What are lice?
And what color is it?
And what nits?
And what color is it?
Is it possible to treat lice in one day?
Can it be treated with mayonnaise, coconut oil, olive oil and vinegar?
Head lice and nits are very common in young children and their families.
Lice have nothing to do with dirty hair and are caught by head contact, according to the UK's National Health Service (NHS).
What are lice?
Head lice are parasites that live in the hair and feed on blood from the scalp. Their bites can itch, and many people find them disgusting.
Aside from that, lice are fairly harmless.
What nits?
Head lice often lay their eggs near the hair roots, near the scalp, and the next generation usually hatches within one week. The eggs laid by lice are called nits.
The shape of lice and nits
Full-grown head lice are 2 to 3 mm long.
Its bodies are flat, wingless, and grayish-brown.
Unlike fleas, lice cannot jump, but their six legs give them the ability to stick to and crawl on human hair. Because lice are so small, they are difficult to see in areas of thicker hair, and a magnifying glass can help you find smaller lice.
Head lice usually lay their eggs (nits) on the back of the neck or behind the ears, where they stick firmly to your hair, usually less than a centimeter from the scalp.
Nits are elliptical in shape, may appear the color of their host's hair, and range from white to yellow to brown.
Other small objects in the hair, such as dandruff, can be mistaken for lice, but dandruff and other small, loose objects do not stick to the hair and fall off when vibrated.
How many days do lice live in bed?
To survive, lice must feed on blood.
Adult head lice can live about 30 days on the head, but they will die within a day or two if they fall from it, and the female lice are usually larger than the male and can lay about 6 eggs each day, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "CDC" (CDC).
How do I know that I have lice?
Head lice can make you feel something moving in your hair that is itchy, and the only way to be sure someone has been infested with head lice is to find the lice alive.
lice color
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that adult lice are tan to grayish-white, and head lice may appear darker in dark-haired adults than in light-haired adults.
What is the treatment for hair lice?
Britain's National Health Service says you can treat head lice without seeing a GP.
It is necessary to treat lice as soon as they are discovered, and you should examine everyone in the house, and start treating anyone infected with head lice on the same day.
Treating lice using wet combing
Lice and nits can be removed by wet combing, and you should try this method first.
You can buy a special fine-tooth comb (revealing comb) at drugstores or online, to remove head lice and nits.
There may be instructions on the packaging, which usually include:
Wash hair with regular shampoo.
Using a lot of conditioner (ie conditioner).
Comb the entire head of hair from roots to ends.
It usually takes about 10 minutes to brush short hair, and long or curly hair 20-30 minutes.
Do a wet comb on days 1, 5, 9, and 13 for any newly hatched lice, and double-check that everyone's hair is free of lice on day 17.
Lice treatment using medical preparations and sprays
Seek advice from your pharmacist if you have tried wet combing for 17 days and your child still has live head lice.
Medications and sprays that kill head lice may be recommended for all hair types, and you can buy them at drugstores, grocery stores, or online.
Head lice should die within a day, and some lotions and sprays may come with a comb to remove dead lice and eggs.
Some treatments should be repeated after a week to kill any newly hatched lice.
Check the packaging to see if it is suitable for you or your child, and how to use it.
Medication head lice treatments according to the US National Library of Health include:
Insecticide-based treatments.
Silicone-based products such as dimeticone or dimethicone.
Head lice have now developed resistance to some insecticides, so those products are less effective than they used to be, and silicone treatments are becoming more common, and they don't contain insecticides, so there are no problems with resistance.
Silicone-based treatments cover the lice with a layer of oil, which causes them to suffocate.
Most of these treatments need to be reapplied after about 7 to 10 days, and you can read the package leaflet to find out exactly how to use the product you have.
It is not enough to comb the hair with the lice comb when used as the only treatment, but it is important to use the comb to check the success of the treatment.
Experts recommend re-combing the hair every 3 days for at least two weeks after applying a head lice treatment.
If lotions or sprays don't work, talk to your pharmacist about other treatments.
Lice treatment with mayonnaise, coconut oil and olive oil
There is a lack of research on the effectiveness of these types of remedies, such as coconut oil, and on home remedies such as olive oil or mayonnaise, according to the US National Library of Health.
Therefore, we do not recommend its use, consult your pharmacist.
According to the German Health Sector Quality and Economics Institute, home remedies such as vinegar and mayonnaise or even dryer use should not be used, so as not to damage the scalp.
Symptoms of lice
Head lice cannot always be noticed right away.
However, the following symptoms may occur:
Tingling in the scalp
Feeling that something is moving in the hair
lice bite itch
Painful red areas of skin from scratching
Difficulty sleeping due to itching because lice are active at night
Lice eggs
A female head lice can lay about 6 eggs each day.
How to get rid of lice in one day?
It is not possible to get rid of lice in one day, as it usually takes 10 days or more to ensure that the hair is free of lice and that there are no eggs.
For example, the German Federal Center for Health Awareness recommends that the parents of a child with hair lice apply the lethal substance to lice twice: immediately and again after 8 to 10 days. Only then can the larvae be eliminated as well.
Vinegar treatment for lice and nits
Vinegar is not effective for treating lice and nits. Do not use it.
How to apply lice treatment to hair
A sufficient amount of the treatment for lice should be applied to the hair, and left for a long time in order for it to have its desired effect.
A common mistake is applying the treatment to wet hair, which may limit the effect of the treatment.
Therefore, the treatment should be applied to dry hair, with no towels wrapped on the child's head so as not to absorb the treatment and negatively affect its effect.
Do lice jump from head to head?
German dermatologist Andreas Jesper says in the negative, explaining that lice cannot jump, but crawl, noting that the transmission of lice from one person to another requires physical contact for a long time, especially through the hair.
Head lice can make you feel itchy and move around in your hair (Al-Jazeera)
Symptoms of a child with lice
The German Consumer Information Center stressed that parents should not only follow the requirements of hygiene and health care for the child's head, but should also follow this with the child's things and needs such as dolls and others.
The center recommended that parents put all the things that the child uses, such as clothes, scarves, hats, towels, bed linens and toys, in the freezer for two days, or washed them at a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius, in order to eliminate the lice in them.
As for things that cannot be followed by such methods, lice and their eggs can be eliminated by placing them in a tightly closed plastic bag, where lice are exposed to severe hunger under these conditions, knowing that this method will not work unless this method is kept. objects inside the bag for at least two weeks.