How long has my child had lice

How to Calculate How Long You’ve Had Lice

Head lice are parasitic insects that commonly live close to the scalp. While they don’t spread disease, they’re an itchy, uncomfortable, and spreadable nuisance that can be difficult to get rid of.

If you or a loved one is experiencing a lice infestation, you may also be wondering how long these little pests have been living on your head.

Read on to learn some of the ways you may be able to tell based on the lice’s size and appearance. We’ll focus mostly on lice that live on the scalp, but there are also different lice types that can live on body hair and pubic hair.

There are a few ways you can go about determining how long you may have had lice.

Why it matters how long you’ve had lice

Arguably, how long you’ve had lice indicates how difficult a time you’ll have treating the lice.

If you have just nits and can remove them and treat them in time, you’re likely in for an easier treatment course.

A prolonged and significant infestation may require longer treatments with multiple medicated applications.

Here are some signs you can use to tell how long you’ve had a lice infestation.

Symptoms

You don’t usually start experiencing scalp itching when lice first arrive in your hair.

You may not experience itching until about 4 to 6 weeks after lice exposure. This is because the lice take time to multiply and cause symptoms of itchiness.

The itching reaction is usually due to your skin becoming sensitized to the saliva that lice release when feeding. If you’ve had lice before, you’ll likely have symptoms faster because your body is already sensitized to lice saliva.

You can usually expect this itching reaction to take place about 2 days after you get the infestation.

It’s also possible that you may never experience symptoms associated with lice. In this case, you’ll have to identify them by sight.

Appearance

It can be hard for someone with an untrained eye to identify lice. You can easily think dandruff, a scab, or residue from hair products are nits.

For your best chance at seeing them, use the following:

a very fine-toothed nit comb
a magnifying glass
piece of paper
a location with plenty of light

How to look for lice in the hair

Use the comb at the base of the scalp and gently comb to remove any residue or nit-like appearances.
If this residue or the nit-like objects don’t come off easily, this can be your first indication they are lice or nits.
Place the residue or objects on a piece of white paper. Nits or nymphs will commonly appear tan to brown in contrast to the white paper.

You may find this task easier on wet hair that has conditioner in it for detangling purposes.

Lice don’t like the light and are very small — two factors that make them hard to identify. But there are ways you may be able to tell how long you’ve had them based on where and how you see them.

Infestation timeline

Few nits: less than 2 weeks. An adult louse climbs onto your hair and lays about 6 to 10 nits a day, which take about 9 days to hatch. So if you look on the scalp and see no visible adult lice and several small nits, it’s likely that you’ve caught lice in the earlier stages and had them for less than 2 weeks.
Nits and nymphs: 1.5 to 2 weeks. If you see nits and small, moving lice, you’ve likely had lice for 1.5 to 2 weeks. This is because you aren’t seeing a lot of adult lice but are still seeing small, hatched nymphs along with lots more nits than a person who’d only been affected for a few days.
Nits, nymphs, and adult lice: 2 weeks or longer. If you’re seeing a mixture of sizes of lice, you may have had an infestation for at least 2 weeks. If you have symptoms like itching along with a variety of lice stages, you’ve likely been living with lice for four to six weeks or possibly longer.
Nits more than 1/4 inch from the scalp: old infestation. Only see small nits over a quarter inch away from the scalp? It’s probably an old infestation. You may have treated your lice, and remnants are moving down the scalp. Because lice eggs typically hatch close to the scalp, seeing nits further down your hair can indicate that the infestation is inactive.

Some approaches you can take to treat lice at home include the following:

Use a medicated lice treatment shampoo as directed. If you have very long hair, you may need two shampoos to sufficiently treat your head. These often come with small nit combs you can use to manually remove nits.
Use a nit comb to remove as many nits as possible. Repeat every 3 to 4 days until you no longer see any nits or lice.
Repeat the shampoo about a week after your first application. This can “catch” any remaining lice in their next life cycle where you can ideally eliminate them for good.

Lice have evolved over time to become resistant to some treatments that used to work well in the past.

Some treatments that aren’t as effective as they used to be include pyrethrin, permethrin, malathion, or phenothrin. These medications are still commonly found in over-the-counter lice treatments, so look out for these ingredients when you shop for treatment.

