Lice are a rather unpleasant disease that can infect any person, even the cleanest one. In addition, these small parasites crawl and breed at the speed of light. How to remove lice and nits and how to prevent the development of the disease? We’ll talk more about this in the article.
Causes of infection
A louse is a blood-sucking parasite in which the main food is human or other mammalian blood. Therefore, the first increased scratching of the scalp is an alarming signal about the appearance of lice.
The most common cause of head lice infection (this is what this disease is called) is close contact with the carrier of these parasites. Adults usually become infected by children or in public places: vehicles, hairdressers, swimming pools and other crowded places.
Usually, lice do not coexist on animals, so the only source of infection is a person who suffers from head lice, as well as his personal belongings. Lice are not able to fly, but have a well-developed ability to jump.
Places in which lice "breed":
- kindergarten, school;
- sanatorium, children's camp;
- public transport;
- hats, combs and towels.
Lice and nits can be recognized in a rather simple way - they can be seen with the naked eye. Nits are a prototype of dandruff that just hangs on the hair, but it is difficult to remove. When you click on the nits to the nails, a characteristic crackle forms. The appearance of lice in humans is not uncommon in the modern world. Therefore, the question: "How to quickly remove lice?" - never lose its relevance.
Types of Lice
When pronouncing the word "pediculosis", many involuntarily have an association with a short haircut, tar soap or hellebore. Usually lice find their "home" on the heads of children, while not forgetting to leave the "offspring" in the form of nits, which are practically glued to the hair. How to remove lice and nits is described below.
Undoubtedly, the appearance of foreign “residents” on the head causes panic. However, you should know that lice can settle not only in this place.
There are such a classification of lice:
- headaches (most often children and adolescents suffer);
- clothes (found in homeless people who live in unsanitary conditions);
- pubic (they are transmitted only sexually).
All these species are parasites that belong to the Pediculida family.
Lice Life Cycle
Before you begin to decide the question: "How to get lice out?", You need to know their exact life cycle, since it is necessary to continue preventive treatment of the head in the final fight against lice.
The reproductive cycle includes laying eggs with their subsequent attachment to the hair. After 8-10 days, new parasites hatch. After which comes the period of puberty. After 14 days, each parasite is capable of laying its own eggs.
Of course, a full course of treatment is one that has been carried out for at least one month. Because after the treatment is completed, lice eggs may remain on the head . Consequently, the pediculosis process may begin anew. When solving the problem of how to remove lice at home, remember that lice and nits (lice eggs) are two different things. What is effective in controlling lice is completely harmless to nits.
Main symptoms
The main classic symptoms include the following:
- Intense itching, forcing a person to constantly comb damaged places with lice. An allergic reaction may sometimes occur.
- If pediculosis is observed for a long time, then the skin is able to change its color. This process occurs due to hemorrhage and the ongoing inflammatory process. This inflammation can be caused by lice saliva, which gets into the skin during a bite.
- Koltun is a process of tangling and gluing hair.
- Lice eggs - nits are small balls of brilliant snow-white color, which are located on the hair. Very often they are "hidden" under the mask of ordinary dandruff. However, there is one difference between dandruff and nits - nits cannot simply be brushed off hair, they are firmly glued to them.
- The skin becomes rougher from bites and exposure to saliva.
- If you look closely at the hair of the head, then you can personally see small traces of bites of these parasites. They look like punctures from a needle with reddening of a bite site.
- The appearance of bite-specific spots of gray and blue-gray.
- In the neck, on the temples and behind the ears, flaky plaques usually appear, which subsequently become wet.
When deciding the question: "How to remove lice and nits?", You should know the most reliable signs that will help diagnose lice and nits. Directly this is the presence of nits in the form of laid eggs and small insects that move very quickly along the surface of the head.
Treatment methods
Of course, the key to successful treatment is timely intervention. There are a lot of pharmaceuticals for pediculosis. Therefore, a tool that removes lice and nits is very easy to get. Moreover, drugs are common in any form: shampoos, lotions, creams and sprays.
The most effective way is a complete treatment of the scalp with medical special preparations. Doctors know how to remove lice and nits in a child and an adult. Processing is usually carried out several times.
