How to remove lice - basic methods

The delicate problem of lice, unfortunately, can affect everyone. As soon as the head begins to itch unbearably, and small nimble insects are noticed in the thick of the hair, the question of quickly getting rid of lice becomes extremely acute. And in this article you will learn how and how you can quickly remove lice and nits at home, medical and folk remedies that will help get rid of parasites in humans.

What can be done in one day

The surest way to destroy lice and nits is to cut off the hair and burn it so that the insects do not have a chance to move to a new place of residence. This method is radical, but in some cases - for example, when lice are found on a man or child with short hair - it can be very useful.

But the most reasonable option is to purchase at the pharmacy a drug designed to combat head lice and a special metal comb for combing out nits and dead parasites. Some of the remedies in this area will allow you to get rid of the problem in one treatment, but, most likely, after 7 days you will still have to carry out another procedure - a preventive one.

Anti-pediculosis drugs offered by the modern pharmaceutical industry can be divided into 4 types:

1. shampoos;
2. sprays;
3. lotions;
4. creams and ointments.

What is the best product to buy?

It is more common to use shampoos, but the concentration of active ingredients in them is often lower than in sprays and lotions, and several treatments may be required. The use of the spray requires outside help (someone must treat the victim’s head while he sits with his eyes closed, while protecting the respiratory system from the smallest drops of the drug). In addition, asthmatics and allergy sufferers should not use sprays.

Lotions and ointments are the strongest of the options presented, so they are not recommended for children, people with sensitive skin or poor health.

Advice

You can choose a product based on dimethicone - this is a substance that is safe for humans, but lethal to lice. Such preparations do not contain insecticides and act due to the fact that, due to their viscosity, they clog the respiratory tract of parasites, cutting off their access to oxygen.

Table 1. Popular pharmaceutical products for lice and nits

Shampoos Sprays Lotions, concentrates Creams and ointments

"Pedilin" Parasidose ("Parasidosis") "Hygia" Lice Guard "Nyuda" "Para Plus" "Paranit" "Full Marks" (Russia) "Pedikulen Ultra" (Russia) "Medifox" "Foxilon" "Benzyl benzoate" "Avicin" "Medilis Super" "Nittifor" (cream) "Benzyl benzoate" (ointment) "Nix" (cream)

Special cases

The treatment of head lice in children raises the most questions. The main rule here is caution. If your child has lice, ideally you should consult a doctor (he will prescribe the most appropriate remedy) and notify the school nurse.

You can independently choose a drug that can harm a child’s delicate skin, and by hiding the fact of infection from employees of an educational institution, you increase the risk of re-infection: the child will be treated, return to school or kindergarten, where the parasites that he “shared” a couple of weeks ago will again spread to him " with classmates.

For the treatment of children, it is advisable to choose drugs that do not contain insecticides, but act “mechanically” - for example, due to viscous dimethicone. When choosing a product, be sure to look at the instructions - age restrictions, contraindications, and composition features are indicated there.

Important!

It is strictly not recommended to use folk remedies, especially toxic and flammable ones, to rid children of head lice!

What to do with lice on long hair

A simplified treatment option has not yet been invented: you will also have to treat the scalp and hair along the entire length with anti-pediculosis drugs, and then carefully, strand by strand, comb out the parasites with a fine comb.

The procedure will cost a pretty penny, because you will need a much larger volume of the active product than for those with short hair. But, no matter how great the temptation to save money is, you shouldn’t use dubious cheap products: ruining the hair that you’ve been growing for several years will be much more offensive than spending additional money on your own health.

Folk remedies

Medicine has not always been as accessible as it is now, so we have “inherited” many recipes and folk remedies with which you can quickly get rid of lice at home.Some of them are still used today, but almost all of these products are either ineffective or pose a serious health hazard.

Lice and mustard

This method was often used in the post-war period, when other means were not available, and the problem of lice was quite acute. To get rid of insects, you need to prepare a paste of 1 egg, a teaspoon of mustard and 100 ml of 9% table vinegar (for long hair you will need a larger volume, but the proportions of the components must be maintained). The product should be applied to the hair, paying special attention to the scalp, and left for three hours (preferably under a plastic cap). If your scalp gets very hot, you will have to wash off the composition earlier. Next, you need to carefully comb out the lice and nits with a special comb.