New ‘Sklice’ treatment now available

In October 2020, the FDA approved ivermectin lotion (Sklice) for over-the-counter treatment, once only available with a prescription. This treatment can help those 6 months and older with lice.

Keep in mind there are a lot of “home remedies” out there that are rumored to kill lice, including mayonnaise, kerosene, oils, and apple cider vinegar.

But these aren’t proven to work and can be very harmful to the scalp (especially kerosene). Stick to approved medicated treatments instead.

In addition to treating the lice on your hair

In addition to treating the hair, you should also take the following steps for personal items that may have come in contact with lice:

Wash any clothing, sheets, towels, or other similar items worn by an affected person in hot water of at least 128. 3°F (53.5°C).
Place any items that can’t be laundered in sealed bags and leave them in the bag for at least 2 weeks, or take them for dry-cleaning.
Vacuum all living areas thoroughly to remove hairs that may have retained nits.
Place combs and brushes in hot water that’s reached at least 130°F (54.4°C) for 5 to 10 minutes to kill off any remaining lice or nits.

You may also want to check with the school or daycare if you or your child has had lice. These organizations may have policies regarding head lice and when a young person can return to school after recognition and treatment.

In the absence of such policies, most people don’t have to isolate themselves, provided they’re treating the lice and engaging in preventive transmission methods.

If lice persist even after home treatments, it’s time to see a doctor. You may need prescription treatments or professional removal to take the nits away.

If your skin gets very irritated from the lice, the itching can lead to a potential infection.

Swelling, redness, and pain in the areas where you have lice may indicate that you’re experiencing or are at risk for an infection and may need antibiotic treatments.

Some examples of prescription-strength medical treatments for lice include:

benzyl alcohol lotion
malathion lotion
spinosad topical suspension
lindane shampoo (a second-line prescription treatment)

Prescription lice treatments tend to have stronger medications that can irritate the skin. You should talk with your doctor about any potential side effects and how to minimize them before using prescription treatments.

Your doctor may also be able to recommend additional methods to treat and remove lice depending on your symptoms.

Here are some preventive steps you can take to ensure you don’t get or transmit lice:

Refrain from hair-to-hair contact at school, on the playground, while playing sports, or at sleepovers.
Refrain from sharing personal items that come in contact with hair, such as combs, hats, scarves, helmets, ribbons, or barrettes.
Don’t use any personal items that haven’t been washed if a person who had known lice used them, such as pillows or towels.

Because they’re parasites, head lice require a host to live. They usually won’t survive more than 2 days after falling off a person. Washing and isolating items can help ensure lice won’t live beyond your scalp.

Lice belong to the insect category Pediculus humanus capitis. As a parasite, they live on a human host and feed on their blood.

People transmit lice by direct contact because the lice can’t fly or hop. Children most commonly transmit them by head-to-head contact when playing.

While less likely, it’s also possible for a person to spread lice by contact with personal items (like a comb or brush) or clothing.

Lice appear on the hair in one of three forms:

Eggs/nits. Nits are small, oval-shaped lice eggs that a female louse lays usually near the scalp. They’re often white, yellow, or clear in appearance, and they’re easily mistaken for dandruff or flakes of hair products, if visible. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nits take between 8 and 9 days to hatch once a female lays these eggs.
Nymphs. Nymph are nits that has just hatched. They’re smaller than an adult louse and spend about 9 to 12 days feeding on blood and growing into an adult after hatching.
Adults. An adult louse has matured beyond about 12 days. At its full growth, an adult louse is usually no larger than a sesame seed. They’re usually tan, gray, or white in appearance. Adult females are typically larger than adult males. Most adult lice don’t live for more than 30 days on the scalp.

Head lice have small, hook-like claws on the ends of their legs that make them very hard to remove from the hair shaft.

Because lice are so small (and typically on the back of your head), they can be very difficult to detect. Some symptoms that may indicate lice include:

frequent tickling feeling in the hair
problems sleeping, as lice move mostly at night
rash on the back of the head
sores that develop over time due to scratching
unexplained itchy scalp, especially close to the nape of the neck

Lice don’t carry diseases, but that doesn’t make them any less bothersome. They aren’t typically the result of poor hygiene or health, but rather because you or a loved one came into contact with someone who had them.

If you can see nits or lice, the amount and symptoms may indicate to you how long you’ve been infested. This can help you track where you might have gotten the lice and indicate potential treatment challenges.

