Head pediculosis( not to be confused with pubic) is a parasitic disease of the skin, the hair that causes the head louse. We will talk about it today in more detail in this article.
Features of the disease
Parasites
This disease affects only the hairy areas of the body:
- head;
- beard;
- eyebrows.
The bites of the parasite causing the disease are accompanied by severe itching. The head louse is a wingless insect parasite, which prefers the scalp as a habitat. Her favorite places are:
- of the back;
- whiskey;
- near the ears.
The insects feed on the acute proboscis 2-3 times / day. For a day it sucks in a few mg.blood. After saturation, the color of the louse changes from gray to reddish. Crawling lice on the surface of the hair pretty quickly thanks to the structure of the legs.
A life of lice without human blood lasts only a few days. The life span is also affected by temperature. So, for example, at a temperature of 350С the parasite lives a day, at a temperature of 25-300С - two, at a temperature of 10-200С - more than 7 days.
The ability to lay eggs is preserved in an adult even after 5 days of starvation. If the temperature is below 120C, the louse can not lay eggs. The ideal temperature for the life of this parasite is 280C. When the temperature drops to 22C, its development slows down, and when the temperature reaches 120С it stops completely.
About the features of head lice this video will tell:
Risk groups
The main risk group for developing head lice is children. Parasites settle on the hair of children more often than in adults for the following reasons:
- lack of personal hygiene skills( they can use the same comb, toys, bed);
- illegibility of children when choosing friends( children from good families are often friends with children living in poor sanitation);
- high frequency of contacts with other children;
- inclination to close contacts( games, hugs).
Causes of
The head louse is more often started in children, adults with long hair. It is transmitted through headgear, personal hygiene products( combs, hair bands).The cause of head lice is insufficient hygiene in a certain team. The head louse does not tolerate infection, like a louse.
Head pediculosis can occur even in clean people who live in good conditions. The reason for their appearance is contact with the infected person. Parasites move from their carrier to a healthy person during close physical contact:
- games;
- fighting;
- kissing;
- random touches of heads;
- of sexual acts.
In the children's team, the spread of the disease occurs at lightning speed. Lice strike not only children who do not observe personal hygiene rules, they also settle on the hair of clean children. Head lice can be transmitted not only with close physical contacts, but also:
- by means of combs, towels, pillows;
- when bathing in bathrooms, baths;
- when wearing other people's hats.
Symptoms of head lice
At the beginning of this disease, lice are almost invisible on the hair. On the head you can only notice the consequences of their stay( itching after bites, combed wounds).Ranks are most often observed in the area of temples, occiput, ears. Due to secretory secretions, parasite eggs can manifest such changes in the state of the scalp, as:
- hair entanglement;
- appearance of unpleasant odor.
Patients may develop swelling of the lymph nodes. When infecting head lice in children, the following symptoms are observed:
- worry;
- restlessness;
- occurrence of combs, crusts on the skin;
- formation of coils( in very complex cases).
The algorithm for examining children and adult patients for pediculosis is described below.
The reasons for the appearance of head lice are described in this video:
Diagnosis
Due to the presence of bright clinical signs, diagnosis of head lice is easy enough. The main method of diagnosis is a thorough examination of the patient. On examination, finding an adult can sometimes be quite difficult, but finding a nit is easy.
It is very important to look for nits in the hair, they are the evidence of the development of the disease. First, the eggs are attached at the base of the hair, and with the growth of the hair they move to their tips. For easier detection of pediculosis, a doctor can use a special magnifying glass. In the hair is easier to detect lice, drunk blood, because after saturation they change their color to bright red.
Treatment
Treatment of head lice is carried out by means of many drugs, produced in the form of shampoos, aerosols, ointments.
- In the treatment of this disease it is important to follow the instructions to the drugs, because all the remedies for lice are very toxic. That's why their use is prohibited during breastfeeding, during pregnancy, children with allergies, respiratory system diseases.
- After the treatment with any of the means from lice, comb the nits out of the hair. For this purpose, a metal comb is used. You can also choose nits manually, but this process takes a lot of time, effort.
- In addition to the destruction of lice by means of various means, it is necessary to carry out the processing of personal lingerie. It is boiled, ironed.
Next, we will talk about effective drugs and remedies for pediculosis.
Medicated
The following tools are very effective in fighting parasites:
- "F-PAR".
- "A couple of plus."
- "Serotum Ointment".
- MediFox.
- "Lauri".
- "Nittifor".
- "Spray Paks".
- Veda-2.
Among the classic drugs are:
- boric ointment;
- suspension of benzyl benzoate;
- metal combs.
About the folk remedies for treating children and adults from pediculosis at home, we will tell you below.
Folk methods
Among folk methods of fighting head lice are the following:
- Shaving, cutting. Shaving can be used for boys in extreme cases. This method is quite radical. When shaving the hair, a favorable environment for the vital activity of parasites is destroyed.
- Application of plant extracts. With lice in the people are struggling through decoctions of wormwood, beetroot, infusions from the roots of the hellebore, herb tea with pork fat, cabbage juice with honey. They should be used many times, which is very inconvenient.
- Scouring. The effectiveness of this method is only 40%.After all, it is impossible to comb out all the parasites, and new lice will hatch out of the remaining eggs.
- Application of kerosene with vegetable oil.
- Use of dichlorvos.
- Application of table vinegar, which is diluted with water.
- Use of agents based on permethrin.
Prevention of the disease
Prevention of head lice disease consists in the following principles:
- Compliance with personal hygiene.
- Regular check of the hair condition in children.
- Maximum exclusion of close contacts with unscrupulous people.
- Exclusion of use of other people's towels, bed linen, hats.
- Use only your comb.
- Regular body wash.
- Application of essential oils of tea tree, lavender on the occiput, behind the ears.
Complications of
Parasite saliva causes people to react differently. One it brings a slight feeling of discomfort, while in others it causes severe itching. With constant scratching of the bite, strong scratching can occur.
Affected areas on the skin often flake, provoking the appearance of dandruff. Red crusts appear on the places of scratching. In the absence of timely treatment, dermatitis, eczematoid conditions may occur.
Forecast
If the treatment is started in time, then the prognosis for this disease is pretty good. You can get rid of lice in various ways. On the treatment of head lice, folk remedies take a long time. If you use modern drugs to fight head lice, then they can be destroyed in just one day.
More information about the treatment and prevention of head lice is contained in this video: