most common in primary school children who pass the insects to each other during play.
These small bugs can fly to jump from person to person, so if a child is infested with lice, the rest of the family likely will be too.
Symptoms include extreme itchiness of the scalp, a crawling sensation across the scalp and sores or scabs on the scalp from scratching. The term ‘feeling lousy’ comes from having head lice, where the lice feeding off someone’s blood can run that person down and give them low-level, flu-like symptoms.
Extreme infestations that have gone untreated for a long time can result in toxic shock syndrome.
The TikToker explains that the infestation would be visible in two weeks. Strands of hair would be covered in tiny white eggs, known as nits, which appear yellow.
A week later, adults will start to appear and crawl all throughout your scalp. The fully grown and developed adult louse is the size of a sesame seed.
It has six legs and is tan to grayish-white in color. And adults can live for up to 30 days on your scalp.
If untreated, these nits can multiply by the tens of thousands.
'Eventually, you could end up carrying 20,000 of these unwanted hitchhikers, including treatment-resistant super-lice,' the narrator said.
Lice feces is the next nightmare of this parasitic infestation. Your scalp will then begin to smell because of the bacteria build-up on the lice, on their eggs and in and on their excretions.
At this point, the person's sleep is disrupted due to itching and the stench coming from their head.