If your lice seem to be persistent or you’re concerned about how to treat them, talk with your doctor.

Calculate How Long You Have Had Lice

Karen Sokoloff

Created on

June 1, 2022

Updated on

May 31, 2022

Want to know how to calculate how long you have had lice? If your child has been exposed to lice and you’re wondering how long it will take until you know if you have lice, LiceDoctors can help.

Why It Is Important To Know How Long You Have Had Lice?

The treatment for a long term lice infestation and a new infestation are the same. However, you may find it beneficial to know how long you’ve had lice so you can narrow down where you were exposed, and others who may have been in contact with you after you contracted lice. This will allow you to let that person/persons know so that they can get treated.

How To Determine How Long You Have Had Lice?

To accurately determine the length of time you’ve had lice, the best way is to estimate, during treatment, how many eggs and live bugs are present. In addition to this, try to remember when your symptoms first started. In most cases, you will start to see symptoms after head to head contact with an lice infested person. This will help you begin to establish a timeline. If there are multiple adult lice vs a single adult louse, you have had the case longer, likely for several weeks.

Symptoms of Having Lice

The symptoms of head lice infestations vary from person to person. Some individuals are sensitive on their scalp, and some will experience more of a reaction to the bug bites. In contrast, others could have a severe infestation and not know they have lice. The symptoms of head lice include intense itching, crawling sensation, bites on the head and neck, sleep disturbances, and irritability.

The Lice Exposure Timeline

It can be difficult to determine whom you child got lice from, where they got it, and how long your child has had a case of head lice. It is most likely that you got lice as a result of head to head contact with an infested person. By gaining an understanding of the general life cycle of lice, and comparing it to how many bugs and nits you find on your child during treatment, you may be able to narrow down the time period in which your child was exposed. The infestation timeline is as follows:

Pregnant female adult lice or female and male lice attach to the hair. The males and females mate.
Eggs are laid on the strands of hair (6-10 a day).
New eggs hatch after a week (42-70 new bugs over the course of a week).
After a week, the hatched nymphs, now adult lice, begin to lay their own eggs.
Lice live for about 30 days, having the ability as an adult louse to reproduce after a week which yields 100-200 eggs in its lifetime!

If you find only a few nits, then your case is very new. If you see hundreds of nits and bugs, you may have been spreading head lice infestations for weeks or even months.

How Long Does It Take Nits To Appear?

If your child has been lice-free up until this point, it is important to keep a close eye and check his or her head regularly for signs of a lice infestation. If just one mature female louse has made it onto your child’s head, it is enough to start an infestation on its own. Since the bug is mobile and will run from the light as you check your child’s head, chances are you will never see the bug. What you will want to look for is the eggs. If you do find eggs on your child’s head remove them. You will probably be able to see those eggs about 3-5 days after they are laid, or after initial contact with a louse, as they grow large enough to be visible adult lice. Check out our blog “How to Check For Lice Eggs (Nits)” to see what you should be looking for. If you find eggs, then congratulations, you have successfully found the case of head lice very quickly which will make this case of head lice much easier to treat! Again - when you find eggs on your child’s head remove them immediately.

How Long Does It Take Lice To Show Up?

You will not find a live bug on your child’s head immediately after infestation in the majority of cases, especially if it is just one bug. Some individuals are very sensitive to everything going on on their head, so in the case of someone who is especially sensitive, you might set out on a more extensive search and find a bug much earlier. However, this is extremely rare, especially to a head lice newbie. In many cases, people do not feel any itching or have any other obvious signs of head lice in the beginning. Often, bugs are not discovered until an infestation has reached the moderate to severe levels. So, if you have an infestation and are able to find visible adult lice and several nits on your child’s head remove them; this means the case of head lice has likely been present for quite some time...a month or more in many cases. Also noteworthy, is the fact that in some cases, a single louse may have simply taken a vacation on your child’s head before returning to the original host or moving on to another stop on its excursion. If that louse was present on your child’s head long enough to just lay 2 eggs, an infestation will follow unless it is detected early.

So What Should You Do?

If you’ve been notified by someone that your child has had contact with someone who has head lice, your first inclination may be to run to the store to buy a lice treatment kit. This is not necessary, especially if you have not confirmed that your child does, in fact, have a case of head lice. If there are no bugs or nits present, then the treatments will do nothing but expose your child needlessly to pesticides that will not be effective and may bring along side effects. Even if there are nits present in the hair, the chemical lice treatments will do nothing to address these nits as chemical lice treatments are unable to get through the tough outer shell of the nit to kill the baby bug within.

