Head lice and natural remedies.
What is head lice?
The head lice is a tiny, wingless parasitic insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on tiny amounts of blood drawn from the scalp. Lice (the plural of louse) are a very common problem, especially for kids. They're contagious, annoying, and sometimes tough to get rid of.Lice eggs (called nits). These look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. Lice lay nits on hair shafts close to the scalp, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm until they hatch. Nits look sort of like dandruff, only they can't be removed by brushing or shaking them off.
Unless the infestation is heavy, it's more common to see nits in a child's hair than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp. Lice eggs hatch within 1 to 2 weeks after they're laid. After hatching, the remaining shell looks white or clear and stays firmly attached to the hair shaft. This is when it's easiest to spot them, as the hair is growing longer and the egg shell is moving away from the scalp.
Adult lice and nymphs (baby lice). The adult louse is no bigger than a sesame seed and is grayish-white or tan. Nymphs are smaller and become adult lice about 1 to 2 weeks after they hatch. If head lice is not treated, this process repeats itself about every 3 weeks. Most lice feed on blood several times a day, and they can survive up to 2 days off the scalp.
How you get head lice
Head lice are spread by direct head to head contact. They climb from one person's hair to another's.
Head lice:
* can't fly, jump or swim
* are very unlikely to be spread by objects such as hats, combs and pillows
* don't have a preference for dirty, clean, short or long hair
* only affect people and can't be caught from animals
Once detached from the hair, head lice will usually die within 12-24 hours.
Preventing head lice
It's very difficult to prevent head lice.
You may want to consider regular detection combing – for example, on a weekly basis – if you're concerned about your children or yourself.
Lotions and sprays don't prevent head lice and should only be used if a live louse has been found in your or your child's hair.
Staying off work or school and washing clothing and bedding on a hot wash is unnecessary, as it's unlikely to help prevent the spread of head lice.
Lice spread by close person-to-person contact. It is possible, but not common, to get lice by sharing personal belongings such as hats or hairbrushes. Children ages 3-11 and their families get head lice most often. Personal hygiene has nothing to do with getting head lice. Head lice do not spread disease.
Symptoms are
* Tickling feeling in the hair
* Frequent itching
* Sores from scratching
* Irritability and difficulty sleeping. Head lice are most active in the dark.
Treatment is recommended for people who have an active infestation of head lice. All household members and other close contacts should be checked and treated if necessary. Some experts also recommend treating anyone who shares a bed with an infested person. It is important to treat everyone at the same time.
Here are a few remedies how to treat hairlice naturally:
1. Garlic and lemon juice .10 cloves of garlic with 3spoons of lemon juice. (Blend the garlic into a paste and add the lemon juice apply to your roots and cover with a bag for 30 minutes wash out with warm water) rinse hair out with half a cup of vinegar. Then shampoo + condition. Once a week for about 7 weeks.
2. spoons of butter with 2 or 3 bitter oranges , warm substance in microwave approximately 45 seconds , leave in for 3 hours, Rinse hair out with half a cup of vinegar. Wash out with warm water.
3. Salt can also be used to eradicate head lice through desiccation.Mix one-quarter cup of salt and one-quarter cup of vinegar thoroughly.Gently spray the solution onto your hair so that it becomes slightly wet. Put on a shower cap and leave it for about two hours.Then wash and condition your hair.Repeat this every three days to get positive results.
4. Eucalyptus oil 5 to 6 drops mixed with coconut oil leave on overnight , wash out with vinegar then a shampoo . Once a week for 7 weeks.
5. Mayonaice coconut oil and tea tree oil .3 to 4 tablespoons of mayo , 1 spoon of coconut oil, 4 drops of tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil.leave over night rinse with vinegar twice a month.
6. Listerine (apply to hair half a cup leave in for 3 to 4 hours ) rinse out with vinegar , then shampoo and conditioner. Repeat once a week for about 8 weeks. Until desired results.
When it comes to treating head lice, oil is effective against adult head lice and vinegar or lemon juice is effective against head lice eggs. Oil has viscosity properties and may suffocate adult live head lice as well as nymphs.
It will not, however, kill any live lice eggs. As mayonnaise contains a lot of oil, this is why it can be used against head lice just as olive oil or vegetable oil.
There are no scientific studies that prove the effectiveness of mayonnaise as a treatment for head lice, but there are many parents who have been using it for years and are very satisfied with the effectiveness of this home remedy against adult head lice.
Head lice spread very quickly among young children and once they have hatched, can make the head very itchy. Unfortunately normal hair washing does not kill or wash them away.
Eucalyptus oil has traditionally been used to help kill head lice and their eggs due primarily to the eucalyptus vapours.
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* For Head Lice: Tea tree oil contains two major elements – 1,8-cineole and terpinen-4-ol. These two elements have insecticidal properties which help in killing head lice.
* For nits or lice eggs: The nits are strongly attached to the hair shaft by the mother head lice. The gummy texture that connects nits and hair shaft is very strong. This gummy texture will be dissolved by the application of tea tree oil which makes it easy to remove while combing.
* For Re-infestation: The strong smell of tea tree repels the head lice from transferring from one to another. This is very helpful in preventing the infestation when a person or child in your house or class is already affected by head lice.
Why is vinegar effective to remove head lice eggs?
The word vinegar derives from the Old French vin aigre, meaning sour wine. Vinegar is the result of two biochemical processes: alcoholic fermentation, which converts natural sugars into alcohol, and acid fermentation, in which microorganisms present in the air we breathe, convert the alcohol into acetic acid.
This acid has antiseptic or germ killing properties. Vinegar usually has an acetic acid concentration of around 5% and is safe to use for head lice.
The acetic acid contained in vinegar will not dissolve the exoskeleton (the protective shell of nits) of lice eggs and therefore will not kill them.
However, it will help loosen the glue that holds the nits to the hair shaft so that the nits will no longer stick to the hair and will be easy to remove with a good nit comb.
What type of vinegar can we use to treat lice?
You can use different types of vinegar for head lice, such as white vinegar, wine vinegar (red or white), or apple cider vinegar.
1. White vinegar and head lice
White vinegar is distilled vinegar. It is plain acetic acid in water, either as a simple chemical mix (usually very cheap or cleaning grade vinegar) or obtained through fermentation of distilled alcohol. It has usually a 5% acidity level.
This vinegar is harsh and has a sharp flavor. It is cheaper than other types of vinegar, and it can readily be found in most grocery stores.
It may however contain additives and substances that may not be good for our scalp. Please be careful; if you are going to use vinegar on your head or your children’s head, make sure that the product is natural and safe to use.
Lemon juice contains citric acid at a concentration of about 5%.
This acid helps to dissolve the cement that glues the nits to the hair shaft. This helps to remove them manually or comb them out more easily.
Where as Listerine contains about 27 percent alcohol as well as herbal oils such as oil of thyme, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, and wintergreen oil. The alcohol is poisonous to the lice and the oils suffocate them, making listerine a good home remedy for head lice.
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