General information
A parasitic disease of the skin and hair caused by lice is called pediculosis. Head lice affects the scalp, the back of the head, neck, skin behind the ear and temples suffer the most. The first signs of pediculosis, which indicate infection, appear after 2–3 weeks.
Symptoms caused by head lice: severe itching and rashes, on which pustules develop when infected, the appearance of nits and scratches at the bite sites.
Attention! The female louse lays up to 50 eggs at a time and begins to produce offspring within 9 days after emergence. If the number of individuals living on a human body increases to 75 thousand, this can lead to death.
The fight against head lice is comprehensive and includes:
- treatment;
- maintaining personal hygiene;
- sanitizing things.
It is better to prevent any disease than to subsequently waste time and money on treatment. This also applies to pediculosis. Although it does not threaten incurable diseases, a person may experience problems of a social nature.
We recommend reading: why lice are dangerous, the consequences of lice.
You can successfully remove head lice using tar soap at home.
Tar is a dark-colored oily liquid with a strong specific odor. It is produced by distilling the young bark (birch bark) of trees, most often birch. In its pure form, tar is rarely used for personal hygiene; it is added to various products - shampoos, creams, ointments and soaps.
Hypoallergenic tar soap against lice has a pronounced insecticidal and disinfectant effect. It is produced industrially in liquid form and in the form of bars. People suffering from an allergic reaction to synthetic components of medications willingly use it.
Lice Recipes
The detergent is produced in the form of a solid bar and in liquid form. Tar soap for hair against lice can also be used in liquid form. Here are some effective recipes based on liquid soap:
- Add 2-3 drops of ylang-ylang, mint, clove, and lavender essential oils to liquid soap. Use the same as recommended above. This product will help somewhat soften the unpleasant odor, and essential oils will make the repellent effect more pronounced.
- Add natural unrefined vegetable oil to the liquid soap, which will make the film that blocks the spiracles of lice denser and also make combing easier. This recipe can be used to treat head lice for people with dry hair. The combination of components will help soften the scalp and protect hair from alkali.
- After the tar soap has been left for 40-60 minutes, washed off, and the hair has been dried, the treatment can be supplemented by treating the hair with hellebore water. The product is sold in pharmacies. This is an alcoholic extract of Lobel's hellebore roots, which has a neurotoxic effect on lice. Hellebore tincture is applied using a cosmetic disc to the scalp. Leave under a cap for 30 minutes, wash your hair with shampoo for dry hair and carefully comb out dead lice and nits with a comb.
Tea tree oil and cloves
For those who want to prepare tar soap according to an old recipe, we can offer the following recipe:
- baby soap – 300 g;
- birch tar - 1 tablespoon;
- water – 1 tablespoon.
Baby soap and birch tar Soap should be grated and placed in a water bath. Add a spoonful of water to the shavings and... stirring, dissolve. Add tar and stir until smooth. Cool to 30-40°C and pour into molds. It will take 4 to 7 days for complete hardening. This soap is more gentle on the hair and scalp, as it contains less alkali. Homemade soap for head lice is more effective, since it contains a higher percentage of tar than store-bought soap.
Fighting lice using tar soap will be effective and safe if you follow the rules of use.
Compound
Soap may contain various components, it depends on the manufacturer:
- citric acid to repel parasites;
- birch tar - acting on the nervous system of insects, leading to their paralysis and death;
- phenols and alkali, sodium chloride - cause burns to lice and nits;
- salt - protects the skin from the effects of aggressive components;
- flavorings - reduce the pungent odor;
- thickeners, stabilizers that have a milder effect on the skin.
The most famous companies producing soap in Russia are Nevskaya Cosmetics and Vesna. It is believed that the anti-pediculosis effect of the Nevskaya Cosmetics product is more effective. It contains more active substances that fight parasites.
Important! You should not purchase a product that contains lauryl sulfate. It is better to use environmentally friendly products.
Manufacturers add extracts of medicinal plants useful for hair (nettle, celandine, burdock), vegetable oils, in particular olive, lavender, clove, coconut or coniferous tree oils, to liquid soap.
What can be replaced?
You can replace tar with dust; it contains chemicals that even destroy nits, but its consequences can be worse than tar. Or you can replace it with another pharmaceutical product, for example, the wonderful remedy “paranit” is suitable for children. There are many different other means, these are: “pedilin”, “Veda-2”, “nix”, “hygia”.
Nowadays, there are many effective means to eliminate this problem. There are products that are harmless even for children. The most important thing in this problem is safety. Our doctors recommend using tar in combination with other remedies or as a healing agent.
Price
Soap can be purchased in pharmacies at different prices, it all depends on the additional ingredients and the manufacturer.
In Russian pharmacies, the average cost of one bar of tar soap (140 g) ranges from 28 to 40 rubles, depending on the region.
A course of treatment will require no more than two bars of soap , therefore, treatment will cost 56–80 rubles.
But there are also more expensive analogues, for example, the imported product from Scandinavia “Dermosil” costs up to 250 rubles.
Natural tar soap produced is sold at 215 rubles per briquette weighing 80 g. It contains jojoba oil, collagen hydrolyzate, vitamin E, coconut, castor and almond seed oils.
