The child has lice. What to do? Often this news becomes a thunder for parents from a clear sky and in the first minutes causes only helplessness in this situation.
Pediculosis - a terrible dream of parents
Pediculosis (infection with lice) is a “nightmare” for parents, which is hard to believe, especially when it comes to their own child. A fairly common disease most often affects children in the age group of 4-12 years; its peak often reaches in late summer - early fall, and the first signs of the disease can sometimes be detected several weeks after infection.
Therefore, in order to avoid infection with pediculosis, it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the baby's hair.
Lice and Nits: Description
The child has lice. What to do? A louse is a small insect, up to 4 mm in length. Preferring warm places, it lives behind the ears, as well as in the occipital and temporal areas. It is there that you can observe the places of combing and bite marks, while the insect itself is very mobile, it is quite difficult to see. It is easy to find lice eggs - nits, which the female is able to lay about several hundred in a week.
Representing small transparent "beads", they are firmly attached to the hair, closer to their root part. Nits do not deliver much harm until they turn into adult insects. The latter feed on human blood, extracting it by piercing the scalp. Moreover, the need for food in lice is very high, they need to be saturated about once every three hours. Puncture sites identified by gray-blue traces subsequently begin to itch. This happens due to the presence in the louse of the enzyme that it injects into the wound. Strongly combed wounds threaten the appearance of a bacterial infection and, as a result, possible suppuration. If the mother found lice in the child - what to do in such a situation, what actions are required to be taken in the first place? The cause should be eliminated.
Causes of lice infestation
What to do if a child has lice? You should know that lice exist only on humans, so you can not get lice from an animal. It causes the appearance of unwanted fast-running insects that do not know how to jump and fly, direct contact: using one comb, sharing personal items, trying on each other's hats, sleeping together on one pillow. The idea that lice are wound in asocial people is not true; these parasites prefer well-groomed people and willingly settle on clean, healthy hair. In any case, the risk of infection increases by an order of magnitude in places with signs of unsanitary conditions and crowds of people.
If pediculosis infection occurs, parents found lice in the child - what should I do? You should not scold the child, because he is not guilty of this. The infected person needs to be reassured, distracted from fears and worries, explaining that lice are not dangerous, their hair does not fall out and no one dies from this. In order to avoid a new infection, it is necessary to conduct an explanatory conversation with the child about the importance of using preventive measures.
Methods for detecting lice
It is possible to determine the presence of head lice by the appearance of itching in the bite area. To this phenomenon is added the anxiety of the child, restlessness, a feeling of discomfort and a lack of understanding of the causes that cause it.
Two methods of testing are used to detect lice: on wet and dry hair. The first is most effective. To inspect for head lice, it is recommended to apply hair conditioner on the head, in order to facilitate the sliding of the comb. The hair needs to be combed, then with a thick comb or comb, combing in different directions. The head must be combed at least a couple of times, checking the comb every time after immersion in the hair.
You need to carefully examine the combed hair. Nits are visible in the root area and hold tight to the hair. Separating them is very difficult; when crushed, a specific crack is heard.
Lice can also be detected by combing over a light, lint-free towel or paper sheet. Insects are translucent, small, have six legs. Instances saturated with blood are characterized by a brownish-brown color.
Previously, folk remedies were used in the fight against lice, the main component of which was kerosene. Now, with the advent of modern drugs in pharmacies, the need for grandmother's methods, requiring a long walk with a towel or bag on his head, has disappeared. Now you can get rid of head lice at a time, and processing the head takes a minimum of time. So, lice in a child. What to do?
Medical treatment
Of medications, permethrin-containing products are effective. This is an element contained in plants of the family Asteraceae and has activity aimed at the destruction of lice. Of shampoos for infection with pediculosis, it is recommended to use the means "Hygia", "Veda" and "Veda-2". The drug must be applied to wet hair in the amount of 1-3 tablespoons, brought to a foamy state, withstand 10 minutes (according to some reviews, the result requires 20 minutes), then rinse thoroughly with head. Then rinse your hair with 5% vinegar and begin to thoroughly comb out the parasites.
Lice found in a child. What to do? What to treat? In the fight against lice effective spray "Para plus". Spraying is performed on the entire surface of the hair with short presses; the head should not be covered with anything. Also, during treatment, it is required to cover the child’s mouth with the hand, in order to avoid the risk of developing bronchospasm. After application, wait 10 minutes, then rinse off the drug with ordinary shampoo. Dead insects need to be combed out with a thick comb. Reviews about this tool are contradictory: the drug helped someone, someone was forced to look for a more effective tool. The disadvantage of aerosol is its high cost.
Permethrin preparations against lice
The child has lice. What to do? "Nittifor" - a drug presented on the shelves of pharmacies in the form of a solution or cream. The solution is used undiluted, rubbed into the roots of previously moistened hair. After 40 minutes, the remedy must be washed off with shampoo, then rinse hair with 5% vinegar and comb out the parasites with a thick comb. "Nittifor" is able to remain active for 2 weeks, preventing the reproduction of lice. Nittifor cream is also applied to wet hair for 10 minutes. Then it needs to be washed off with shampoo, rinsed with vinegar. This drug is contraindicated in children under 5 years old, people with hypersensitivity, pregnant women and nursing mothers. According to consumer reviews, the product is effective, convenient to use, evenly distributed and well washed off.
Medifox is one of the effective means
Medifox is one of the most popular and effective drugs in the fight against lice. 1/3 of the bottle of the product is required to be diluted with 200 ml of warm boiled water, apply the resulting composition liberally to the affected skin using a cotton swab. 20 minutes after treatment, wash the hair with shampoo under running warm water. In the form of a Medifox gel, it is evenly applied to clean, damp hair with thorough rubbing into the roots. The product must be washed off after 40 minutes. For one person, the gel consumption is 10-50 grams, depending on the degree of infection.
The child has lice - what to do? A high result in the fight against lice is shown by agents based on malathion, a substance with an antiparasitic effect. A striking example is Pedilin shampoo, which qualitatively eliminates pediculosis.
Phenotrin-based preparations
Preparations based on phenotrin have a neurotoxic effect on insects. Itax shampoo was made on their basis, destroying larvae and lice. The Parasidosis solution is quite effective, which you want to rub into the roots of wet hair for 5 minutes, then rinse with warm water and shampoo. After a day, repeat this operation again. The result of side effects can be a rash, skin itching, swelling, redness. If for some reason there is no desire or opportunity to use medical drugs, but lice are present in the child, what should I do?
Folk remedies for the treatment of pediculosis
Of the folk methods, the most popular means of getting rid of lice were:
- Hair cut.
- Treatment with tar soap, characterized by a high alkali content.
- Sunflower oil with kerosene in equal proportions. Preparations containing kerosene are flammable, spoil the hair, are poorly washed off, give the hair a dirty look and make it difficult to comb.
- Kerosene in combination with laundry soap in equal proportions. Before applying, dilute with water: 100 ml of the composition per 1 liter of water.
- Cranberry juice. Characterized by a high acidic environment, it acts especially effectively on nits, corroding their shell.
- Dustov soap (not used in the modern world).
- A mixture of engine oil and kerosene - liquid WD-40.
- Vinegar. It is divorced with water in a ratio of 1 to 2. Negative qualities of the drug include hair drying, in concentrated form - burns.
- Ironing strands with a hair iron (these parasites do not tolerate high temperatures).
- Combing out. For example, if a child is allergic, then in this way you can get rid of uninvited guests.
Associated measures to combat pediculosis
If lice are found in a child - what to do at home? It is necessary to examine all family members for head lice, wash bedding, clothes, towels (washing temperature - not lower than 55 ° C). Then the washed items need to be ironed and left to lie down for 2 days. Such treatment will not only kill insects, but also deprive them of food, without which they will not live long. It is also required to process all the things that the child used: outerwear, pillow, blanket, mattress. For things whose processing is difficult (carpets, upholstered furniture), special aerosols will be required.
Preventative methods
If a child constantly has lice, what should I do? In addition to the treatment with the above drugs and methods, a number of preventive measures are required, the main of which is personal hygiene. It is necessary to wash the child’s head at least 2 times a week, regularly change the baby’s bedding and underwear, do not allow others to try on themselves and use other people's hairbrushes.
An educational conversation is also required, explaining the danger of pediculosis. As a kind of protection, you can use tea tree oil and lavender (lice do not tolerate their smell), which is applied to the child’s ears, on the neck and occipital part. As a prophylaxis, such funds must also be applied to uninfected family members.