Black Hair and Lice?

T

theLovelyStyle

Well-Known Member
To much of my experience it seems as if having head lice is extremely rare for type 4 hair. My mom would say that the little buggies cant really crawl through our kinks and all the grease n products would trap them down and kill them:grin:...I have not looked into this in detail but it would sux for it to be true since most of us clean our hair regularly and some may even keep it straight, but I highly doubt it to be true... but I'd like to know your take on black hair and lice?
 
I think your mom is right...I heard from my school nurse that lice love straight, clean hair most of all. It makes it easy for them to move around and lay their eggs.
So even if we clean out hair often, I still think that black people are less likely to get lice...for relaxed people, they probably won't like the new growth, and straightened naturals aren't ideal either. I'm sure that lice aren't fans of the hot comb/flat iron.

Just another reason to consider kinky, curly hair a gift. :grin:
 
I heard this when i was younger too. Some girl in my primary school had nits all the time and she had 3b hair. I used to think i couldn't get it because my hair was 'afro' type but i suppose if it was freshly washed and naked there is a chance.
Anyways i still don't think we could get it because we barely go out with naked hair, we always have some type of leave-in.
My friend who originates from India told me that she was taught that it was considered dirty NOT to put some type of oil in your hair because lice like clean hair.
 
Lice transmit best through long hair. A lot of times, AA children have shorter hair, or it's braided up, tied up in some fashion.

I have also heard it was a texture issue. They don't like the shape of our hair. Though supposedly in other countries like Africa and Brazil the lice have adapted so they are more prevalent in black hair.

And they like dirty hair too. That's an old white woman trying to make the nasty white kids with lice out to be something special. I taught 18 years and I am a witness to the fact that lice LOVE long dirty greasy white hair.
 
I never had lice my mum did for a short while becasue some white woman co-worker of hers wore my mother's wig for some reason (I think she was kinda mental). The only people I knew who had lice in my primary school were white and asian people
 
LadyRaider said:
Lice transmit best through long hair. A lot of times, AA children have shorter hair, or it's braided up, tied up in some fashion.

I have also heard it was a texture issue. They don't like the shape of our hair. Though supposedly in other countries like Africa and Brazil the lice have adapted so they are more prevalent in black hair.

And they like dirty hair too. That's an old white woman trying to make the nasty white kids with lice out to be something special. I taught 18 years and I am a witness to the fact that lice LOVE long dirty greasy white hair.
Click to expand...

Lice have regional adaptations.
 
"White people get head lice more often than other racial groups. And girls and women tend to get them more often than boys or men because their hair is longer, says Dr Mervyn Elgart, emeritus professor of dermatology at George Washington University.

Having short hair is a blessing, Elgart says. Lice like to be warm, and if you've got longer hair it's warmer under there."

-headlice.org
 
LadyRaider said:
Lice transmit best through long hair. A lot of times, AA children have shorter hair, or it's braided up, tied up in some fashion.

I have also heard it was a texture issue. They don't like the shape of our hair. Though supposedly in other countries like Africa and Brazil the lice have adapted so they are more prevalent in black hair.

And they like dirty hair too. That's an old white woman trying to make the nasty white kids with lice out to be something special. I taught 18 years and I am a witness to the fact that lice LOVE long dirty greasy white hair.
Click to expand...


OT, but in the words of Reh Dogg....why must I cry?

AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY!!!! :lachen:
 
LadyRaider said:
Lic
......That's an old white woman trying to make the nasty white kids with lice out to be something special. I taught 18 years and I am a witness to the fact that lice LOVE long dirty greasy white hair.
Click to expand...

Head lice has long had a negative stigma attached to it that it is akin to poor hygiene. Truth is there is NO kinship to your hygiene and an infestation. It can happen to almost anyone of any ethnic make up or socioeconomic status. Girls (school age) are thought to be more prone because of sharing of combs and hair asseccories etc.
 
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MissAlyssa said:
Lice have regional adaptations.
Click to expand...

If you are ref. to geographical locations then this may not be totally true. However, if you are reffering to an area on the scalp then you are def correct. They love the nape area and the area near your ears.
 
natura87 said:
:perplexed:lachen::lachen::lachen: I was like "Hold on, I think that just might be a continent.."

Reh Dogg..:lachen::lachen:
Click to expand...

Technically, your sentence here is inaccurate. It should be:

I was like, "Hold on, I think that just might be a continent."

(Note: plus one comma, minus one period.):lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen::rolleyes:

If we are correcting stuff around here, I am up for the challenge.
 
LadyRaider said:
Technically, your sentence here is inaccurate. It should be:

I was like, "Hold on, I think that just might be a continent."

