It would seem that in our time no one even cares about liceremembers. However, unfortunately, this is not true at all - even today, pediculosis is a very widespread problem. How to get rid of lice - this problem worries a huge number of people. Moreover, children suffer from pediculosis much more often. And they are the most often the source of infection for parents. It is not customary to talk about this problem. For some reason, people have the opinion that lice are an obligatory attribute of socially disadvantaged people who are least concerned about how to get rid of lice - alcoholics, homeless people, beggars. And because of such stereotypes, a person who has encountered the problem of pediculosis is simply embarrassed to ask how to get rid of lice, even from a doctor. And very much in vain - no doctor will laugh at you. Doctors know the true state of affairs very well: pediculosis does not in any way depend on social status, financial situation, or cleanliness of people. Moreover, in the last year, there has been a widespread epidemic of pediculosis throughout Russia, and these epidemics have affected even the most elite kindergartens, schools and summer camps. Pediculosis is an extremely dangerous disease. When in contact with a lice carrier, the risk of infection reaches approximately 90%. And when using common things - all 100%. That is why it is so important to observe the rules of personal hygiene and never, under any circumstances, give or take combs, hair ties and hats from anyone. Sometimes, just one fertilized female is enough for a person to become infected. And lice reproduce very, very quickly - in just two weeks, the head of a sick person becomes a real breeding ground for lice. Therefore, treatment must be started immediately, at the first symptoms of pediculosis. What exactly are the symptoms of pediculosis, will be discussed below. In order to successfully combat the disease and know how to get rid of lice, you need to have a clear idea of the types of these parasites. There are three types of lice:
- Cootie
- Pubic louse
- Head Louse
Strictly speaking, it is the infection of a personhead lice and is called pediculosis. This disease will be discussed below in this article. Pediculosis is the most common disease, occurring in 93% of all cases of lice infestation.
Symptoms of lice
Head louse is a parasitic insect,having no wings. The head louse lives exclusively on the scalp, preferring such places as the back of the head, temples and the area of the skin behind the ears. However, in particularly advanced cases, the disease can parasitize the entire scalp. The head louse has a very strong and elastic body that can withstand a load of about one kilogram, and its legs are designed in such a way that it can easily move along the surface of the hair. The head louse drinks blood with the help of a special sharp proboscis, with which it pierces the scalp. After the louse has sucked blood, it acquires a reddish tint. To maintain life, the head louse needs human blood. Without food, it can live only a few days, depending on the ambient temperature. For example, in the hot season, at an ambient temperature of about 30 degrees, a louse can live without blood for only one day, at a temperature of 20 degrees - two days, and at a temperature of 10 degrees - about five days. The optimal conditions for the development of head lice are temperatures of approximately 26 - 28 degrees. This is approximately the temperature at the hair roots, where head lice live. The lower the ambient temperature, the fewer eggs the louse lays. At temperatures below 12 degrees, egg laying stops completely. Lice eggs are called nits in official medicine. Nits are very firmly glued to the base of the hair with the help of a special adhesive substance. In about 8 days, lice hatch from the nits, which in 9 days are fully mature and ready to lay eggs themselves. Nits need to be given sufficient attention - because if after treating the head of a sick person at least a few live nits remain, the entire cycle of the disease will begin again. It goes without saying that the presence of parasites cannot go unnoticed. Pediculosis has the following symptoms:
Treatment of pediculosis
Getting rid of head lice is not that difficult,if treatment is started in a timely manner. The first condition is careful hygiene. A sick person should wash his hair as often as possible, ideally daily. Otherwise, due to the large amount of abundant secretory discharge of lice and the sticky substance of nits, the hair becomes very tangled, and an extremely intense and unpleasant odor may also appear. And in addition to the aesthetic side of the issue, such a condition leads to the fact that lice lay eggs almost en masse. Fortunately, modern pharmacology offers a wide range of various chemical drugs that allow you to get rid of pediculosis quite quickly. If you ask a doctor about how to get rid of lice, he will help you choose a drug. If you are too embarrassed to visit a doctor, a pharmacy employee can help you with the choice. However, before using any drug to treat pediculosis, you need to remember some features:
- Make sure that the disease does exist
A lot of people are panicky afraidpediculosis, at the slightest itch of the head they run to the pharmacy, buy medicine and smear the head for prevention. However, doctors strongly advise against doing this - because these drugs are toxic. In no case should you begin treatment until you are absolutely sure of the presence of parasites. We must not forget that there are a huge number of different reasons that lead to the occurrence of itching of the head.