The best thing to do is to check your child’s head immediately and thoroughly to look for any signs of head lice, particularly the presence of nits. Make sure you have good lighting, outdoors is a great idea, and some form of magnification. Carefully look through your child’s hair focusing on the back of the head towards the nape of the neck and behind the ears, scanning for any lice eggs that may be present. Continue to check your child’s head regularly every few days to ensure you catch any signs of lice as soon as possible. If you do, in fact, find lice, LiceDoctors can save you time and money no matter how long the case has been there.

LiceDoctors Can Eradicate a Case at Any Stage of Infestation

LiceDoctors technicians are experienced in the detection and eradication of head lice, and can get rid of a case of head lice in the earliest of stages at any point point in the lice life cycle, whether you have immature or adult lice or both. If you’ve identified a case of head lice and would like help getting rid of it, or if you are not confident in your ability to detect a case of head lice and need some assistance, contact us at 800-224-2537. We are available morning, afternoon and evening and ready to help!

We provide a friendly in-home lice removal service

Book your appointment today

Wendy Beck

Updated on

November 20, 2020

Perhaps you are sitting at the table in your Alabama home and you happen to look at your daughter's head just as a bug crawls out. OR You have sent your kids off school and are getting yourself ready for work, when a call comes from the school nurse telling you that your son has head lice. "How is that possible?", you wonder "I look at that child every day. "How did I possibly

Wendy Beck

Updated on

November 20, 2020

Hair extensions are an extremely common practice among women today and a booming business within the beauty industry. But what to do if you have lice in your hair extensions? Read the post!

Karen Sokoloff

Updated on

November 20, 2020

Although lice are more commonly found in females, each year thousands of males are diagnosed with head lice

Pediculosis in children: an endless story

Pediculosis in children has long ceased to be a purely social phenomenon. According to statistics, schools are the main foci of pediculosis outbreaks in autumn. And lice are brought there not by the children of alcoholics, but by tanned and rested on distant shores guys from prosperous families. Most cases of pediculosis are registered in children who have been on vacation in England, France, that is, in developed European countries. How is this possible? Now I'll tell you. And at the same time I will tell my story of treating pediculosis in a child with long thick hair.

PEDICULOSIS IN OUR CHILDREN – LET'S NOT BE PRINTS

Whatever you say, pediculosis in children, or, more simply, "lice" is a parasitic disease that brings not only physical discomfort, but also certain "moral suffering". In our society, there is a widespread opinion about pediculosis as a disease of unscrupulous people, homeless people and other "rabble". It is believed that in a decent family, a child cannot get sick with anything like that. And if lice are found, this fact must be hidden from all friends and neighbors. Otherwise - what a shame ...

Such silence ends with the lice wandering from one child's head to another with complete impunity. Finding out the source of head lice infection is not possible, because even good neighbors will not tell you that their children (friends of your child) have returned from summer vacation with lice. At best, you will receive this valuable information after it has become your reality. Then, as more experienced neighbors, they will begin to give valuable advice on how to treat pediculosis.

“Your girl has lice,” the class teacher said, taking her mother aside on the second day of her visit to the school. After that, in the hands was a note from the school nurse, which included a diagnosis of "pediculosis" and a ban on attending classes without a certificate from the clinic. “God, where from?!” was all Mom could say. I was very ashamed...

And in vain. Later it turned out that pediculosis in children is not as rare as it is customary to think about it. Every autumn, with the beginning of the school year, lice are found, on average, in 15-20 children per thousand primary school students, and this is only what is officially registered by polyclinics. After all, many parents carefully hide the fact of infection from others because of shame: they don’t even turn to a pediatrician, but treat pediculosis at home with all sorts of folk remedies.

Schools become the main centers of head lice in autumn. Lice in the classroom is brought mainly by children from wealthy families.

PEDICULOSIS IN CHILDREN IN EUROPE IS NORMAL, DID YOU KNOW?