(Note: plus one comma, minus one period.):lachen::lachen::lachen::lachen::rolleyes:

If we are correcting stuff around here, I am up for the challenge.
Click to expand...


:perplexed LOL.:lachen:You got me. I am coming out with my hands up.
 
Whew! Good! I went back and added Africa after I had typed "countries like Brazil." I'd have been more careful, but I figured everyone knew that Sarah Palin doesn't post on this board. She's the only person I've heard of who didn't know Africa was a continent. Dang, you learn the continent song in second grade.
 
LadyRaider said:
Whew! Good! I went back and added Africa after I had typed "countries like Brazil." I'd have been more careful, but I figured everyone knew that Sarah Palin doesn't post on this board. She's the only person I've heard of who didn't know Africa was a continent. Dang, you learn the continent song in second grade.
Click to expand...


OMG!! You aren't a Palin fan ?? :lachen: Nooooooo!

*back on topic*

I have never known a black person that had a problem with lice, I was told that the grease just made them slide down relaxed hair.
 
happylife said:
If you are ref. to geographical locations then this may not be totally true. However, if you are reffering to an area on the scalp then you are def correct. They love the nape area and the area near your ears.
Click to expand...

I meant geographical location. Lice have adapted to different hair shapes.
 
There was a girl in my class with lice in junior high. She was black and her hair was about SL. I wanna say her hair type was 3C, but I am not a hair texture pro.

ETA: Her hair was natural, not relaxed. I remember her mother cut it off to a twa when it happened. :cry2: I guess she didn't know how to deal with the issue to well.
 
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So lice are species specific and location (pubic, head, body). Some types of lice cannot attach to black hair because the diameter and coarseness/texture doesn't allow for them to get a good hold. Additionally the oils/grease that we put in our head also suffocates them. I've heard of some black ppl getting head lice(not sure if relaxed/natural) and that a relaxed head would be more prone to lice since the hair is smoother allowing from them to hold on and inhabit the scalp. Transmission can be from combs, hair accessories, bedding, clothes since the nits (eggs) can collect and hatch on any of these surfaces and Viola!

Hope this helps. I pray I never get them because there is no way I'm pulling that small tooth comb (reminds me of a flea comb) through my hair. I'd be bald headed if I did.
 
happylife said:
If you are ref. to geographical locations then this may not be totally true. However, if you are reffering to an area on the scalp then you are def correct. They love the nape area and the area near your ears.
Click to expand...

I think it makes perfect sense for lice to differ according to geographic regions, if you think about basic evolution and adaptation.
I mean, if lice are only able to grab a hold of straight, smooth hair, then the lice that live in African nations would run into difficulty, since most people in those nations (especially the Sub-Saharan ones, because there are less likely to be people of Middle Eastern descent there) have kinkier and coarser hair.
So the lice that, for whatever reason, were more suited to live in kinkier textures would be the ones that would survive, because they would be able to settle into the hair available and feed. All the others that couldn't handle it would die from starvation. Then the kinky lice (for lack of a better term) would reproduce and pass off their genetic traits, creating a class of lice that would be different from the ones in North American, European, or Asian nations, where there are more straight-haired people.
 
I would have to agree with Vonnieluvs08. When I taught school on the elementary level, I saw all ethnic groups with lice. Yes, african americans girls got it too. Many girls would share their combs. One particular case that came to mind was when this one girl of another ethnic group had a sleep over at her house, all the girls in the class came to school with lice. Blacks, whites and hispancs. One girl was natural and the other girl had her hair in braids. The one that wore braids hair was dry and not cared for, the eggs just fell out of her head in the nurses office.

Needless to say I don't teach elementary school anymore!:nono:

By the way I'm in Texas. I don't think the region plays a part in this.
 
Chaosbutterfly said:
I mean, if lice are only able to grab a hold of straight, smooth hair, then the lice that live in African nations would run into difficulty, since most people in those nations (especially the Sub-Saharan ones, because there are less likely to be people of Middle Eastern descent there) have kinkier and coarser hair.
Click to expand...

This is a big time run-on sentence.

"grab a hold" :lachen::lachen::lachen:
 
Yep. It hurt my feelings. :sad:

In the future, if you really think I don't know something, I wish you'd send me a pm. I felt like someone laughed and shouted across a crowded room that I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe.
 
Thank god it is not prevalent. Imagine going through a head of thick natural hair with this thing:
400491silho.gif
 
LadyRaider said:
Yep. It hurt my feelings. :sad:

In the future, if you really think I don't know something, I wish you'd send me a pm. I felt like someone laughed and shouted across a crowded room that I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see.
Well, then I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, offend you, or embarrass you, and I didn't really think that you didn't know Africa was a continent. Thems was jokes.
Forgive me? :flowers:
 
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