Posts Tagged ‘lice’

Pubic Lice Prevention – What you need to know
There are many different types of louse that can take humans as a host, and the parasite that is perhaps the most embarrassing is the pubic louse. Otherwise known as ‘crabs’, thanks to their crab-like appearance, these miniscule creatures prefer the pubic area as it is secluded and warm, and thrive if not treated properly.
Pubic lice, like hair lice, are spread by personal contact: the louse cannot fly, hence the only way it can move from host to host is by walking from hair to hair (the same is true of hair lice) but as personal contact in the pubic area is limited the spread of pubic lice is nowhere near as rapid as that of head lice.
Nevertheless, it is important to know that it does not take actual intimate contact for the lice to spread: sharing clothing, towels and other things can transfer the lice from one to another. This is why pubic lice prevention centers on making sure that such implements are not shared – just as a hairbrush should not be shared among head lice sufferers.
There are many examples of pubic lice pictures available, most easily accessed on the internet, which can help in making sure you can correctly identify the creatures and treat them in the right manner: this is essential, as the life cycle of the louse reveals how it can increase in population very quickly indeed.
The female pubic louse lives for around three weeks, and during that time she lays three eggs every day; these are attached to the pubic hairs, and can be difficult to remove. Once they hatch, after just a few days, the eggs quickly mature into breeding adults, and the cycle begins again. While the numbers involved are not as big as in the head lice life cycle, this still means a very rapid expansion in population, and highlights the necessity of proper treatment and prompt attention.
Recognizing the symptoms of pubic lice infestation is vital, and the customary itching of the infected area is the main indicator. Also a symptom is the appearance of sores where the lice have bitten, and further examination of the troubles area may reveal the presence of the distinctive ‘crabs’.
Many people prefer to steer away from chemically formulated medicinal treatments, and prefer home therapies – combing and washing, the use of natural and herbal lotions- but no matter which method you opt for the necessity is to act quickly in order to prevent the infestation spreading out of control.

Head Lice Treatment – the available options
It is an oft-held misconception that head lice are only suffered by those with dirty hair; the fact that head lice can infest anyone’s hair – no matter how clean – is one that needs to be reiterated often in order that prevention of the creatures can be successfully maintained. There are some important factors of the head lice life cycle that need to be understood before discussing head lice treatment, as the way it lives is part and parcel of how it manages to be such as a common pest.
Head lice, for a start, cannot fly: to move between hosts they walk – moving from hair to hair – and thus need close personal contact in order to spread. Once settled on a host the female adult louse, who lives for 30 days, can lay between six and eight eggs each day – the eggs being the famous ‘nits’ – and each egg will hatch in about one week. Just another week later the lice are adults, and begin the cycle again.
This population explosion is difficult to control if left untreated, which is why we need to look at the various head lice treatment options available. A medical practitioner will most likely prescribe a medicinal shampoo, yet the chemical makeup of these is something that many people are unsure about. The alternative is to treat head lice with home remedies, and these vary from the wacky to the proven.
While covering the infected child’s hair with mayonnaise or vinegar may or may not smother the lice, it does make a mess, and while many people still use this method it is preferable to look at one of the many herbal or natural treatments on the market. Also essential, both as prevention and as a treatment, is regular combing with a specially designed nit comb.
The purpose of these combs is to remove the very difficult to shift nits – and a quick look at one of the many head lice pictures you can find on the web sill show you how ably they are attached to the hair – preventing them from hatching and, as a result, reducing the population increase
Head lice symptoms are typified by incessant itching, yet it is necessary – particularly if a child is known to be in contact with a sufferer – to carry out regular inspections as itching may not occur instantly, but days after being bitten.
Head lice infestations are a sadly very common occurrence as the creatures are amazingly adaptable, and keeping an eye open for tell tale signs is a good way of being on guard.

Every one of us has heard of head lice, and many of us will have endured the unfortunate passage of suffering from itchy head lice, but what do you really know about them? Head lice are actually fascinating creatures that, although unpleasant and irritating, are quite harmless; they do not present any life threatening qualities, and they do not – contrary to popular belief – signify that the host is hygienically challenged, they simply happen to enjoy living on our hair, feeding on our blood and laying their eggs, nits, on our scalp!
What does a head louse look like? If you run a  quick internet search for head lice pictures you will be presented with a variety of depictions of these miniature mites; one thing you will notice is that they do not have wings, and that puts to bed the common misconception that they spread by flight. In fact, they can only do so by walking, hence they are easily spread among children who enjoy a much freer form of physical contact than adults.
It is common, also, to mistake the head louse and the head lice nit for the same thing; nit is the name given to the eggs, perhaps the most troublesome part of the equation as they are difficult to remove. This is because of a combination of factors, in the main their absolutely miniscule size and the fact that they are attached to the hair by remarkably strong natural glue. For the record, nits remain as such for up to a week, after which time they hatch into nymphs, or young head lice, and it only takes one further week for these absolutely minute creatures to grow into breeding adults.
The life cycle is completed by the adult, the female of which will live for up to thirty days in adulthood, and on each of those days will lay somewhere between six and eight nits. These itchy head lice become more, therefore, and as the symptoms can take weeks to occur, and the tiny creatures are often mistaken for dandruff, the head louse population can become rampant in a matter of a few weeks.
Interestingly, the creature breathes through two holes in the side of its body, and this is why the seemingly bizarre ritual of applying mayonnaise or olive oil to the head is actually quite a successful routine: it smothers the lice, hence ridding the host of an irritating companion.

Head Lice Treatment – A World of Choice

Finding out that you or your child has head lice is not a sign that your personal hygiene is lacking as the louse is just as likely to make its home in the hair of on who washes daily as one who is less frequent in their regime. Furthermore, it can be several weeks before the presence of lice is detected, these creatures are tiny and the itching that is the major symptom has been known to appear after as long as three months, meaning that by the time you make the diagnosis the lice have spread to others.

The various methods of head lice treatment can be wildly different, and while many people prefer to use over the counter, or prescribed, insecticide lotions and shampoos, there are a variety of home remedies for head lice that can be tried.

If you want to search these in depth then run a web search with the words ‘head lice information’ and you will be directed to a wealth of websites dealing in head lice symptoms, the head lice life cycle and more, and even to sites that display some quite amazing head lice pictures.

However, let’s look at a few of the more popular treatments for head lice: one that is essential whether used on its own or in conjunction with others is the wet comb technique, sometimes known as Bug Busting. This involves the use of a special head lice comb, a device with very close teeth that drags the louse from the hair and, hopefully, the nit too.

Another method of treatment is to wash with a shampoo containing the essential oil Tea Tree Oil, which comes from an Australian plant by that name and is known to have certain healing qualities. It is claimed to drive the lice away and, as it is completely harmless, may well be worth a try. Equally harmless is the practice of rubbing vinegar into the scalp, as this loosens the ‘glue’ with which nits are attached to the hair, making it much easier for the nit comb to remove them, but bordering on the bizarre are the smothering methods: in these, a substance such as mayonnaise, or preferably olive oil, is applied to the scalp, and it acts to seal the holes through which the mites breathe, thus suffocating them.

Whichever method you use there is plenty information available on websites, and it is worth reading the testimonies of others before trying out different methods.

What you need to know and where to find it

Suffering from, or having a child suffer from, head lice is never nice, but there is a wealth of information available, both online and in books and pamphlets, that can help you understand what it is that causes a head lice infestation, how the head louse lives and the best way to approach head lice treatment.

Head lice information comes in many forms – there are some excellent lice pictures on the internet, enlarged to a great degree as these are very small creatures – and there is plenty of advice on recognizing head lice symptoms and diagnosis, plus different methods of treatment and how to look towards homemade head lice remedies as an alternative to the chemical shampoos that many people recommend.

Perhaps the most interesting, and telling, information is that regarding the head lice life cycle, something that is essential to understand if one is to treat the problem right: the adult head louse lives for thirty days, and each day she lays up to eight eggs. Each egg takes a week to hatch, and a week later is an adult, ready to begin breeding and start the same process over and over again.

This information is better explained at one of the many sites offering advice on head lice – run an internet search for ‘head lice life cycle’ – and with diagrams you can also learn to identify the head lice and the nits.

One piece of interesting information that often surprises people is that the louse and the nit are two different things: one is the adult insect, the other the egg waiting to hatch. You will also learn why the nits are so difficult to remove, and why it is often best to wait for them to hatch before killing and removing the young lice.

This sort of information abounds these days on the internet, as does information about home remedies, herbal shampoos and treatment regimes, plus smothering techniques, head lice prevention methods and much more, all aimed at helping you to eliminate what is an all too common problem.

Among the more interesting information is the revelation that the louse does not have wings, it can only move by walking, and why this makes it more likely to spread among young children, plus an explanation of why such unlikely seeming substances such as vinegar and even mayonnaise can be important in the fight against head lice infestation and the continuing spread of the creatures.