Home Remedies for Head Lice
What is Head Lice?
Head Lice are small wingless insects that need to feed on human blood to survive. They attach themselves to clothing and hair and hide in the scalps of people. There, they will feed on blood about 5 times a day. Each day, a female will lay about six eggs, or nits, that will hatch in about a week. So once you have head lice, it will spread pretty quickly. They are fairly easy to get rid of, fortunately. They will spread to more people through head to head contact, or contact with someone’s clothing, specifically head gear or something like a scarf that goes around the neck. It is said that people with poor hygiene, or a dirty home are the people that get head lice first. This is a myth. Personal hygiene and a clean home have nothing to do with someone getting head lice.
There are three different forms of head lice. The nits, or eggs, that are laid are attached to the hair follicles. They hatch into nymphs, who then turn into an adult louse. The average life span of a single louse is about a month.
Symptoms of Head Lice
The most common symptom, and probably the first one that is noticed, is frequent itching, especially in the back of the neck and other scalp areas. This is caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva the lice use to penetrate the skin. The itching can lead to small red bumps or sores on the scalp, another noticable symptom. You may also feel a tickling or a feeling like something is moving in your hair. Some people may experience swelling of lymph nodes on their neck. If you have any of these symptoms and suspect you might have head lice, check your hair very carefully with a comb. Nits, or eggs, are attached to the hair follicles and from afar can look like dandruff. If you look carefully, you will see a yellowish white egg that is actually attached to the hair.
Home Remedies for Head Lice
If you do a check and find out you have head lice, do not panic, and do NOT go rushing out to buy one of those special chemical lice-killing shampoos. This was the case when I was a kid. It seemed like the only solution. It has been used for years on children and adults with head lice. Your body absorbs whatever is massaged into the skin. So you can either massage some chemical-laced shampoo into you head, or you can try some safe and effective home remedies first. Think of it this way: the more chemicals we use to try and kill bugs such as lice, the stronger they become, building up an immunity to the chemicals we use to kill it, creating Super Lice. Try these home remedies using stuff you will probably already find in your house.
~A lot of people swear by combing mayonnaise through their hair and leaving it for two hours before combing it out. Follow that with a rinse of apple cider vinegar and water.
~Massage your scalp with essential oil of rosemary.
~Rinse your hair daily with apple cider vinegar and really rub it into the scalp.
~Find a good shampoo that is infused with tea tree oil.
And remember, no matter what remedy you try, follow up with a careful comb-through of your hair. The nits are the hardest part to get rid of, since they are so attached. Really comb them out so that they do not hatch. If they are allowed to hatch, you will have a repeat problem. These remedies will kill the adult lice, but the nits need to be combed out.
Good Luck and Good Health!
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