Even if the folk remedy does not help completely remove lice, you will be provided with a “comforting bonus” - the mustard mask improves blood circulation in the scalp, and the hair begins to grow rapidly.

Lice and vinegar

Table vinegar was used in the fight against lice because it is able to dissolve the adhesive substance with which nits are attached to the hair, this makes it possible to comb them out after treatment. It is not possible to completely get rid of lice with vinegar: having “inhaled” its vapors, the lice become lethargic and inactive, but do not die.

Important!

Anti-lice vinegar is used only in diluted form, otherwise burns and hair damage cannot be avoided.

The “classic” option for removing lice and nits with vinegar at home: dilute it in water in a ratio of 1:2, soak your hair in the resulting solution (it’s convenient to use a sponge or small towel), wrap your head in plastic wrap and wait about an hour.After this, you need to carefully comb out the lice and nits using a fine-toothed comb and rinse your hair several times under running water. Then wash your hair as usual, using your usual shampoo.

But the work is not finished here: the procedure will have to be repeated, and, most likely, more than once. At least 4 days must pass before the next “session”.

Lice and herbs

In the minds of most people, the concept of “vegetable” is equated with “safe”, but in the case of exterminating parasites this is far from the case. Lice are destroyed with the help of poisonous plants - for example, hellebore, the roots of which contain alkaloids. These substances are fatal to lice and dangerous to humans.

Based on Lobel's hellebore, a well-known remedy is produced - hellebore water. It is with its help that it is often recommended to get rid of lice. The algorithm is simple: apply the liquid with a cotton swab along the entire length of cleanly washed hair, wrap your head in polyethylene and wait half an hour. After this, you need to wash your hair again with regular shampoo and carefully comb out dead insects and, if possible, nits.

Many people choose hellebore water because it is quite effective and inexpensive - no more than 70 rubles. However, this product has significantly more disadvantages. Firstly, it is toxic, so it is strictly contraindicated for young children and people with poor health.

Secondly, the drug has no effect on nits - after a week you will have to put yourself in danger again by repeating the procedure. And thirdly, hellebore water is an alcohol tincture, and therefore its effect on the hair and scalp leaves much to be desired.

Previously, villages also prepared other herbal folk remedies for pediculosis - decoctions based on St. John's wort, larkspur, burdock, tansy, and chamomile.These products are all natural, but are not strong enough to get rid of lice quickly.

Lavender oil also helps in the fight against pediculosis - but only as a preventive measure. Lavender is a natural repellent: the essential oils of this plant repel many insects, including lice.

There is information that lavender “essence” in combination with other oils (eucalyptus, rosemary, anise, tea tree) in high concentration helps get rid of parasites. But no one would dare to recommend this method, since for many people even a couple of drops of essential oil causes headaches, nausea and other unpleasant symptoms.

And a combination of several such means can lead to unpredictable consequences. Do not forget that, despite their apparent harmlessness, essential oils are very powerful drugs.

Burdock oil is not an essential oil, and therefore it is not dangerous to use (unless, of course, you are allergic to burdock). It is used like this: applied in large quantities to the hair and scalp, kept under a plastic cap for at least an hour.

After this, you need to comb out the parasites and wash your hair thoroughly, but it will not be easy to wash off the oil from your hair. The task is complicated by the fact that the procedure will have to be repeated every 3 days until the desired effect is achieved.

Advice

If you decide to use burdock shampoo instead of burdock oil, leave this idea. The concentration of the active substance in it is negligible and will not affect the parasites in any way. This product is designed to restore the health of your hair and scalp, so you can use it when you get rid of lice.

“Killer” chemistry, or what you shouldn’t do

Some folk ideas are best left in the past, this applies to the following means that those who like to risk other people’s health still recommend removing parasites:

• kerosene;
• gasoline;
• turpentine;
• diesel fuel;
• acetone;
• dichlorvos;
• dust soap;
• “talkers” based on benzyl benzoate.