We treat drugs
If you choose drugs that do not have a detrimental effect on nits, then they must be applied at least three times. The group of such drugs includes:
- pyrethroids (pyrethrum powder) ;
- Lindane
Many anti-pediculosis drugs have derivatives of permethrin (a solution that is used to combat lice and ticks). Such a group includes such means:
- Avicin
- Nittifor (Biogal);
- Permethrin
- "Knock";
- Medifox;
- Medifox-Super;
- The Knicks.
The Medifox drug is considered universal, since it is effective for the destruction of any type of lice. The emulsion is applied to wet hair with a cotton pad, and after 20 minutes it is washed off.
The Medilis-Super drug has proven itself quite well. It is effective in controlling head and body lice and nits.
Another affordable and effective remedy is Foxilon. Its composition is based on benzyl benzoate. However, it has one drawback - a high degree of toxicity, so it can cause an allergic reaction in some people. But the medicine also has an undeniable advantage - it destroys both nits and lice in one use.
There is another group of medications that work effectively against lice, directly during the ovoid stage. So, for example, Pedilin shampoo should be used only once or twice.
There is also a complex form of drugs. With the answer to the question: "How to remove lice?" - the anti-pediculary drug “Para plus” will help. It contains permethrin, piperonyl, butoxide and malathion. Therefore, with a minimum expenditure of time - 10 minutes - you can forever say goodbye to destructive hair "enemies". The tool has a convenient nozzle for potential processing. One bottle can cure 2-3 people at once.
A similar composition of the “Pair of tapes” drug facilitates the process of peeling nits from the hair. Re-treatment must be carried out after 7 days to destroy the remaining larvae.
After the treatment has passed, it is necessary to comb the hair with a comb with thick teeth. So, dead lice and nits will be able to comb out gradually. Of course, this is one of the most difficult and time-consuming procedures. How to remove lice and nits at home? Vinegar will help. The comb needs to be dipped in hot vinegar, its composition allows you to dissolve the adhesive that holds the louse eggs on the hair.
If a person suffers from severe lice, then a second course of treatment is necessary. After which - a series of preventive actions. If pustules are identified, you should immediately consult a doctor. This is the first sign of infection.
We withdraw in 1 day
How to remove lice in 1 day? A matter requiring radical action is haircuts. However, not everyone will agree to this procedure, especially a girl. Who wants to say goodbye to their gorgeous hair?
In the event of an impossible haircut, it is necessary to urgently begin treatment. However, a caveat - this process will not be fast. The bottom line is that adult parasites - lice - are fairly malleable to anti-pedicular drugs, but their “children” - nits - are not.
How to remove lice at home?
You can say goodbye to lice in special receivers, which are controlled by the sanitary and epidemiological station. However, who wants to go specifically if you can recover yourself ?! Especially in modern conditions, when any anti-pedicular agent is freely available. Getting it will be much easier than finding a special detention center in your hometown. Moreover, in such places low-income dysfunctional people who rarely see soap usually “rotate”. For this reason, you need to know what lice remove at home.
The main methods of struggle:
- mechanical way - shearing and thoroughly combing with the help of combs;
- the chemical pathway includes the use of special means in the fight against lice and nits, table vinegar, kerosene and hellebore;
- an integrated approach of the first two methods.
The question of how to remove lice at home implies compliance with some rules:
- Do not use anti-pedicular drugs if lice and nits are localized in the area of eyebrows and eyelashes.
- Children under 2 years old are not recommended to use special preparations that contain a chemical component.
- If a child suffers from bronchial asthma or allergies, then it is necessary to choose an anti-pedicular drug with extreme caution.
- If the lice did not die during the first use of a certain preparation, and nits continue to remain on the hair, then give preference to another remedy.
- After each procedure, in the fight against parasites, it is necessary to carefully comb out the nits.
- You should not use a hair dryer after applying a special drug for lice.
- During the use of various lice products, it is forbidden to apply any hair masks.
- After the hair has been treated with an antiparasitic agent, do not wash your hair for 2-5 days.
Remember that an anti-pediculant may have a number of contraindications. Therefore, you must carefully read the instructions for use. And pregnant women need to give preference to mechanical removal of parasites and natural remedies.
Mechanical approach: using ridges
We display lice and nits at home in several ways:
Hair cutting has already been discussed above, so we will dwell on the combing method in more detail.
Initially, you need to wash your hair with a special shampoo, and then carefully proceed to combing out a special comb. It is sold in a regular pharmacy under such names - AntiV, LiceGuard, RobiComb. These combs are made of stainless steel.