- Breast children, pregnant women, scalp inflammation
Doctors also do not recommend carrying out the treatment.head with household products for children under one year of age, pregnant women. And also with caution you can use these pharmacological agents for the treatment of pediculosis in cases where a person has any inflammatory process or irritation on the scalp. In such cases, it is very important to promptly seek help from your doctor.
- Protect eyes
As mentioned above, all drugs forLice removers are extremely toxic, so care must be taken to avoid getting the product in your eyes.
- Follow the instructions on the instructions
Before using pharmacologicalpreparations intended to get rid of pediculosis, it is necessary to very carefully read the instructions for use of the drug. When using, it is necessary to carefully follow the instructions, especially in the section concerning the dosage of the drug and repeated treatments. Very often, a person, extremely upset by the very fact of infestation with lice, strives to get rid of pediculosis as quickly as possible. And as a result of this, he can significantly exceed the dosage of the drug indicated in the instructions, believing that it will work more effectively. However, this is not true at all, the only thing that can be achieved in this way is general poisoning of the body. And the effectiveness of the treatment will still not increase.
- Hairdryer
Do not use a hair dryer to dry your hair after treating your scalp with a pharmaceutical product – heat can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the product.
- Washing head
Avoid washing your hair during the first 24 hours aftertreatment of the head with an anti-pediculosis drug. The majority of parasites die in the first hours after treating the head with the drug. However, its effect continues for the first 24 hours.
- Application rules
Another common mistakeis the incorrect application of the drug. Remember that the drug is not a shampoo. It must be applied very carefully - to each strand of hair separately, making sure that not a single untreated hair is left. The drug must be left on the hair for exactly the amount of time indicated in the drug instructions.
- Combing
After the specified time has elapsed, carefullyComb your hair with a fine comb. It is advisable to do this over a white sheet of paper on which the lice are clearly visible. If all the lice are dead, the drug is quite effective. However, do not forget that none of the drugs that exist today have any effect on nits - lice eggs. That is why it is very important to comb them out thoroughly.
- Re-treatment of the head
As already mentioned, no drugdestroys nits. And even if all the nits are carefully combed out with a fine comb, there is always a chance that a few nits will still remain on the hair. And to avoid re-proliferation of lice, it is necessary to re-treat the head after the time specified in the instructions.
Other ways to treat pediculosis
However, unfortunately, this method does notis always the best way to get rid of lice. Doctors themselves admit that more and more often there are types of lice that are absolutely resistant to many medications. In this case, you need to try using another drug. Carefully read the annotation to the drug and pay attention to the active ingredient - often drugs with different names are essentially the same thing. Also, in some good ways to get rid of lice is a regular hair conditioner and a fine comb. To do this, the conditioner must be applied very generously to the hair - they should all be covered with a thick layer. The head must be covered with plastic wrap and left for about two hours. After that, without rinsing off the conditioner, carefully comb out the lice and hair with a fine comb. The procedure must be repeated every day for two weeks. There are many folk methods for getting rid of lice and nits. However, doctors are extremely negative about various folk remedies, such as dichlorvos or kerosene. These treatment methods can have the most negative impact on the health of a sick person, and especially a child. And as a result, the child will have to be treated not only for pediculosis, but also for general intoxication of the body, sometimes quite severe. We recommend reading: