What do linen, head, body, and pubic lice bites look like, how to treat them, and how long do they itch?

Symptoms of lice

Lice live on various parts of the human body. The main route of infection is through close contact with another person. Head lice most often infect children who spend a lot of time actively interacting with each other.

Body lice are rare these days. Most often they affect people leading an asocial lifestyle and living in unsanitary conditions. The habitat of body lice is in the folds of clothing, the thickness of mattresses, pillows or other pastel objects.

Pubic lice live on the scalp of the genitals and are transmitted from person to person during intimate intimacy.

The main symptoms of head lice include:

• • itching in the area of ​​bites – scalp, back, limbs, lumbar region (occurs on average in 14-36% of cases);
• • the appearance of spots and marks on the skin from bites and scratches;
• • redness of the skin at the bite sites;
• • compaction and swelling of the skin;
• • feeling of discomfort, irritability, worsening sleep

The most common type of blood-sucking insect is head lice. Their active spread is indicated by the appearance of nits on the hair. Outwardly, they resemble dandruff flakes, but unlike dandruff, they are firmly attached to the hair. When you press on a nit, you hear a distinct, specific click.

Therapy

Therapy for pediculosis Treatment of head lice is carried out with special medications.
To get rid of lice, treat the hair with a pediculicide, put on a special cap, and wait for the time specified in the instructions. Nits and dead individuals are combed out. To consolidate the result, it is recommended to re-treat after 14 days. It is also possible to destroy parasites using folk remedies. Therapy for linen lice is carried out somewhat differently. The main effort is directed to processing bedding and things. Wash at high temperature, chemically treated. Take a shower with tar soap or a special shampoo that contains insecticides against lice.

Pediculosis pubis is the easiest to treat. It is necessary to shave the hair on the pubis and genitals. Treat bites with alcohol. Or apply a special product and rinse off after the time specified in the instructions. They wash clothes, bedding, and underwear.

In each case, disinfestation is carried out in the house. The bites themselves can be treated with Zvezdochka balm, Bepanten, Fenistil gel, and calendula tincture.

How and where do lice bite?

To accurately determine the presence of an infestation, you need to figure out where the lice bite. The location of the bites depends on the type of insect.

Traces from head lice bites are especially noticeable in the back of the head. The person experiences itching and a burning sensation. Linen lice crawl onto the human body in order to feed on blood. The locations of their bites are the lumbar region, arms, legs, and shoulder girdle.

Linen lice do not bite hairy parts of the body. The presence of bite marks and itching in the pubic area directly indicates damage to pubic parasites.

Questions and answers on calling the SES

• How is the ordering procedure carried out? You dial the number, find out the cost, set a suitable time for the lice removal specialist to arrive;
• How many hours does disinsection last? Typically, SES workers complete the task in 30-50 minutes. It all depends on the size of the room;
• Is the destruction price fixed? It is formed depending on the dimensions of the object. The larger it is, the lower the rate for processing a square meter falls;
• Is fog harmful to people and animals? No. We use drugs certified in Europe. They are 100% safe for mammals and even plants;
• Is it possible to wash and open windows after removing nits? Yes. It is permissible to ventilate the room after 3-4 hours. Do wet cleaning on day 2;
• Is there a smell after spraying cold mist? No. It is invisible and definitely does not bring negative feelings.

How they bite: the biting process

To find out how lice bite, pay attention to the characteristics of the insects. Lice cannot fly or jump, but they move quickly. This explains their penetration onto the head or body of a new carrier as a result of close contact

The insect needs a bite to gain access to human blood. The parasite's mouthparts are well adapted for biting through skin. At the same time, the louse secretes a substance into the wound that causes itching. The affected areas are susceptible to inflammation; when scratched, they can become covered with crusts and serve as a “gateway” for infection.

Insect feeding

The source of replenishment of vital supplies for lice species is human blood. An adult feeds 4 times a day. Each procedure lasts at least 5 minutes. At one time, the insect drinks about 5 ml of blood.

On a note!

Nutrition plays an extremely important role in the life of insects. Without blood, the female cannot reproduce or lay eggs. Nymphs stop developing and do not move on to the next stage.

Parasites live in a colony, but are not known for their coordinated actions. They eat randomly. With severe infection, unpleasant sensations are constantly present. Nymphs drink less blood per meal, but make more attempts to get food.

What can you do to treat bites and relieve itching?

Itching can be eliminated only if the parasites are completely eliminated. After pediculosis as a phenomenon is eliminated, itching will no longer bother a person.

There are many ways to combat parasites. For this purpose, both medications and traditional medicine are used. Let's look at some of them.

The main methods of treating pediculosis

Combing

For this action you will need a special comb with fine teeth. Use it to comb out strand by strand for at least 30-40 minutes. To enhance effectiveness, the comb is soaked in vinegar, which helps destroy the secretion by which nits are attached to the hair. The disadvantages of the method include its duration and low efficiency. It is usually used to eliminate residual nits on hair after processing.

Wrap

To get rid of parasites, apply the prepared mixture to the hair, wrap it in a towel and leave it for a certain time. Cranberry juice, a combination of kerosene, shampoos and vegetable oil, a vinegar solution, and masks of crushed garlic and onions can be used as an active mixture. After the mixture is washed off, you need to comb your hair to avoid any remaining nits.

The disadvantages of this method include the risk of skin damage and burns. This is especially true for kerosene. Its prolonged presence on the hair will effectively eliminate lice, but can cause allergic reactions and even skin burns.

Rinsing and washing hair

Washing your hair with regular shampoos will not help get rid of parasites. Products such as tar or dust soap are more effective. After washing your hair, rinse your hair with decoctions of mint, wormwood, and wild rosemary. But this method is only applicable for minor lice infestations.

A haircut

This is the simplest and most radical method of eliminating parasites, in which they die, deprived of their natural habitat. Boys and men have their heads shaved, girls have their hair cut as short as possible.

Shaving and cutting with further combing are effective methods, but they are not suitable for girls who do not want to lose long hair.

Most traditional methods do not guarantee complete elimination of infection and usually require repeated use. Some may be unsafe or not suitable for use in children or pregnant women

The use of folk remedies is justified in cases where a person does not have access to more effective and safe medications. If you decide to use folk remedies, you need to be extremely careful and perform all actions under the supervision of a doctor.

We fight on our own in the house

Nits in the sofa

Pubic: To eliminate lice, it is recommended to perform the following steps:

• Wash in boiling water - a 90 degree setting is fine;
• Freeze objects - an alternative method is to place clothing and other items in the freezer for 12-14 hours;
• Shave all the hair - armpits, groin, preferably also the legs. Check your eyebrows carefully. If necessary, clean them with tweezers or your fingernails.

Clothes: in order to remove a linen louse, but it does not live on you, only on things, you will need to disinfect the items. Washing with powder will not help in this case; boiling is also required. It is better to resort to special preparations from the pharmacy, but they are not always effective - insects are constantly developing and adapting to poisons, and products from stores are often not updated for several years. It’s not a fact that they will remove the lice entirely.

Head nits: their nits are able to remain along with the hair on the sofa. Individuals will gladly crawl to the side, from where the lice can move to other family members or return to the previous host. To clean the room, you can buy substances at the pharmacy or use the following products:

• Garlic (hang, grate and place on the table);
• A mixture of water and salt (sprinkle on furniture and floors, you can put everything in a bag);
• Citrus (lay out the peels - there will be a pleasant smell in the house);
• Chlorine and vinegar (wash everything around with solutions);
• Needles (another reason to put branches in the house).

The main problem remains the inability to clean all corners of the home. Hundreds of cracks and cracks in the sofa alone open up enormous opportunities for the secretive presence of a blood-sucking pest in the furniture, from where lice can easily get out later.

Prevention

In order to minimize the risk of infection, precautions should be taken, namely:

• • regular washing of the head and body, adherence to general hygiene rules;
• • regular examination of the child's head, especially if he attends school or kindergarten;
• • familiarizing children with the rules of hygiene and maintaining a safe distance when playing and communicating;
• • regular change of bedding - to prevent infestation with body lice;
• • exclusion of casual sexual relations in order to prevent infection with pubic lice;
• • applying drops of tea tree oil or lavender behind the ears, the smell of these products repels insects

Unfortunately, following normal hygiene rules does not guarantee complete protection against lice infestation. The main method of prevention is maintaining a safe distance when communicating with people whose appearance is suspicious.

Danger of lice to humans

Danger of lice: bites behind the ear

Lice should be removed quickly, as they are not only contagious, but also pose a threat to the life of the infected person. Look at the list of ailments that you can get after “communicating” with little “friends”:

Typhus: the skin becomes covered with pink pathological elements. The cover begins to peel off. The disease is also accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Pain (head, back).
• Thirst;
• Vomit;
• Heat.

The disease is dangerous due to complications leading to disorders of the nervous system. There is death, which is not uncommon. It is better to find out in advance how to remove lice, and then apply this knowledge, eliminating the threat.

Fever: trench or Volyn type may occur. The symptoms are largely similar to those of typhus, but there is no threat to life. In both cases, you must consult a doctor.

Effective treatment

The most effective and safe means include “Paranit”. Its action is to block the respiratory system of lice and nits. The active substances dimethicone and mineral oils have no effect on humans, but are harmful to insects.

Advantages of the product:

• • the result has been confirmed in clinical trials and experience in various countries;
• • the possibility of using the “Paranit Sensitive” product for hair treatment in children over 1 year of age and pregnant women;
• • available in various forms – shampoo, lotion, spray – it’s convenient to choose the best option
• • in most cases, one application is sufficient to eliminate lice;

“Typhoid had a bad reputation, but it was dealt with!”

Andries Both, “Catching Fleas by Candlelight” (1630).
Image from the site art.biblioclub.ru Once upon a time, body lice were a breeding ground for typhus, and one of its types, relapsing fever, was carried by head lice. This infectious disease, however, is largely over. Since the end of World War II, typhus outbreaks have occurred mostly in Africa, with three countries: Burundi, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

In the United States, cases of typhus are isolated, and Europe has practically forgotten about this infection.

In Russia, the last case of typhus was documented in 1998, but in 2015, in eight regions of the country, including the Tula, Samara regions and Moscow, epidemiologists identified several cases of Brill's disease (a recurrent form of epidemic typhus), due to with which the chief sanitary doctor of Russia, Anna Popova, called for intensifying measures to combat head lice in medical and children's educational institutions and organizing special washing stations for the homeless.

Judging by the fact that there have been no reports of typhus in the three years since then, the measures were effective, and perhaps the risk of spreading the disease was extremely low to begin with.

The most important good news is that typhus is easy to treat these days. To do this, it is enough to take 200 mg of doxycycline once, regardless of the patient’s age.

You may have heard that a bloodsucker can infect a person with hepatitis B or even HIV infection. This is pure fiction, not based on any facts.

Viruses are broken down by special enzymes of lice and washed away by their saliva, so there is no danger of contracting these terrible diseases through insects.