For many families, discovering head lice on a child can immediately cause worry, itching, discomfort, and plenty of frustration. Head lice are tiny parasitic insects that live on the human scalp and feed on small amounts of blood. They are especially common among children roughly 3 to 11 years old because children frequently play, study, take photographs, or spend time close together. Despite a common misconception, lice cannot jump or fly. They move by crawling, and their main method of spreading is direct head-to-head contact. Sharing hats, pillows, brushes, scarves, or headphones may also transfer lice, although this appears to happen much less frequently. Most importantly, having lice does not mean someone has poor hygiene—lice can live in clean hair just as easily as unwashed hair.