It would seem that there is no need to explain why such toxic substances should not be applied to the hair and scalp. But with amazing regularity, in villages and towns (and even in large cities!), news reports appear about poisoning and spontaneous combustion during a session of “radical therapy” using similar methods.

Why shouldn't you use the above methods?

• Turpentine, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel and acetone are flammable liquids that can instantly ignite right on your head. In addition, none of them can be called safe for health, even when used externally, so don’t even think about removing lice with kerosene.
• Dichlorvos is an extremely toxic chemical intended exclusively for disinfestation of premises. Processing should be carried out only in protective equipment.
• Dust soap was used to remove fleas and lice at the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, this is an ordinary laundry soap, to which a previous generation insecticide (DDT) has been added. Back in the 60s, it was proven that the toxic components of this drug accumulate in the body and over time can even lead to death. Of particular danger is dust getting on the mucous membranes and into the bloodstream (through scratches and other wounds on the treated area of ​​the skin).
• Benzyl benzoate, as well as ointments and emulsions based on it, are an acceptable option, but not recommended by modern medicine.The substance has a rather aggressive effect on the scalp, but is powerless against nits.

If the danger to health is not a significant argument for you, and you are sure that a “hardened body” will survive the effects of any of the above-mentioned products, think about the fact that they all have a sharp, pungent odor and are generally unpleasant to use - the scalp becomes irritated, itching, in some cases - allergic reactions and chemical burns. All such products are very difficult to completely wash off from the hair.

High tech

If you have darsonval - a physiotherapeutic device whose action is based on the use of high-frequency currents - you can try to defeat lice with its help. Just comb your hair with a special nozzle, trying to work through every centimeter of the scalp.

True, this method has not undergone any clinical trials, and therefore it cannot be said with confidence that darsonvalization will save you from parasites. But if there is such an opportunity, it’s worth a try - the procedure will not harm you.

Another modern, but untested method is cryotherapy, that is, exposure to liquid nitrogen. In theory, lice should not survive at such low temperatures (nitrogen is cooled to -150 degrees).

The permissible exposure time for each area of ​​the head is only 4 seconds, and this casts doubt on the effectiveness of the procedure. Cryotherapy sessions are available only in special clinics and beauty salons (with the help of such procedures trichological pathologies are treated); freezing cannot be used at home.

Occasionally you can come across suggestions that parasites can be gotten rid of using quartz treatment.But this is not so - neither nits nor adult lice are sufficiently exposed to ultraviolet radiation, and therefore, if infected with lice, treatment with a quartz lamp will be ineffective. Such devices are designed to kill bacteria and viruses, not insects.

How to treat an apartment for lice

It's no secret that lice can easily end up outside the head of an infected person - this is how lice spread. Therefore, if, for example, a child “brought” parasites from kindergarten, then several individuals can crawl onto the back of the chair where he was sitting, onto the fluffy blanket with which he was covered, onto the carpet where the little fidget was playing. This creates an additional risk of infection for other family members, so at the same time as treating the victim’s head, the apartment must also be treated.

All kinds of insecticides that are used in the fight against cockroaches and bedbugs will work well against lice. They can be very toxic and dangerous, so it is better not to buy the first one you come across, but to choose the safest one - for example, based on pyrethrum (aerosols “Pyrethrin”, “Pyrethrum”). You can use their synthetic analogues - “Cypermethrin”, “Tzipi”, “Almetrin”.

If you have a household steam generator for cleaning and disinfecting various surfaces, now is the time to put it to full use. Steam anything that can withstand this type of exposure.

It is recommended to place clothes worn by a person infected with lice for 10 days in a sealed bag and put them away, for example, on a balcony. After this time, you will need to wash the items at maximum temperature and iron them thoroughly.

High temperatures during washing and ironing, as well as steam treatment, are the main methods of combating body lice.It is advisable to treat all personal hygiene items (combs, hair accessories, etc.) with the same product that was used to kill lice on the head.

The fight against lice requires special attention and cannot be delayed. This problem is as old as the world, and during its existence many ways to eliminate parasites have been invented. Which one to choose is not as difficult a question as it seems at first glance. The answer is simple: choose the safest option available!