Old Europe is the most willing to share her lice with us. And, not some kind of Bulgaria or Montenegro. It turns out that the most “lousy” country in Europe is Great Britain. Pediculosis in children in English schools and camps is a common thing. At the same time, no one declares quarantine and, imagine, does not isolate lousy children. In summer camps, where children are supervised by educators, they are simply treated with special remedies for pediculosis, which, by the way, are very effective, according to the “victims”. If lice are found in children during the school year (the peak is in autumn), the parents of the students only receive notifications that pediculosis is at school. How they deal with this information is their own business. The teacher can only recommend that they treat the child for lice, because it . .. interferes with the student's work in the classroom, and not at all because he can infect other children. As a result, in the Kingdom of England, elementary school students, regardless of their social status, suffer from pediculosis up to 5 times a year! And you say "princesses don't poop"...

In Denmark, pediculosis is also "all right". To such an extent that "lousy Saturdays" are held in this country, promoting the fight against these bloodsuckers. Moreover, it was in Denmark that a special nozzle on a vacuum cleaner in the form of a comb was invented to collect lice from heads. The author of the invention is a school teacher. Can you imagine the scale of pediculosis, if lice can already be removed from children with a vacuum cleaner?

In France, according to our compatriots who went there for permanent residence, pediculosis is also treated without validol: well, the child has lice, and so what? “I often stand at a traffic light next to a pharmacy. The window dressing changes every season. Vitamins are advertised in winter, weight loss products are advertised in spring, and sunscreens are advertised in summer. And in autumn, a scout with a mouthpiece decorates the window. He trumpets: "The lice are back!" Sometimes, instead of a scout, the window displays giant lice, which are chased by giant spray cans with all kinds of anti-lice poison, ”a Russian mother who lives in Toulouse wrote on one of the forums. Her own children contracted head lice in the first week of the school year. But naive Russian parents realized this only when leaflets were handed out to everyone at school: “Dear parents, there are lice in school, treat your child’s head, as well as hats and bedding.” And, mind you, there is no talk of any quarantine, or any disembarkation of children with pediculosis from school.

No less revealing is another story of Russians whose children contracted head lice during a trip to Spain. While traveling around the country, they were supposed to stay with friends, but found it inconvenient, given the circumstances. Imagine their surprise when their friends shrugged their shoulders in response, saying: “What's wrong with that? Wrap up on the way to our pharmacy.

Why such an attitude towards head lice in Europe? Perhaps because in our days all diseases, the carriers of which lice have been from time immemorial, have been practically defeated. By itself, a louse bite is not dangerous to humans unless it is infected. But if not ... In the past there was even a sign: lice appear in the house to the deceased. Horrible, huh? But if we remember that in those distant times, lice were carriers of typhus, then the logic of this "sign" becomes obvious. Fortunately, now the probability of catching this infection from lice is reduced to zero. So many Europeans treat lice like mosquitoes. And they begin to withdraw only when they already deliver tangible discomfort.

Our situation is completely different. Pediculosis in our society is like leprosy before. You tell someone - and ten meters of the sanitary zone around the child are provided. At the same time, you are obliged to isolate the child from society, and while the doctor, inspecting the results of pediculosis treatment, finds at least one live nit on the hair, there can be no talk of any school or kindergarten visits. So, we sat down at home, to be treated.

PEDICULOSIS IN CHILDREN: WHAT TO TREAT IF YOU ARE "LUCKED"

In our childhood, the treatment of pediculosis was reduced to the use of dust, kerosene and tar soap. I wanted to climb the wall from the smell of these funds. Fortunately, both dust and kerosene, despite their effectiveness, are considered unjustified barbarism these days. And tar soap, contrary to the image, is recognized as useless.

Of course, the simplest and most effective method of fighting lice in a child is shaving. Insects do not live on a bald head and, most importantly, cannot reproduce, since they attach their eggs in the root zone of the hair. No hair - no nits, no nits - no new lice. If I had a boy, the story would have ended there . .. But shaving a girl, and even a first-grader, is humiliating.

Of course, this decision made the fight against pediculosis more difficult. If you thought for a moment that your clean child is scratching his head because there are lice, the scale of the disaster and the timing of its elimination would be less. But most of us are captivated by the mass illusion that well-groomed children at home these days do not get pediculosis. The result of this delusion results in 14 days of hassle.

