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The best home remedies for lice
Treat head lice with natural home remedies
This article will tell you which home remedies help with lice. Lice are still a taboo topic in society. Quick, the little insects are associated with uncleanliness. The bloodsuckers are neither dangerous nor do they transmit any diseases. Also, they have nothing to do with poor hygiene.
To cope with the small beasts, mostly chemical agents are used. Alternatively, proven home remedies can provide a natural remedy - although their use and effectiveness is still controversial. Regardless of which measures are taken, treatment with lice infestation must always be carried out in order to curb retransmission.
contents
- Treat head lice with natural home remedies
- Important for lice infestation: Make the right precautions
- Natural treatment in lice
- Important tool: A good comb
- Conditioner with vinegar water and olive oil
- Lice fight with essential oils
- Effective lice treatment with tea tree oil
- Natural help through homeopathy and Bach flower remedies
- Head lice: causes and risk factors
- symptoms
- Diagnosis: This is how to discover head lice
- transmission paths
Important for lice infestation: Make the right precautions
In the meantime, hysteria is no longer needed if a family member brings home lice. However, there are a few things to keep in mind and to take precautions: bed linen, pajamas and towels of the person concerned must be washed at a minimum of 60 ° C. Towels should not be used with other family members at the same time. The danger of becoming infected with objects is not great. Nevertheless, after the diagnosis caps and scarves are best washed and not used together with others. Combs and brushes are to be cleaned daily in hot vinegar water or soapy water and not to be passed on to other persons.
To prevent further spread of the lice, bed linen, towels, clothes etc. must be washed as hot as possible. (Image: TR / fotolia.com) For a long time, the opinion was that cuddly toys for a few days packed in a plastic bag in the freezer must. To explain to the children that their best friend should spend some time in the cold chamber is not easy. In any case, the favorite animal, however, should be closely examined, sucked off and possibly even washed.
The house does not have to undergo a cleaning crew. The extraction of carpets and sofas is sufficient. A child suffering from head lice may not visit a community facility, such as a school, kindergarten or after-school center. Also, the facility must be made aware that lice are in circulation to prevent infection.
Schools and kindergartens usually distribute leaflets on which the behavioral rules for the case of head lice infestation can be found. It is also often mentioned here that once the child has been treated with an officially authorized drug, the child is allowed to visit the community facility again. However, home remedies are not mentioned here and also not allowed. If it is suspected that a person has been infected with lice, but can not find the beasts, a visit to the doctor or health department can help.
Natural treatment in lice
Whether home remedies really bring the desired result in head lice, is still controversial. But not everyone wants to treat their scalp immediately with chemical means. Products containing chemical insecticides (insecticides) are often intolerable and should not be used by children and pregnant and nursing women. In such cases, treatment with natural remedies is well worth a try. If these are unsuccessful, parents and those affected will find advice in the pharmacy when choosing a suitable lice remedy.
Important tool: A good comb
Important is generally a good Läusekamm. This has tines whose distance from each other is not greater than 0.2 to 0.3 mm. Available is a corresponding comb made of metal or plastic. Plastic combs are softer, do not hurt so much when combing through and their color facilitates the detection of lice and eggs. This should be used daily.
To better catch the wingless insects, the wet hair is best treated with a commercial conditioner, which makes the little insects a little sluggish. Then the hair is parted and combed through from the hairline of strand by strand and the "result" with a towel removed. In this way, it is possible to check whether lice and / or lice eggs have been detected.
Conditioner with vinegar water and olive oil
A paralyzing effect on the small insects also has vinegar water, which is made from a part of household vinegar and two parts of warm water. The mixture should act on the hair for ten minutes, after which the procedure described above with the lice comb. In any case, the hair - regardless of the selected home remedy - searched daily with the lice comb, as long as lice and eggs are found. The comb is then cleaned in hot vinegar water.
Another effective home remedy for lice control is olive oil. This is first warmed and then generously applied to the hair and scalp. The oil can last for several hours or even overnight, wrapped in a towel. Then, with the special comb eggs and Nissen removed and then the hair with a conventional shampoo (possibly enriched with a few drops of tea tree or lavender oil) washed. Helpful is a shampoo containing willow bark extract and coconut oil. This can also be used for prevention.
Vaseline and mayonnaise are also known to contribute to the suffocation of blood-sucking parasites. Again, the hair is embalmed, covered with a plastic hood and wrapped in a towel. This "anti-lice wrap" can stay on your hair all night long.
Essential oils are a natural wonder and versatile as home remedies. (Image: Visions-AD / fotolia.com) Lice fight with essential oils
Lice do not like the smell of essential oils like citronella, lavender, rosemary or geranium. Two drops are mixed with soy or coconut oil so that the hair, especially in the area of the neck, temples and ears, soaked. Then a shower cap is pulled over and packed in a towel. The whole thing should work for at least one hour. For washing up a large amount of shampoo is needed, which is best added a few drops of tea tree oil.
The pharmacy holds various remedies containing essential oils, vinegar, rape and coconut oil. This will quickly liberate head lice.
