Head Lice Prevention Tips

Black People Don't Get Head Lice

While it is not entirely true that black people do not get lice, it is a rare occurrence. Personally, I have had many close friends (non black) with head lice, and while the thought of it made me scratch my head for day or so, I have never had a nit make a home in
 my mane. It's a good thing too, I cannot imagine trying to get a nit comb through my thick hair! I also have never met a black person who has had head lice.

Here are the reasons most black people do not get head lice.

Hair type of black people prevents head lice: While lice in Africa have adapted to curly hair with a flat hair shaft, American lice have many other options. According to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources website, "Head lice found in the United States prefer hair that is round in cross section. Hair that is ovoid in cross section, such as the extremely curly hair of African Americans, is not as attractive to lice that are adapted to round hair shafts."

Grooming of black hair prevents head lice: As a child whenever a letter came home that there was head lice at school, the boys in my family would get a haircut, (close to clean shaven), and the girls would have their hair straightened. My mom said for the boys, it gave the lice nothing to hold on to, and for the girls she said no lice could survive a hot comb. (A metal comb heated on the stove used to straighten hair, much like a flat iron but with teeth). Many black people apply heat to their hair on a daily basis to smooth out the kinks and curls, making it a hostile environment for head lice.

Hair products black people use prevents head lice: Because African American Hair looks best when saturated with oils and conditioners, head lice cannot survive. Hair strands are slippery to the lice and the glue used to lay eggs does not stick.

So how can this knowledge help a non-black person prevent head lice?

While you may not be able to change your hair texture, there are still things you can do to prevent head lice.

Related information
 
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People, come on! Of course lice is not rascist, anyone with hair can potentially get lice. This article is not saying that they can't, it is simply sayung that it is RARE due to the conditions of the hair being unfavorable. As a black I have never had lice and I hope I do not get it. I don't use chemicals or products because of the greasy residue, but I can tell you that a black persons hair is naturally more oily than most others. In my experience, the longer a black persons hair, the higher the risk.

Posted on 06/21/2009 at 3:06:40 PM

All black people do not "saturate" their hair with oils or products. Lice simply do not like our hair and they avoid it. I think there is some genetic component that makes our scalp and hair hostile to lice. I have read that supposedly there are "African" lice that do infest our hair but so far no proof has ever been shown of this.

Posted on 06/10/2009 at 10:06:18 PM

a lit grease called DOO GRO. It took about a week to get rid of them...so far so good. My husband just shaved the other boys heads. The reason why Black people usually don't get lice is because it's difficult for the eggs to attach to the hair with grease and oil on it. So I recommend using oil or grease daily to prevent them from coming back. TRY: http://www.grandmashomeremedies.com/head-lice.html

Posted on 05/27/2009 at 8:05:51 PM

First of all, I am a Black woman who thought that Black people couldn't get lice....Well I did! I have natural curly hair and I don't like putting alot of chemicals such as hair grease in my hair because of how it feels and the texture. My 2 year who also has curly hair because he is biracial got it too. I bought the Walgreens brand of RID almost paying $40. It didn't work. Of course, I didn't use the nit/lice comb because imagine trying to put a comb through my hair. The next day I still saw lice in my sons head. By the way my husband who is white never got it. So I went to the grocery store and bought vinegar, tea tree oil, Suave coconut shampoo, and rosemary determined. I washed everything with hot water and spray EVERYTHING with the bedding spray. I put the rosemary under my pillow and every other day washed our hair with vinegar and then Suave shampoo mix with tea tree oil used conditioner to be able to use the nit/lice comb (VERY IMPORTANT) and put hair grease in our hair. I foun

Posted on 05/27/2009 at 8:05:49 PM

Wrong! The shaft of african hair is flat like a ribbon Caucasian hair is oval in section. Mongoloid hair is circular. It would be almost impossible to remove lice from afro hair, because it is too knotty. nature has protected them from the misery of a pest which they cannot remove.

Posted on 05/25/2009 at 2:05:51 PM

This may not have anything to do with it but i would think that the relaxers that black people use should kill those things, its acid, the perms now are no lye but probably a lye one might kill anything, they dang near killed me. Then getting cooked under the dryer every 2 weeks doesnt help. If they can survive that they are tough b@st@rds indeed. Thank you for the article

Posted on 03/29/2009 at 10:03:07 PM

There is are other alternatives for curing lice. Visit your doctor and they can prescribe antibiotics to get rid of this.

Posted on 09/01/2008 at 9:09:14 PM

I just had this discussion with my friend. Her partner and their son are black and her partner told her that black people do not get head lice. I had never heard this before. What I can tell reading your article (and sane comments) and other articles is that it seems it is a more rare phenomena in the US for african americans to get headlice. Interesting fact I never knew.

Posted on 05/18/2008 at 5:05:25 PM

Guess what I'm black and I have two kids. One of them a girl has had Head Lice on and off since we moved to a 99 per cent white school district, The other child is homeschooled and stop having Head Lice when she no longer went to the source the public school. I have tried lice shampoo, daily vacumming, cleaning the infected childs room daily washing the bed linen daily, spraying with the lice spray. taking the coat off putting in a hot dryer DAILY, never letting the daughter that attends school wear any clothing item twice without washing it in hot soapy water, hot combs with a pressing wax weekly, using a nit comb daily, brushing the hair daily, IT'S NO CURE FOR HEAD LICE

Posted on 09/06/2007 at 9:09:00 PM

To anyone who would like to check out the website www.licesolutions.org

Posted on 07/18/2007 at 2:07:00 PM

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