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Head Lice - Handling Home Remedies

By: Steve Meyer

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Head lice are tiny wingless parasitic insects that survive and have babies on people’s heads. They are 1-2 mm long and dull brown in color. They are hematophagous as they feed themselves by biting people’s scalps. These diminutive insects are a irritation not a health danger. Yet, there is some prospect of bacterial illness caused by extreme scratching which makes the skin red and painful, and causes swelling as well.

Pediculosis is universal amongst children aged 3-10 years and their families, therefore a person coming in close head-to-head contact with an infected person can also develop lice. According to moderate estimates by the Toronto Public Health Association there are 6-12 million people worldwide who pick up head lice each year. Also, they can also be transmitted through distribution of hats, scarves, combs, hair ribbons, pillows, brushes, towels and helmets.

A research conducted by Kosta et al at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem indicates that boys are drastically less infected with lice and nits than girls (lice: 15.2 and 29.6%; nits: 21.5 and 35.4%, respectively). The infestation rate with lice and nits is meaningfully higher in children with long (68.9%) and medium-length (63.9%) hair than in children with short hair (44.0%).

Treatments

One should in detail comb the complete scalp with a lice comb and the teeth of that comb must be examined carefully to spot any lice. For children with, foul, long and frizzed hair, an alternative technique of diagnosis is to look at the hair at 2 cm intervals and look for lice in the neighborhood of the scalp. Kosta et al have further found some more interesting particulars about both the aforementioned techniques, “analysis of louse invasion using a louse comb is four times more helpful than direct visual examination and twice as fast”. Nevertheless, special attention must be paid to the areas in close proximity to the ears and the nape of the neck with both methods. On the other hand, it is effective to use a magnifying glass to detect lice in the scalp or the teeth of the comb.

If women are inflicted with infestation during their pregnancy or breastfeeding they should straight away contact their doctor and take advantage of the prescribed medicines and/or anti-lice shampoos, balms etc. In case of a seizure disorder or a skin infection one should refer to a physician for correct healing.

There are some other ordinary folk remedies such as using vinegar, petroleum jelly, mineral oil, baby oil, cooking oil, tea tree oil etc. Nonetheless, such techniques are not recommended since their helpfulness has not been scientifically accepted. The itching in head might be due to a mixture of reasons such as dandruff in which case all the above mentioned techniques would fall short to rid pruritus and scratching. Hence, it is always suggested to see a dermatologist and get a complete check up of the scalp.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Stephen Meyer offers general information concerning contracting and curing head lice as well as pictures of head lice to aid in identifying them accurately. To see his information, pictures and head lice home remedies visit www.myheadlicehomeremedies.com

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