Effective lice treatment with tea tree oil
In order to combat adult head lice, the Australian tea tree oil has proven itself, because it has a germicidal and easy to disinfect, inhibits inflammation and soothes the itching. The oil can be used for all types of treatment, helping to gradually eradicate insects.
shampoo
tonic
detergent additive
Danger: Be careful when using tea tree oil and take care that the oil does not come into contact with the eyes and mucous membranes! The oil should not be used in combination with homeopathic remedies! |
Homeopathic remedies and Bach flower remedies can be of great help with head lice. (Image: DoraZett / fotolia.com) Natural help through homeopathy and Bach flower remedies
Lice infestation is common in homeopathy Graphites (Black Carbon) D6 is used to relieve the intense itching. This is also suitable Ledum very well, two granules are taken 3 times a day from both remedies. Sabadilla can change the body odor of humans so that the unpleasant insects are "driven out" to another place. Experts recommend taking 5 globules in the morning for a maximum of three weeks.
Children are particularly affected by lice. If these are discovered, panic comes quickly - in the child itself, but also in parents, siblings, etc. Suddenly, all "automatically" start to scratch and suspect the little bloodsuckers everywhere. Recommended in this case is the flower "Crab Apple" (No. 10) from the field of Bach flower therapy, because this helps especially well against the oncoming hectic, restlessness and anxiety. However, in order to be able to treat the lice effectively, rest and structured approach is needed, therefore, such additional treatment of all parties can relax the situation considerably.
Head lice: causes and risk factors
Head lice are bloodsuckers that only feed on blood. Without this food, they have to die at the latest after two to three days. The two to five millimeter parasites choose humans as hosts to live there - on the hairy head (pubic lice, on the other hand, prefer the pubic hair). The louse needs four to five meals a day, meaning that it drinks blood every five hours or so.
When this unpleasant insect sucks, it is painless as it delivers an anesthetic. The bad thing about the louse is its reproduction. Thus, within a day, the female lays between five and ten eggs, which she adheres to the hair, near the scalp, with a sticky substance. This "glue" is insoluble in water, which means that normal hair washing can not harm the lice.
On the head are at the same time adult lice, louse eggs and larvae in different stages of development. From the eggs, the first animals hatch after about ten days. These become sexually mature within seven to ten days. The female bloodsuckers reach an age of thirty to thirty-five days, the male lice are about fifteen days old.
A female louse lays about 100 eggs in her life. In the neck and behind the ears, the insects prefer to settle down, as they find the easiest food there. They prefer preschoolers aged three to twelve and infest girls, as they usually have longer hair, rather than boys. The bloodsuckers love a temperature between 28 and 32 ° C and a humidity of about seventy percent.
symptoms
Lice become noticeable by massive itching or itching of the head - even before they can be recognized in the hair. This is triggered by the saliva of the insects and occurs especially at night in a warm bed, which can sometimes be very sleepy. In some cases, a so-called Läuseekzem develops in the neck, which is noticeable by red, itchy and scaly nodules.
The itching does not have to occur immediately, but can be used even after several weeks of lice infestation. Intensive scratching can cause the affected areas to become inflamed and accompany lymph node swelling on the neck. Such an infection belongs in the hands of a doctor.
A special lice comb is important to be able to recognize the small pest ghosts in the hair. (Image: K. Zernecke / fotolia.com) Diagnosis: This is how to discover head lice
A direct diagnosis is made by finding living adult lice. Although they are visible to the naked eye, they are so nimble that some luck is required to discover the parasites. The more lice are there, the easier it is to track down, which is simplified by the following trick: The wet hair is massaged with a normal conditioner, because this makes the little beasts for a short time "unable to act".
The conditioner makes combing easier with a very fine comb, a so-called "lice comb". Streak by strand is combed through, then the comb is wiped on a towel. Here, the insects can come to light. Once the beasts have dried, they will move again at normal speed, unless they have already died. To make sure that there are really lice on the towel, the following can help: If what is on the cloth clings to a hair and crawls on it, then this is certainly a louse.
Another diagnostic option is the indirect type, ie the search for eggs or nits. Nits are the sheaths of the eggs from which the larva hatched. It is only possible to distinguish eggs from nits. The eggs stick to the side of the hair, very close to the scalp. They are brownish, greyish, about 0.8 mm in size, like small drops attached to the hair and can not be shaken off.
With the help of the lice comb, with which very carefully hair is combed by strand, the eggs can be discovered. Hair grows one centimeter per month and a fresh louse egg is brought very close to the hairline to find food there. Therefore, it can be assumed that if they are more than one centimeter from the hairline, they are empty (nits) and thus can no longer do any damage.
Infestation with head lice is particularly common in children, but the annoying parasites easily spread to adults. (Image: Lars Zahner / fotolia.com) transmission paths
Lice can neither jump nor jump. However, they are climbers, along the hair. Accordingly, a close hair or head contact prevail, so that the bloodsucker can change from person to person. Especially children like to put their heads together when playing games. However, only mature lice have the ability to leave the host. The louse babies are not able to. The eggs also can not serve as a transmission path, as they stick to the hatching until the hair. Even if hair falls out, this is not possible because the lice that are not yet developed after hatching need immediate blood and can not survive without the temperature on the head.
For a long time the opinion was that the insects can be transmitted via shared caps or cuddly toys. However, this is very unlikely, as the lice are reluctant to voluntarily leave their host. About combs or brushes, however, a transfer is possible. Because a louse can be pinched while combing, survive until the next day and then find a new host on another head. When the plague ghosts have left the human head, they quickly become slow and immobile and starve to death within two to three days. (sw, nr, updated on 25.8.2016)