Combing out lice and nits is most often used as an auxiliary method after exposing the hair to a medical or folk drug. This method allows you to comb out not only the parasites themselves, but also mechanically get rid of lice larvae - nits. Removing nits is more difficult, since the eggs are tightly attached to the hair, at its base. They are covered with a dense shell, which complicates the process of fighting parasites. In the fight against head lice, efficiency plays an important role. The average lifespan of a female is 40 days, however, during her life cycle she is able to leave offspring, which number in the hundreds of larvae.
How to treat an apartment and furniture
Disinfection of lice in the entire room is carried out after they have been removed from the head of an infected person. In order to avoid re-infection, thorough cleaning of the entire apartment or house is recommended.
Housing treatment includes the following activities:
- • carrying out general cleaning of the house - carpets and paths are cleaned with a vacuum cleaner or washed with water with the addition of chlorine, ammonia or vinegar;
- • it is recommended to treat carpets and other surfaces with hot steam;
- • special means are used to treat furniture and apartments: aerosols, sprays or solutions;
- • washing bed linen and clothes at high temperatures
Disinfection of lice in an apartment should be carried out in compliance with personal safety measures. Children, pregnant women and pets should not be in the room. During disinfection, it is necessary to protect the respiratory tract with a mask and hands with gloves.
After treating the room and furniture, you should ventilate the room and carry out wet cleaning again.
Parasites surrounded
Head lice live in hair that has a specific structure. When heavily infested, they can parasitize not only the head, but also the beard and armpit. Insects do not live on the pubic area because the hair structure there is different. Pubic lice infest this area and the eyelashes.
They leave their former places on their own - they explore the territory in search of a new victim. Forced - fall from the head during sleep, when a person is immobile, along with the comb. They enter the environment with fallen or cut hair.
For normal existence, all types of lice require certain conditions of temperature, humidity, and lighting. At home, insects can be found in the bed of a sick person, on his personal belongings. And also on the sofa, carpets, toys, upholstered furniture. Any place with a rough surface.
On a note!
Lice in an apartment outside the head live from several hours to 3 days. If they do not find a new victim, they are left without food and die. In other cases, they continue normal life activities on the new head.
Processing of linen and clothing
Head lice are able to remain active when they get on the pillow. Body lice also persist for a long time in bedding. Therefore, it is very important to disinfect against lice by thoroughly treating clothing and all bedding.
Linen and clothes are placed in a bag to prevent lice from getting on the carpet when carrying items to the washing machine. Then they are washed at a temperature of at least 60 C for at least 30-40 minutes. Things need to be dried outside.
After drying, all clothing and bedding are ironed with a hot iron, paying special attention to seams and folds.
Prevention of head lice
The best alternative to treatment is proper prevention of the disease, which will not allow lice to begin their parasitic activity. Let's consider a number of measures to prevent head lice:
- • regular washing of the head, hair and body in hot water;
- • periodic washing and boiling of bed linen;
- • keeping the house clean, regular cleaning;
- • change of bed and underwear once a week;
- • pre-ironing clothes before wearing
- • distance in public places and transport.
Basically, preventive measures are aimed at temperature effects. It is known that lice cannot tolerate prolonged heating to temperatures of +30°C or more. Cold is also harmful to parasites. Cooling to +20°C causes lice to stop reproducing and their larvae do not develop. However, complete destruction requires cooling to at least -20°C.
How to process things
When disinfecting an apartment from lice, mattresses, toys, fur and carpets require careful treatment.
Large fur items can be dry cleaned or placed in the cold for a long period. Things that are not afraid of high temperatures are treated with steam from a steam generator. Mattresses are dried outside in hot weather or exposed to hot steam.
Toys, hats, scarves, and hair accessories (hairpins, elastic bands, jewelry) are subject to mandatory treatment when disinfecting against lice. They can be boiled and ironed with a hot iron or treated with special means.
Combs and combs also require careful disinfection. To do this, they are wiped with vinegar or a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water in a 1:1 ratio. Then the hair care products are placed in boiling water for 2-3 hours. After such treatment, combs and combs are washed with ordinary warm water and soap and wiped dry.
If you don’t have time to disinfect your apartment from lice on your own, you can use the services of special services.
Security measures
During the procedure, you must observe some precautions:
- If you have an allergy, do not use.
- Add a little castor or olive oil to the soap foam, and after treatment use a restoring balm.
- Make sure that the product does not get into your eyes.
Soap is used for external use only. If it gets inside, it can cause heartburn and stomach pain. Caution when using the product will prevent unwanted problems from occurring.
How to treat infected people
The most radical method of getting rid of head lice is cutting your head bald. But this method is not suitable for women and girls.
In order to get rid of lice and nits, various drugs or folk remedies are used. Their goal is to eliminate living insects and their waste products.
After treating the scalp, you need to thoroughly comb the hair with a special comb to remove nits attached to the hair. The hair is combed out strand by strand along its entire length for at least 30-40 minutes.
Body lice (linen lice) are much less common than head parasites. But if infection occurs, you need to take a shower with special shampoo and wear clean, disinfected or thoroughly ventilated clothing.
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.
How to treat: folk remedies
Various folk methods have proven themselves in effective disinfection against lice.
For disinfection, you can use vinegar, tar or laundry soap. These products are used both for cleaning and clearing the apartment of lice and nits, and for treating the scalp of infected family members
To repel parasites, various herbs are used, such as tansy, peppermint, wormwood, and eucalyptus. They can be placed under the carpet, on sofas. The baseboards are wiped with a vinegar solution. A mixture of salt and soda is used to wipe upholstered furniture.
Parasites do not tolerate strong odors, such as garlic or citrus skins. To do this, crushed products are laid out in small quantities around the room. However, such a measure can only be regarded as preventive.
What contraindications will there be?
Contraindications for tar soap are few, as are the cases of its side effects.
But, they exist. Since this soap dries out the skin greatly, it is better for those with dry skin not to use it regularly, otherwise it can cause peeling of the skin and cracks on it.
Gynecologists advise limiting its use in case of pregnancy.
Individual allergic reactions are possible, so before use you need to undergo a simple test: apply soap to the bend of your elbow and wait about 5 minutes. There will be time to identify intolerance to it.
If the skin in the indicated area becomes red, then another type of therapy must be used to remove the parasites. When there are no reactions, soap is used without fear of unpleasant surprises.
Rules and precautions
- • all disinfection measures are carried out wearing a mask (respirator) and gloves;
- • all food products in the house must be kept in tightly packed containers, out of reach of disinfection measures;
- • upholstered furniture should be processed when unfolded
- • household appliances and electrical appliances must be covered with film or thick fabric;
- • you can enter the room 2-3 hours after disinfection and ventilation;
- • it is advisable to repeat the procedure 2 weeks after the initial disinfection.
Rating of the best brands of tar soap
The five most popular brands include the following brands:
- "Cleona". The composition contains jojoba oil, avocado, almond seeds. Suitable for all skin types, has a moisturizing effect.
- "Spring". Has a gentle pleasant smell. It does not dry out or tighten the skin thanks to the glycerin included in the composition. Available in transparent packaging, which allows you to see the soap before purchasing.
- “Nevskaya Cosmetics”. Brown soap has a rectangular shape and a characteristic smell. Creates good foam in your hands and when using a sponge. Does not contain flavorings or dyes.
- "Agafya" The composition contains natural vegetable and essential oils, birch tar. Intended for treating infected areas of hair.
- “Spivak”. Bar detergent. Helps in the fight against lice, preventing their appearance. It also has antiseptic properties and helps moisturize the scalp.
How not to repeat the spread
In order to prevent a new infection, all family members must follow preventive measures. First of all, this applies to children who attend preschool educational institutions and school. The child needs to regularly examine his head, and at the first sign of infection, report it to the kindergarten or school. The sooner parasites are detected, the easier it will be to remove them without physical and moral suffering for the child.
Other preventative measures include:
- • observe all rules of personal hygiene, avoid close contacts with potential carriers of lice;
- • regularly change bed linen and wash clothes;
- • use individual combs, hair ties, towels, and never lie on someone else’s untidy bed;
- • after washing, iron bed linen with a hot iron
- • carry out regular wet cleaning of premises.
When lice are detected, effective and safe preparations must be used to remove them. Folk remedies for removing lice are recommended if lice need to be removed urgently, but it is not possible to use more effective methods.
What is dichlorvos
Dichlorvos is a broad-spectrum insecticide. Relatively safe for humans, but harmful to insects. Has a neuroparalytic effect. It is used in everyday life and at work to kill flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, moths and other pests.
Dichlorvos affects lice in the same way as other insects. Parasites do not have a powerful chitinous covering, like cockroaches, so the toxin effectively paralyzes and kills them. However, the product does not cope with nits - the eggs of parasites have a strong protective shell.
Effective treatment
Among the drugs that leave no chance for parasites, one of the most effective is Paranit. Its action is harmful to lice, but safe for humans. The result is achieved thanks to the active ingredient demethicone. In combination with mineral oil, it interferes with the normal functioning of the insects' respiratory system. One treatment is enough to get rid of lice.
“Paranite” is easily applied to the hair, does not cause a burning sensation or discomfort, and is washed off well without leaving any sticky residue. Forms of release of the drug - spray, lotion, shampoo.
After applying to your hair, you need to wait 15 minutes and rinse off any remaining product with warm water and shampoo. Then you should carry out the procedure of combing out nits using the comb that is included in the kit.
The drug has no contraindications for use. "Paranit Sensitive" can be recommended for children and pregnant women. Unlike many toxic folk remedies, Paranit does not cause the risk of scalp irritation or allergic reactions. If necessary, it can be reused. The anti-pediculosis agent not only has a healing effect, but also improves the structure of the hair, making it thicker and softer.
Preparing for brushing
The process of combing out nits requires careful preparation, the quality of which determines the likelihood of re-infection and the spread of parasites. Missing just one individual can quickly lead to a resurgence of the parasite population.
Before combing you need to:
- Cover your shoulders and place light paper or cloth on the floor. Newspaper is not suitable for these purposes, since it will be difficult to notice insects against its background. If fallen lice are discovered, they must be destroyed immediately.
- The person who will process the product should protect themselves from infection: wear gloves, remove hair, and put on a light-colored robe.
- Periodically rinse the comb in an alcohol-containing solution or vinegar and remove dead insects from the comb.
- It is better to prepare a workplace near a window or choose a room with good artificial lighting.
- Pre-apply balm to your hair, which makes strands easier to comb.
