Posts Tagged ‘home remedy’

Ringworm Nail Polish

There is a new home treatment for ringworm, nail polish.   Believers suggest painting the infected area with clear nail polish and letting it dry.  Clear nail polish is the color of choice since colored ones will take longer to dry. The dried layer of nail polish is supposed to smother the fungus and cause it to die. Use a black light is recommended to locate and identify the fungus so the nail polish can be applied to the exact areas of infection.

Ringworm is a contagious, fungal infection of the skin. It is characterized mostly by scaly red rings which appear on the skin. Breakouts can occur anywhere on the body and the infection can range from minor all the way to a major where a goodly portion of the body is affected.  Ringworm is not necessarily a serious condition but it can be frustrating to stop the spreading and to get rid of the infection. Over-the-counter creams, drugs and doctor visits do not always work for everyone, so more and more people are opting for home remedies such as nail polish.

Use caution when choosing this route. There are some people that may be allergic to the contents in nail polish so this method should be used with care.  For people with delicate skin, this ringworm home treatment may not be their best solution option. Another thought to consider is the fumes for the polish itself. The majority of commercial nail polish still contains toxic elements such as toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate.   These elements can affect the nervous system.  They can also cause liver damage, kidney damage and cancer.

Some steps to follow if using nail polish for ringworm treatment is apply clear nail polish to the ring worm site. Be sure to completely cover each fungal site with a layer of the polish. This suffocates the fungi.  Leave it on all day.  Remove the polish after eight hours with nail polish remover. The recommended way to do this is to soak a paper towel or napkin in the remover and hold it over the infected area for a few minutes. Dispose of the paper towel after use to keep from spreading the infection.  Let the area dry out thoroughly for about fifteen minutes.  Reapply the clear nail polish to the infected site. Repeat these steps until the ringworm disappears. Colored nail polish should be avoided as it stains clothes. Remember, be consistent with whatever home remedy you choose for best results.

How to Suffocate Head Lice
With so many different methods of eliminating head lice recommended it is difficult to know which will be successful and which won’t, but attention is being drawn more and more to the suffocation methods, which use a very vital part of the louses anatomy and biology to help kill it.
There are many substances used to suffocate head lice, and all are readily available household goods. This explains part of the popularity of the method as it does not need the use of dangerous insecticides and chemicals, and is entirely safe – unless you happen to be a head louse!
While the process itself makes sense the substances used sound rather bizarre: mayonnaise, Vaseline and olive oil are frequently cited as the best at smothering head lice, and the choice is yours as to which to use first. All three, it must be said, will result in a mess, but that is little price to pay if the lice are eliminated.
It works like this: the patient’s head is smothered with the chosen substance – liberally and in full quantity – and it is left on the head for several hours. It works its way into the holes through which the louse breathes, effectively suffocating it on the spot.
It is simple and very straightforward, but is not without problems. One problem is that the louse has breathing holes that it can close, albeit only for a set length of time. The several hours spent waiting are so that this time elapses and the breathing holes are successfully filled. Indeed, this waiting time is another downside, as it severely limits the times at which the treatment can be carried out. Going to bed with a head covered in mayonnaise, no matter how well covered, is not recommended hence it is best carried out during the day.
The major downside is the aforementioned mess, as getting congealed olive oil from the hair involves a serious wash, although it will leave the hair fresh and clean afterwards.
It will also, inevitably, leave some lice as survivors, and it does not necessarily kill the nits, the head louse eggs. This means that repeating the routine again in around a week’s time is absolutely essential if complete eradication is to be achieved, and that another day wasted will be necessary.
Nevertheless, the suffocating method is one that is said to work, and is absolutely and utterly risk free – all good reason to give it a go.

The Head Lice Petroleum Jelly removal technique
With millions of children in the USA suffering from an infestation of head lice every year it is little surprise that a surfeit of remedies is available, and the internet is awash with suggestions and forums that are full of excellent, and often weird, ideas. While there will be those who are happy to use a prescription insecticide lotion or spray, others may be wary of doing so thanks to the chemicals involved and will therefore seek alternative methods of treatment.
It has been suggested that in removing head lice petroleum jelly is a very useful substance, so let’s have a look at how it works, and whether it is a genuine alternative to the medically proven remedies.
To understand why coating the head in petroleum jelly kills head lice a little knowledge of the creatures biological make up is necessary, specifically in the area of its respiration. A head louse breathes through a series of holes down the sides of its body, and these holes can be closed to prevent against drowning when in water (which explains why they do not drown when we wash our hair) and it is these holes that we target when using the petroleum jelly.
Smearing the jelly across the head will undoubtedly have the lice shutting down their breathing holes, so the patient is obliged to wait – sometimes for several hours – before the holes reopen and are filled with the jelly. It is a simple remedy, and essentially suffocates the lice. However, it does have its drawbacks – it is very messy, extremely time consuming and is not guaranteed to rid you of all of the lice as some are more than likely to survive. Furthermore, it will not kill the nits – eggs waiting to hatch – and thus it requires repeating a few days later, when they are likely to have hatched into young lice.
While the technique is messy and takes up chunks of time it does have the distinct advantage of being absolutely safe; the insecticide lotions that the doctor prescribed all have possible side effects – although minor, such as irritation and a rash – and the use of petroleum jelly does not, other than the need to thoroughly wash the hair after each treatment.
The medical community will look down on such treatments in favor of scientifically proven methods, yet if something is absolutely harmless – and has been reported to work – costs nothing and is at hand, then there is no reason not to have a go.

