There are many ways to remove nits and lice, some more effective than others. There are so many commercial treatments as Natural medicine. Here we tell you how they are spread, how to eliminate them and how to keep your head clean of lice.
According to Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics, "lice are very difficult to see" and they continue, "in fact the most common thing is to see the eggs, called nits, which are located one centimeter from the root of the hair." Infection with lice is known as 'pediculosis'.
Table of Contents:
How are lice spread?
Lice feed on the blood they obtain through the scalp. Off the head, a louse does not survive beyond 24 hours. There are many ways to catch lice, but the most common are:
- The school: If we hear of an outbreak of lice we should protect our children's heads with preventive lotions. The Spanish Society of Family and Community Pharmacy He defends that it is not enough to make pigtails or pick it up, but that it would be necessary to shave it completely to prevent the nits from implanting. From here we do not believe that it is necessary to reach that point.
- Sit with your heads together: Little ones usually have a lot of physical contact, whether playing or resting, the best thing we can do is use a preventative shampoo when our child gets home.
- Avoid sleeping in the same bed and share brushes or towels. Wash them at 40 degrees or wait a reasonable amount of time (more than 24 hours) to use them.
What remedies can I use?
Whether commercial or natural remedies, you should always follow the guideline of doing two treatments spaced a week apart. After the first treatment, for prevention, you must always repeat it after 7 days, since the nits that have opened will have released lice, but they are not adults and will not have laid eggs (nits) yet. Two treatments within a week are usually sufficient if applied well.
“The hair should not be washed before applying lotions, since the fat facilitates the fixation of the active ingredient. The washing will be carried out after the indicated contact time and can be done with normal shampoo or with pediculicidal shampoo to complete the treatment," they point out from the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV).
Commercial remedies:
- Filvit: This shampoo is very effective and you will simply have to apply it to your hair by rubbing the hair and scalp.
- Neositrin – Spray Gel, Treatment to Eliminate Lice and Nits – It is a new product that is sweeping Amazon users due to its high effectiveness.
- Treatment kits: Treatment kits are usually the most complete products, since we will have shampoo and lotion to eliminate them and prevent them from appearing again.
- Special combs: After using the shampoo and treatment kits, we will simply have to comb to remove the nits and dead lice.
Natural remedies to eliminate lice and nits
Some chemicals in anti-lice treatments can cause dandruff, burning, redness and irritation, which is why there are people who prefer natural remedies.
Apple vinager:
One of the most effective is to use Apple vinager. You have to wash your hair well and spray it from the roots with apple cider vinegar in the shower. Leave it on for 10 minutes and wash again with plenty of soap. Finally you have to use the fine-tipped comb or nit comb to remove the dead lice.
Apple cider vinegar also contains substances that weaken the glue with which nits adhere. By carrying out this treatment, which can be repeated every two days, for 8 days, the lice and most of the nits will disappear.
Virgin olive oil
After applying apple cider vinegar and before washing, it is a good practice and makes it much easier to remove nits to apply virgin olive oil to the entire hair and scalp and let it act, wrapping the head with plastic wrap for about 30 minutes. Virgin olive oil, in addition to leaving the hair very soft, dissolves the glue with which the nits adhere to the hair, and they come out with the nit more easily.
Tea tree
But attention because there are natural remedies that do not work at all. One of the most widespread hoaxes is that the Tea tree It has properties as a lice repellent. This data has no basis. It is enough to verify that no commercial product with tea tree in its formula does not specify anything in writing about its supposed effectiveness against lice.
The most difficult thing is to get rid of the nits.
If the infestation has been very large and you have time, it is ideal that after finishing the treatment and once using the fine toothed comb after the apple cider vinegar and virgin olive oil, you proceed to manually extract the the nits one by one. Unfortunately, the misnamed "nit trap" (fine-toothed comb) does not remove them completely and a manual inspection is always necessary to eliminate them all.
So it's time to arm yourself patience, and divide the hair into zones (taken with rubber bands or clothespins) and go over all the roots. Once you have located a nit, clamp the hair where it is located with your thumbnail against the tip of the other finger and drag it firmly to the end so that it is released.
Only in this way will we ensure that there are no eggs that can hatch and return to infest hair.
Of course, if the instructions of the commercial treatments have been followed to the letter, the nits that we will remove will all be empty, since they open earlier and their nymphs (young lice) will have died with the second phase of treatment.
What do I do after finishing the lice treatment?
It is recommended that at the end of the treatment to be more effective you:
- Avoid using a regular shampoo for two or three days.
- Remove all dead lice and nits with the comb after 12 hours.
- Check for 1 week if they have reappeared.
- Soak used combs for 10 minutes in boiling water or put them in a tightly closed bag in the freezer for a day.
Frequently asked questions about the spread of lice:
Do head lice transmit diseases?
Head lice should not be considered a public health threat since they do not transmit any type of disease. They are simply annoying because they cause itching and prevent sleep. Sometimes, the itch can cause the person to scratch excessively, which would make a secondary skin infection more likely due to the friction of the nails and the dirt they contain.
Can head lice be transmitted by sharing sports helmets or headphones?
It's unlikely, but yes.
Can head lice spread from wigs or hair extensions?
If no more than 48 hours have passed since use, yes.
Can lice spread when swimming?
There is evidence that head lice can survive underwater for several hours, but they are not likely to be transmitted through pool water.
Can infection occur through the air?
No, lice do not have wings.
Do lice prefer long hair to short hair?
No, they do not have preference, but the more hair, the more likely it is to become infected.
Do lice prefer brown hair to blonde?
No, there is no evidence to support this claim.
Do lice spread to adults?
Yes, but in a very low probability. They live best on children's scalps.
Do lice live indefinitely on sofas, blankets, carpets, bedspreads...?
No, they die in less than 24 hours away from a human.
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