Lice Treatment: Are Home Remedies Enough?

Lice: insects without wings

Lice are wingless crawling insects that live on the hair of the head and feed on human blood. Female head lice lay tiny eggs called “nits” which are firmly attached to hair shafts. They hatch in about 7-10 days and live for 30-40 days.

Head lice life cycle

Head lice pass through 3 stages: nits, nymphs, and adults.

Nits (eggs): live 4-6 mm from the scalp only and hatch between 7-12 days.
Nymph: From its name, the head louse resembles a small nymph (1.5 mm) and reaches maturity after 9-12 days.
Adult lice: lays 10 eggs per day, and it takes 12-14 days for newly hatched eggs to become adults.

Symptoms of head lice

The most common symptom is itching at the bottom of the head and neck and near the ears. Other symptoms include:

Difficulty sleeping because lice are active at night.
The feeling that something in your hair is moving.
Sores due to excessive scratching.

Also read: The relationship between ADHD and insomnia

What is the reason for the appearance of lice in the hair?

Individuals become infected with lice by insects that crawl from person to person through direct contact or by sharing personal items such as combs and brushes. Poor hygiene is not the cause of lice, as is commonly believed.

Everyone is susceptible to head lice, but it is more prevalent among children in schools, because they have direct contact with other children and may share objects that touch hair.

Also read: A recent study warns of the danger of using smart devices to calm children

Treatment of lice in the hair

Over-the-counter medications: These include shampoos and lotions known to kill lice that contain a substance called pyrethrin or permethrin.
Prescription medications: These include Benzyl alcoholivermectin, melathion and spinosad.

Lice treatment at home

There are some home remedies that you can follow on your own.

Wet combing

All you have to do is wet the hair and use the comb to remove the active lice and their eggs every day for 3 weeks.

Use of oils

Tea tree or anise oils may suffocate and kill lice, but be aware that you can experience allergic reactions to these oils.

Methods that help suffocate lice

Some people use this method to suffocate and kill the lice by applying large amounts of a greasy substance to the scalp, covering it, and leaving it on while they sleep. Among these materials used are Vaseline, mayonnaise, or olive oil, but there are no scientific studies that prove the effectiveness of these uses.

How to get rid of lice at home

Lice can spread from the hair to the house, that is, to towels and bedding, but the fall of lice from the body on these things helps to kill them quickly because they feed on human blood to survive. Follow these steps to clean your home of lice:

hot water

Lice die after exposure to temperatures above 130 F for more than 5 minutes, so wash anything that has come into contact with the person’s skin or scalp.

vacuum cleaner

Vacuum carpets, furniture, sofas, and even the floor of the home to remove hair that may contain active lice eggs.

Hair cleaning tools

All equipment used should be soaked in hot water such as brushes and hair accessories for 5-10 minutes.

Read also: Extinction of insects threatens life on earth

Be careful not to use recognized insecticides on the market to kill lice, as they are toxic to you and your skin.

Lice treatment for children

Knowing that your child has lice may cause you to panic, but there is no need to stress as this infestation is occasional and can happen to most children.

Lice usually infect children between the ages of 3 and 11, and are more common in girls than boys. Following these steps can help you get rid of head lice the right way without causing fear to your child.

First of all, you can comb your child’s hair, how?

Wetting the hair.
Using a fine comb, comb the hair downward in small sections.
After each combing, wipe the comb with a damp paper to check for lice.

Also read: Why is your hair falling out? How do you treat it?

If the combing step does not provide any effective result, you should consult a specialist doctor to do a careful examination and see if it is necessary to resort to drug treatment. Treatment with medication is usually used if your child has live lice.

Lice treatment with vinegar

There are no supporting studies confirming that vinegar is effective in killing lice or their eggs, but the research conducted was a comparison of 6 remedies said to be “common” in the treatment of lice: vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise, butter, petroleum jelly and isopropyl alcohol.

The result of this comparison was that vinegar is the least effective treatment, and that there is no good treatment that helps prevent eggs from hatching. Also, most of the common uses did not help kill lice, except for Vaseline, which killed lice in large quantities.

Also read: Between studies and customs.. What is the truth about the benefits of apple cider vinegar?

Frequently asked questions about lice treatment

How do you diagnose head lice infestation?

Head lice can be diagnosed by visual examination, that is, by looking closely at the hair and its tufts, lice eggs attached to the ends of the hair can be seen. However, adult lice are very mobile and difficult to see and require a medical examination.

How long do lice last?

The duration of the lice persistence depends on the effectiveness of the treatment used and the number of lice present in the hair, but when effective treatment is followed, the lice can disappear after 2-3 weeks.

Also read: Hair vitamins: between the two sides, benefits and harms

How to get rid of lice in one day?

It is not possible to get rid of lice in just one day, and what is required is to treat the lice infection by improving the personal hygiene of the infected person, and thus this only helps to speed up the treatment process.

Lice treatment It is limited to effective treatment and following the necessary steps, from cleaning personal items to avoiding contact with infected people. Don’t worry, lice are not dangerous, but they are annoying because of the itching you feel.