How to kill lice | home remedies that work
Does your child scratch his head and you already itch all thinking he has lice? Lice are not a sign of dirt, even the cleanest child can get lice if they are near someone who has them or shares a brush, scarf or other object.
In another article We talk about why itching occurs, today we tell you more about lice and how to eliminate them. Let's see below, The best home remedies against lice.
Infestation by lice is very common in school age, if you get a note from the teacher commenting in the class have been detected lice we tell you home remedies you can do and work. That you have to be constant and do them once a week for 3 weeks minimum . The lice put their nits and the seven days reappear, so to make the remedy a week is not enough. ≧ ° ◡ ° ≦
What are the lice
Pediculosis is the technical name of an infestation by these bugs. Lice are small insects that need a human host to survive. They adhere to the hair and feed on blood , just like mosquitoes.
Lice are parasites from 1 to 4 millimeters in length, dark gray or brown. It seems that they acquire a lighter color in light hair and darker in darker ones.
Lice are nourished by blood when pricking the scalp where they deposit a liquid that can cause itching They reproduce through eggs called nits.
There are also other types of lice (body and pubes), but lice, the most common, can only live in the head.
Lice are annoying but do not transmit any disease, so if your child has them it is a matter of "knowing the enemy" and knowing how to fight it.
Despite what many people think the animals do not have lice (they may have fleas but not lice), the lice feed exclusively on human blood.
How much they live
The louse, on the head, lives around 3-4 weeks .
Each female lays around > 10 eggs a day, then, during its life, it puts 3-400 eggs or nits. These are placed above the height of the neck, above and behind the ears.
The eggs hatch after 7-10 days, a "nymph" comes out, the nymph can not reproduce until it completes Its maturation to lice in about 10 days.
Scalp lice survive a maximum of 2-3 days. In contrast, larvae (nymphs) resist at room temperature for up to 10 days.
How they are transmitted
The lice do not have wings, they just crawl quickly. They stick to hair especially around the ears and neck. If a child is in contact with the head of another, or wearing a hat, scarf, a headband and cloth or other object that has been in contact with a hair with lice can get to catch them. There are children especially more sensitive than others to catch lice but this has nothing to do with their hygiene. We see everything in detail.
Itching
The characteristic symptom of pediculosis is pruritus , which is due to an irritative reaction in response to the saliva enzymes of the louse. It is important to emphasize that this reaction takes days or weeks before appearing, so when itching occurs, the infestation is old, may be at an advanced stage and may have been the cause of transmission to another person.
Impetigo
Superficial injuries caused by scratching can cause impetigo of the scalp and inflammation of the lymphatic glands behind the ears and on the back of the neck.
Other symptoms of lice
Other symptoms of lice infestation include :
- There may be red bumps on the scalp, neck and shoulders. They can exude secretions or explosions. This may be due to allergies to lice or secondary bacterial infestations of the bite areas.
- Repeated scaling causes skin breakage and secondary bacterial infections. These infestations can be painful and can ooze or develop pus. They can rarely become abscesses in severely ill or malnourished patients.
- The eggs or nits are visible as white and yellow spots near the hair root on the scalp. Live nits can also be the guest's hair color. These are glued and are difficult to remove. They are more common on the back of the head and behind the ears.
- Lice are usually difficult to see because they can move very fast. They are only visible if there are a large number of them . An infection usually means no more than 10 to 12 live lice, but it can mean many hundreds of eggs without hatching.
- Most infestations, especially in children, do not lead to any less serious symptoms.
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- Some patients with severe infestations may have fever, swollen lymph nodes (especially in the back of the head), rash, irritability, and discomfort.
- Lice are more active in the dark, so there may be sleeping difficulties at night in severe infestations.
- Children with severe infestations also have lice on eyelashes and eyebrows.
The best home remedies against lice
With pharmaceutical product
In the pharmacy you have many, but they do not go below € 15 and also some when carrying strong chemicals create " resistance "in lice. Many work but you have to be consistent (as I said in the introduction). It is not enough to remove the lice, it is that if there are eggs or nits after seven days they come out again.This product leaves a film on the hair to soften it but when you have lice better only the shampoo and a good rinse. When the lice disappear you can again use conditioner.
In addition, we have home remedies that work, we tell you now. Do not forget to apply them once a week for 3 weeks from the start of treatment. And every day use the lice-detecting comb.
Remedy with oil and vinegar
For this remedy you can use any type of oil that you have at home, although especially effective are the almond oil or baby body oil.
Try to smear the head of the person , put a plastic cap and wait at least one hour . Then pass the anti-lice comb. Then wash with the normal shampoo and in the last rinse add a little vinegar. Leave the vinegar for five minutes. Rinse well. Repeat this treatment for three weeks.
Remedy with mouthwash
This remedy carries alcohol and this product likes nothing to lice . It is a remedy that also works (as long as you do it for three weeks). It's about soaking the hair with the rinse like the Listerine and then covering it with a bath cap. At least one hour is allowed to act. Then the anti-lice comb is passed. Repeat the remedy once for three weeks.
Remedy with baking soda and lemon juice
Products you sure have at home. It's about putting two tablespoons of baking soda mixed with the juice of two lemons . Mix well and apply over the head. Leave on for at least two hours. Then pass the anti-lice comb and wash your hair with the usual shampoo. Repeat the same pattern for 3 weeks (once a week).
Remedy with mayonnaise
Next we recommend a remedy that although something "sticky" is also effective. It consists of wrapping the head with mayonnaise that will "drown" the lice. We cover with film and let the mayonnaise act for at least one hour . Once the time has passed, rinse the hair well to remove the mayonnaise and pass the comb or nit. Now we must wash the hair well, apply shampoo and conditioner so that there is no remnant of the mayonnaise that could end up causing the hair to become oily. This is a single-use remedy, because as we say mayonnaise can contribute too much fat to your hair.
Remedy with nim oil
Neem oil is considered a potential ally in the fight against lice and is more of a remedy to treat and not just to treat . To discourage the establishment of parasites on the skin and in the hair, it is above all its smell, often not tolerated even by people. Some drops of neem oil can be passed on to children's scalps and hair before going to school. The point of application in which to insist more is the fixation of the hair. Neem oil also has numerous other healing properties, which you can take advantage of if you do not consume the entire product in case you have to prevent lice.Thanks for reading Blogmedicina.com.