During treatment, to comb out parasites and nits, it is necessary to use a comb, which is also sold in the pharmacy chain. They can be made of plastic, medical steel, there are electric and even electronic combs. Regular combs can be purchased for 200 rubles, and the cost of electronic combs is already above 3,000 rubles.
What are the contraindications?
The occurrence of adverse reactions is rare. The product cannot be used:
- Women during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- For people with dry skin, to avoid cracking and peeling, as the product dries out the skin too much.
- People prone to allergic reactions. It is better to undergo a preliminary test before use, which can show probable inflammatory reactions.
- For increased skin sensitivity. Using tar may cause itching and irritation.
- In childhood. If lice appear on a baby, you should purchase pharmaceutical products with a more gentle composition and gentle effect.
Women planning a child are also prohibited from using the drug.
Advantages and disadvantages
pros
- Tar-based medicinal products, including soap and shampoos, have proven themselves to be excellent. They have many advantages over other products: they destroy parasites, especially when used in combination.
- They improve the condition of hair - they replace restorative procedures using expensive cosmetics: they accelerate growth, fight hair loss, make curls soft and silky, and add shine.
- They increase blood flow to the bulbs, helping to strengthen them.
- Regulates sebum production, gets rid of excess fat and dead skin particles.
- Help eliminate itching and accelerate wound healing.
- Acts as an antibacterial agent.
- They are an excellent prevention of recurrent disease.
- Safe to use for people of any age.
- Soap is inexpensive and can be easily purchased at pharmacies or online stores.
Minuses
- It has a strong unpleasant odor, which can even cause headaches and nausea in some sensitive people.
- It is difficult to wash off and sticks strands together.
- Their negative manifestation is expressed in skin irritation, allergic reactions and peeling.
- Not suitable for daily use.
Note! Tar soap does not solve the problem of killing insects at once; complete cure may require at least two weeks.
It is not recommended to skip procedures - there will be no effect from the treatment.
You can cause harm to yourself if used incorrectly - too often and for a long time.
It can slightly change the color of dyed hair, and also gives an undesirable tint to blondes. But this process is reversible - it is restored after the end of using tar soap.
A wonderful remedy - with the help of tar soap, without extra costs and negative side effects, you can perfectly cope with an unpleasant disease - pediculosis.
What other folk remedies are effective against lice, as well as the rules for their use, you can learn from the following articles:
- laundry soap;
- cranberry;
- kerosene;
- dichlorvos;
- vinegar;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- Polish for hair;
- ammonia hair dye.
Is tar soap effective against lice?
Of all the folk methods for treating head lice, tar soap is considered the most famous and time-tested remedy. Antiparasitic properties are given to it by various alkalis added during production. Tar itself does not have a pronounced ability to kill insects.
Supporters of tar soap are attracted by its low price and the natural origin of the main active ingredient. However, it still does not help get rid of lice as quickly as other pharmaceutical drugs. It is necessary to keep the product on the head for at least half an hour so that a significant part of the parasites die. It often takes several regular applications before the hair is completely free of pests.
Tar soap cannot get rid of nits . Often several regular applications are required: the first time the lice die, the next time the insects that hatched from the nits die. If you do not follow this rule, then tar soap will not bring the desired result.
Doctors agree that tar soap will not be superfluous in the fight against lice. But it should be used as part of a comprehensive treatment along with pharmaceutical shampoo, as well as a special comb for combing out parasites.
However, it has benefits that potent drugs do not. Tar soap heals wounds left after lice bites. Often, infection multiplies in them, which leads to itching and hair loss. Regeneration is accelerated due to blood flow into the deep layers of the skin. Tar disinfects damage and prevents secondary pediculosis.
Customer Reviews
Irina, 38 years old, Moscow: “My daughter brought lice from kindergarten. I was desperate and didn't know what to do. A neighbor advised me to buy tar soap. When I applied it, my daughter cried a lot, began to be afraid, and said that her eyes were burning. I quickly washed it and wrapped my hair in a towel. So my daughter walked for 40 minutes every day. The course of treatment will be 10 days, we got rid of the insects.”
Natasha, 29 years old, Klin: “When I had head lice, I had to get acquainted with this soap. The smell of tar is unpleasant, but you can tolerate it. The treatment was carried out for 2 weeks. The result was surprising - not only was she able to get rid of lice, but she also returned shine and softness to her hair, and the dandruff disappeared.”
Irina, 22 years old, Tver: “My son got lice, my grandmother recommended proven methods, which included treating with tar soap. We processed the hair and kept it under cling film. The child endured only 15 minutes because he complained of a severe burning sensation on his head. The parasites were removed, but only after 18 days, using soap daily.”
Source
How to make soap at home
It is possible to make tar soap yourself. The recipe for cooking at home is as follows:
- Take tar and baby soap without fragrances or dyes.
- Chop the soap on a fine grater.
- Create a water bath. Pour the prepared soap into the upper container and add 20 g of water, stirring until dissolved.
- Add 2 tbsp to the resulting mass. l. birch tar.
- Mix thoroughly, let cool to 38°C and pour into molds. You can use any cosmetic or medicine jars.
- Leave in air for 7 days.
You can make tar soap yourself at home.
The product is suitable for regular use and will be more gentle than store-bought ones.