Mayonnaise Head Lice remedy – does it work?
Among the more bizarre suggested remedies for the head lice problem is one that uses mayonnaise – common, kitchen mayonnaise – the details of which we shall come to a little later on, but it is interesting to understand why such unusual alternative treatment methods have such following.
The medically prescribed lotions – insecticide washes that contain powerful poisons for killing the creatures – are avoided by many thanks to controversy in recent years; indeed one such substance – an insecticide known as Lindane – has been the subject of a number of scare stories regarding extreme reactions and even deaths, and as such has been removed from use in many countries although it is still available by prescription in the USA. This is not to say that all insecticide methods of treatment are dangerous, but they do come with the risk of minor side effects, something that the alternative methods do not.
This is where mayonnaise comes in, and you might ask yourself what could be less harmful – or, indeed, less ridiculous – than coating the head in a salad dressing! The truth is that while it does seem very odd it has its reasoning in a sound basis, for the mayonnaise head lice remedy plays into a very unusual biological feature of the tiny creatures.
Head lice have an unusual breathing apparatus that is accessed by tiny holes in the side of the body, and while these holes are able to close for periods of time they have to open again at some point; the trick is to smother the head, very liberally, with mayonnaise and leave it there for several hours. If the thought of sitting around with a head covered in mayonnaise seems utterly bizarre then it bears thinking about what happens – the head lice, when its breathing holes open, finds it cannot breathe and simply suffocates.
This cheap and simple method of treatment is not without its problems, however: considerable mess is obviously one and the need to sit around for hours another, while the fact that it will not kill all the lice, or the nits – eggs – in one go is another. This means another day sitting around with a head covered in mayonnaise, but if it gets rid of the pesky creatures, that can only be worthwhile.
Given that head lice are not dangerous – unpleasant and embarrassing, yes, but no danger to anyone – it makes sense to use the least harmful method of treatment and mayonnaise may just be the answer!

Head Lice Remedies
Head lice are an enduring problem among children of America, of whom between six and 12 million suffer from infestations of the creatures in any given year. Although head lice are not dangerous they do carry a stigma of embarrassment, even though head lice are not indicative of poor hygiene. Treating head lice and removing them can be a painstaking routine, and there are many different methods of treatment that are recommended on websites and in books on the subject. In general, however, head lice remedies can be bracketed into one of three types: insecticide lotions, herbal and natural shampoos, and smothering techniques, and each of these must be used in conjunction with the traditional or electronic nit comb.
Insecticide lotions are just that, lotions that include powerful chemicals that kill head lice. There are three popular insecticides that can be found in various branded products, namely Malathion, Permethrin and Lindane.
All of these are poisons and, while present only in very small quantities, many people are reluctant to use them as they do profess to possible side effects. In the case of the first two these side effects are minor – irritation of the skin, added dandruff – but in the case of Lindane a number of concerns have been raised as the chemical has been linked to cases in which patients experienced serious reactions and even death. Lindane products are still prescribed in the USA, but it is notable they are banned in some other countries.
The natural alternatives are shampoos that contain herbal products known to have medicinal qualities. Many people swear by shampoos that include the essential Tea Tree oil, taken from the leaves of a plant native to Australia and used by the Aborigines for medicinal purposes for many centuries, and also the ylang ylang essence, which is widely used in herbal remedies. A lotion containing the latter was tested independently and found to be at least as effective as one using Permethrin as its active ingredient, and the natural substances have the advantage of being completely harmless.
The final selection are the suffocation or smothering techniques, and that is precisely what they are: a substance such as olive oil, Vaseline or – rather oddly – mayonnaise is smeared all over the scalp, and this fills the holes that the louse breathes through. The creatures then suffocate, and the substance is washed away.
All have their downsides – the side effects in the first, the untested qualities of the second and the messy nature of the third – and it remains up to the individual to choose the preferred option. Perhaps trying the least risky first makes the most sense.

Using Vinegar for Head Lice Treatment
The treatment of head lice, and the remedies that are often suggested, is a hotly contested area: on the one hand we have the readily available medicinal shampoos, complete with insecticides that are designed to kill the head louse at source, and on the other we have a wealth of homemade remedies for head lice of varying styles and methods, many of which are based on ancient herbal treatments and use natural and harmless ingredients.
The methods of using vinegar for head lice treatment fall into the latter category, and if you are thinking it may seem a little odd to put vinegar on the hair, it is far from as bizarre as coating the head with mayonnaise as one alternative method suggests!
Nor, in the eyes of many, is using vinegar as disconcerting as using insecticide shampoos: these contain often dangerous chemicals, and the manner in which head lice have evolved means the creatures appear to have become immune to many such treatments. Vinegar, however, is something that is used for many different purposes, but how is it a home remedy for head lice?
One of the problems with head lice is that the nits – tiny eggs – are attached to the hair follicles by very strong ‘glue’; this makes them extremely difficult to remove. A specially designed head lice comb may remove some, but not all, meaning that further regular combing must be carried out in order to catch the hatching young before they become breeding adults.
What vinegar does is loosen this strong attachment to the hair, as the acetic acid acts on the adhesive and renders it useless; this means that when a nit comb is run through the hair – carefully and repeatedly – there is a much greater likelihood of the nits being dislodged and removed, and therefore less chance of new nits hatching and reaching maturity.
Vinegar is not to be used on its own, however, but like many head lice home remedies it works best in conjunction with other methods; treatment needs to include thorough and regular washing of the hair, followed by combing with the head lice comb, after which the vinegar should be applied and the hair rinsed, and the combing process begun again. It is essential that the routine is adhered to if success is to be achieved.
The head louse is an annoying rather than a threatening creature, and its presence does not necessarily indicate an unwashed head, but the use of vinegar can be a very successful method of removing both the adult lice and their eggs.