Lice Treatment
Definition:
Lice are tiny, wingless, parasitic insects that feed on your blood. Lice are easily spread especially by schoolchildren through close personal contact and by sharing belongings.
Several types of lice exist:
Head lice. These lice develop on your scalp. They’re easiest to see at the nape of your neck and over your ears.
Body lice. These lice live in clothing and on bedding and move onto your skin to feed. Body lice most often affect people who aren’t able to bathe or launder clothing regularly, such as homeless or transient individuals.
Pubic lice. Commonly called crabs, these lice occur on the skin and hair of your pubic area and, less frequently, on coarse body hair, such as chest hair, eyebrows or eyelashes.
You or your child can have good personal hygiene habits and still get lice. Unless treated properly, this condition can become a recurring problem.
Signs & Symptoms:
You may not be aware of a lice infestation. However, common signs and symptoms can include:
Itching. Itching on the scalp, neck and ears is the most common symptom. This is an allergic reaction to louse saliva. When a person has an infestation for the first time, itching may not occur for two to six weeks after infestation.
Lice on scalp. Lice may be visible but are difficult to spot because they’re small, avoid light and move quickly.
Lice eggs (nits) on hair shafts. Nits stick to hair shafts. Incubating nits may be difficult to see because they’re very tiny and camouflaged to match hair color. They’re easiest to spot around the ears and the hairline of the neck. Empty nits may be easier to spot because they’re lighter in color and further from the scalp. However, the presence of nits doesn’t necessarily indicate an active infestation.
Cause:
Head lice are contagious. You can become infected with head lice when the insects crawl onto your head. Ways you might get head lice include:
touching your head to an infected persons head
sharing the personal items (e.g., comb) of someone with head lice
using a fabric item after an infected person
Lice can be transferred by brushes, combs, barrettes, headbands, headphones, and hats. They can also live for a time on upholstered furniture, bedding, towels, or clothing.
How To Cure:
- Garlic
The strong fragrance of garlic can suffocate lice, ultimately killing them.
Grind eight to 10 garlic cloves into a paste and mix in two to three teaspoons of lime juice. Apply the mixture thoroughly onto the scalp. Leave it on for a half an hour and then rinse the hair thoroughly with hot water.
Alternatively, you can make a thick paste by combining fresh garlic juice with some cooking oil, lemon extract, green tea and some shampoo and conditioner. Coat the hair thoroughly with the paste and cover your scalp with a towel or shower cap for about a half an hour. Then wash your hair with your regular shampoo. Repeat this remedy on a weekly basis for one to two months.
- Baby Oil
For another easy natural treatment for head lice, you will need baby oil, laundry detergent and some white vinegar. It is believed that baby oil, too, helps suffocate the head lice.
Apply some baby oil on your hair and then comb your hair slowly so that lice start falling from your head.
Then wash your hair with laundry detergent and hot water.
Before bed, put some white vinegar on your hair and cover your head with a shower cap or towel. Leave it on overnight.
In the morning, wash your hair with regular shampoo and then apply some conditioner.
Repeat this process for at least three to four days to get positive results.
- Olive Oil
Olive oil will effectively smother and kill head lice.
Apply any type of olive oil to your hair generously before going to bed. Put a shower cap or towel on your head to keep the oil on your hair overnight. In the morning, comb out the tiny parasites and then wash your hair with some herbal shampoo containing tea tree oil.
Another option is to mix one-half cup of olive oil with one-half cup of conditioner and add some liquid soap to it. Apply this solution onto your hair and leave it on for an hour. Then, rinse out your hair and apply conditioner. Comb your hair thoroughly to remove the dead lice. Repeat this remedy again after a week to get best results.