Immediately after washing with shampoo, it is necessary to separate the strands from each other and comb out the nits with a comb. Begin the procedure with the hair roots. If lice or nits get stuck in the comb, then immediately they need to be removed and washed off with water. This procedure is carried out throughout the month.
It should be remembered that shampoo or another remedy alone will not help to get rid of parasites on the head once and for all. These tools only help to improve combing.
Folk remedies
It is quite possible to remove lice from a child at home. In addition to medications, other harmless alternative methods are known. The most common among them are:
- Kerosene. It must be diluted with vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:10. You can use sunflower, corn oil, as well as pumpkin seed oil, grape seed. The resulting mixture must be gradually distributed throughout the scalp. Then wrap it with parchment paper or polyethylene, and on top cover the head with a scarf and leave it overnight. In the morning, wash your hair with shampoo or tar soap and start combing out the dead parasites. For convenience, you can moisten the comb with table vinegar, so the nits will be removed more easily.Therefore, the problem of how to remove lice can be safely solved using kerosene. However, one should be careful, since kerosene can cause severe burns to the scalp and face when handled ineptly.
- Pomegranate, lemon or cranberry juice - these drinks contain a huge amount of acids that are dangerous for parasites. Therefore, juice should be applied, as well as an anti-pediculant, to the entire scalp. Then wash off and, as in the first case, start taking out combing nits and dead lice.
- Cranberries are one of the effective means that will help in deciding on how to remove lice. Juice of freshly boiled cranberries (about three handfuls) must be rubbed into the roots of the hair on the head, apply the rest of the squeeze to the full length. Then cover your head with a plastic hat and a towel. Leave for 3 hours. Then proceed according to the usual scheme - rinse and comb out.
- Vinegar. To rinse the head, you need to take a 70% solution of vinegar and mix with ordinary water in a proportional ratio of 1:10. The head must be washed once a day for 3 days.
How to remove lice in children using folk remedies, we have examined. Despite the fact that the effectiveness of the above folk methods is equal to 90%, you should be careful for such reasons: vinegar can dry hair very much, and concentrated solution can burn scalp. During the use of kerosene, it must be remembered that for a long time the hair will not come in order. Kerosene has a rather oily composition, so it will take a long time to rinse.
Hellebore water
Hellebore water often saves, if the question of how to remove lice from a child is an "edge". Many parents respond positively about this method, arguing that everything happens efficiently and quickly. Before use, you should wash your hair with the usual shampoo, and then apply helical water to the scalp and along the entire length of the hair. For convenience, take a regular cotton pad.
Carefully monitor the complete distribution of the solution through the hair. After application, it is necessary to cover the head with a plastic bag or tie a scarf. Leave for half an hour. Then you should wash your hair well under water, and then apply regular shampoo again. The final stage involves the usual combing.
However, remember: hellebore water is quite dangerous for the body. If 1 ml of this water enters the body, it can cause serious poisoning, and in high doses it is fatal. However, it is often used against parasites. The main thing is to ensure that hellebore does not get on open wounds or scratches.
Preventative measures
All things of the patient, including bed linen, must be rubbed and boiled. Then iron with iron at high temperature. Be sure to steam the seams of clothes, most often it is in these places that they remain “living”.
Items that cannot be washed in hot water should be put in a bag and tightly closed. Without food from humans, they will soon die.
If someone in your family is suffering from head lice, carefully examine the heads of all family members. These parasites spread very quickly and infect other people.
One of the effective methods of disinfecting all linen is soaking in a soda solution (1 tbsp. Per 1 liter of water). You can purchase an insecticaricidal agent that is used to disinfect clothing. This aerosol must be sprayed over the entire surface of the patient's things, which are not amenable to boiling.
It is necessary to carefully process the entire room: floors, furniture, door handles, seats in the car, and it is better to give hats to dry cleaning.
As for combs and other accessories, they should be washed under running hot water, and then soaked in an alcohol solution, leaving for several hours.
Remember that the key to effective treatment of lice is in the timely treatment of highly active or folk remedies. Do not forget that you need to disinfect the entire room. And the best in treatment is an integrated approach. Do not forget about additional preventative methods that will help protect you and your family. And let you never be checked for lice in the literal sense of the word. Be healthy!