Lice are very small – about 0.5 mm wide and 3 mm long. They can be light or dark brown, sometimes red (when they drank blood).
Lice do not fly and do not jump, but crawl quickly. Most often, pediculosis is found in children – when lice live on the head.
Therefore, they can move from one head to another only through close contact.
- Severe itching. Scratches appear on the head, which turn into swelling, crusts and ulcers.
- Bite marks on the head. They remind punctures with a needle, redness forms around it. Small gray spots may appear.
- Peeling crusts behind the ears and in the temporal areas.
On the head, female lice lay nits (eggs), from which new individuals emerge a week later. Nits do not look like lice. They resemble small white droplets glued to the hair. They can be confused with dandruff, but there is a characteristic difference – a strong attachment to the hair.
Lice live for about a month. The treatment for pediculosis should not be shorter than this period, and can be considered effective if, after 4-5 weeks, no adults or nits are found.
Getting rid at home
The most radical method is shaving. This will get rid of lice for 1 day. But this option is more suitable for boys than girls. If the haircut is not possible, proceed to treatment.
Remember that any means of lice effectively affects only adults – the nits are more tenacious. You can get rid of them by mechanical combing using special combs. These combs are sold in a pharmacy and are distinguished by the fact that their teeth are as close as possible to each other. Be sure to re-process a week after the first (this will kill the hatched lice).
Before you begin to get rid of lice, wash at high temperature (90-100 degrees) all bed and underwear, baby clothes and infected adults. All personal items will be steamed or ironed. Parasites die only with prolonged exposure to high and low temperatures. In winter, you can make bed linen and outerwear in the cold. Wash all combs, gum, hair ornaments with soap and boiling water.
When getting rid of lice at home, follow these rules:
- Do not use drugs on the eyebrows and eyelashes.
- Treat children with asthma or allergies with caution.
- To remove and lice, and nits, after treatment by any means spend combing.
- After the procedure of removing lice for several days, do not use masks and hair conditioners.
Folk remedies for lice
There are several proven folk remedies for lice:
- Broth oak bark and tansy. Pour dry grass (about 3 tablespoons) with water and boil over low heat for about 30 minutes, strain, cool and rub into the scalp once a day. After applying, put a hat or bag over your head and hold the mask for 2 hours. Wash your hair in the usual way.
- Kerosene. Use caution to treat baby. Remember that the remedy is effective but dangerous. Dilute kerosene with vegetable oil in a ratio of 1 to 10, distribute the composition on the scalp and wrap with polyethylene. Put on a scarf and leave for the night. In the morning wash your hair with tar soap.
- Juice of lemon, cranberry or pomegranate. Apply to the entire length of hair, keep at least three hours, rinse with shampoo or soap.
- Vinegar. For removal of lice, dilute 70% solution with water in the ratio of 1 to 10. Apply the mixture on the head and hair and leave under the bag for 1-2 hours. To facilitate the removal of nits, the composition is applied for 10-15 minutes, then rinse the head with water and start combing immediately.
- Chemerichna water from lice. Before use, wash your head with a simple shampoo, then apply lice water to your scalp and hair. It is important that the solution is completely distributed throughout the hair. Put the bag on your head, and wrap the top with a towel or handkerchief. Soak for half an hour and wash off with shampoo or tar soap.
Be sure to wash your hair with shampoo or soap after treatment in any way.
Finished lice products
When lice are not amenable to treatment with traditional methods, try pharmaceutical preparations. Any remedies for lice and nits contain chemical components that are toxic to insects.
Most often, these drugs are used against lice:
- Nittifor. Available in lotion and cream. It has an unpleasant smell, it is not recommended to use lice-repellent for children under 5 years old.
- Here. One of the most effective means of lice. The drug has low toxicity. Eliminates both adults and nits.
- Pair plus. Contains three active ingredients, is produced in the form of aerosols.
- Pedilin. Popular lice shampoo, effective even if to other means, parasites have developed resistance.
- Pedikulen. The main substance is anise oil. Many parents consider it to be the best remedy for lice and nits, as the comb with iron teeth is attached to the main drug (spray). The comb is comfortable and removes well even well-glued nits.
What to do if live lice remain after treatment
Human lice are not always destroyed by the substances contained in antiparasitic preparations. The main component of lice in humans is permethrin. And insects can develop resistance to it. In this case, replace the agent.
Try Medilis, Paranit. Processing should be carried out not earlier than one week after the last. Sometimes a simple comb helps. But in order to remove lice and nits only with a comb, you should brush your hair daily for 5-7 days. Hair pre-moistened with water or a solution of vinegar. Carefully comb each strand (for convenience, collect the hair in the tail). The best option is a combination of mechanical and chemical processing of the head.
Lice in the hair is called the head. There are two more types of lice – pubic and clothes. The first parasites on the pubis, perineum, inner thighs, armpits, and sometimes – eyelashes and eyebrows. Such lice in children infest less frequently than in adults, due to less developed hair on the body. Body lice live in clothes, bedding. They contact the body several times a day.
Causes of
The main reason for the appearance of lice – contact with the carrier of parasites. Parasites can live only on the head of a person, they are not adapted to life outside the hairline: in animal hair, upholstered furniture or carpets.
A child can get head lice if he uses a comb, hats, towels of other children, which can be carriers of parasites. In places of accumulation of children (in educational institutions, children’s camps, polyclinics) the risk of infection is especially great.
Lice prevention
In order to prevent infection of all family members from the child, it is necessary to wash the bedding and clothes of the child every day until the complete destruction of the parasites, to wash the combs. If things can not be washed in boiling water, put them in a bag for 3-4 days, so nits and lice will die.
To prevent re-infection of the child exclude its use of someone else’s combs, pillows, hats. Explain to the child that he should have his own hygiene items that should not be given to anyone. If you have a girl, then, as often as possible, inspect the hair for lice.
At home, use a head lice shampoo or spray as a preventive measure. Suitable preparations Nit Free, Fairy Tales.
Remember that it is not as easy to remove lice as it may seem. It is easier to observe precautions than to get rid of parasites.