What helps to cope with pediculosis in a child with long hair:

1. TREATMENT WITH PHARMACY REMEDIES FOR PEDICULOSIS.

Do not believe the promises that the product will remove both lice and nits. It acts on lice, suffocating, paralyzing and dehydrating living parasites. But nits are eggs, they don't breathe (contrary to the claims of some advertising brochures), so they don't care about such chemicals. Most preparations for the treatment of pediculosis, which say "destroy lice and nits", in fact, only kill lice, and you are invited to comb out live nits by hand with a special, included in the kit, frequent comb. If you carefully study the composition of such preparations for pediculosis, then in addition to the main active ingredient, they contain oils or alcohols that soften or dissolve the glue with which the nits are securely attached to the hair, and it becomes easier to comb them out. There are no drugs that really kill nits on our pharmacy shelves. There are enough of them. But the actual effectiveness is doubtful to spend the family budget on them.

Of the commercial remedies for the treatment of head lice, two should be singled out at once. Firstly, this is a Para Plus spray, which contains not one, but three active ingredients at once. Secondly, Paranit shampoo (namely shampoo), containing mineral oil, and not containing insecticides, so it went well with the first remedy without the danger of poisoning the child along with lice. The advantage of this shampoo was the frequent comb included in the kit.

2. LICE AND NIT REMOVAL.

Head lice combing is the only 100% way to remove lice and nits. Moreover, without combing out the nits, all your efforts to combat lice will be in vain. After treating the head with a special tool, it is imperative to comb out the hair with a thick comb (they are sold in pharmacies both separately and as a set with various preparations for pediculosis). So you can understand the scale of the invasion, and follow the dynamics: how many lice are combed out for the first time, how many in a few days, in a week (ideally, not a single one). Don't waste your money on expensive miracle lice combs advertised online. There is nothing special about them, except for the price. This is such an "axe porridge" - without treating the hair with agents that soften the glue of the nits, all these combs are not effective. And after processing, any metal comb from nits, which comes with a lice remedy, will also cope with combing.

A vinegar solution works best on the adhesive. Cheap and cheerful. The essence of the method is simple: table 9% vinegar is taken (in no case do not use vinegar essence!), It is diluted in a ratio of 1: 2, that is, 1 part of vinegar - 2 parts of water. Dry hair is treated with this solution along the entire length, starting from the roots. The easiest way to apply the vinegar solution is with a sponge. In this case, you need to try to ensure that as little vinegar as possible gets on the scalp. But if it hits, it's tolerable. After treatment, all hair should be hidden under a bag or a rubber bathing cap. This is done so that the vinegar does not evaporate ahead of time. Action time - 30 minutes. On the Internet, you can read recommendations to keep the vinegar solution on your head for at least an hour. But, in practice, half an hour is enough to get the desired effect and at the same time not burn the child's scalp in an vinegar bath. After 30 minutes, carefully comb the hair from the roots to the tips with a special comb. Important: the procedure for combing after vinegar is best done in the bathroom. This is done so that adult lice, stupefied by vinegar, do not fall on clothes or the floor when combing out, which would lead to re-infection. After each pass through the hair, the comb should be rinsed with running water so as not to return the freshly combed nits back into place. Processing is best done every 3-4 days. Especially if you decide to follow the same difficult path: by all means keep your child's long thick hair. Instead of table vinegar, you can use 3% apple cider vinegar. Or hellebore water, which also has a beneficial effect on the hair.

3. WASHING AND PROCESSING OF ALL ITEMS.

Send everything that could be washed to the wash at 60 and 90 degrees (lice and nits die at 50-55 degrees, and at 40 you just give them a bath). Everything that cannot be washed in hot water, or simply cannot be put into the washing machine, can be treated with A-Par spray: pillows, mattresses, a sofa, a carpet in a nursery, hats, etc. Wash the floors throughout the apartment and other surfaces with a solution of table vinegar.

AGGRESSIVE CIRCUMSTANCE: PEDICULOSIS AND BREASTFEEDING

What should a breastfeeding mother do if all remedies for head lice are contraindicated while breastfeeding? Permanent hair dye to help you. Not sparing, but one that contains hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide (h3O2) burns both lice and nits. And in low concentrations, it dissolves the glue of nits. Therefore, if you dye your hair with hydrogen peroxide dye (found in most lightening and highly lightening paints), and after dyeing, rinse your head thoroughly and comb it with the same frequent comb, then the chances of getting rid of head lice in one go will be very high. The same method can be used if pediculosis is found in pregnant women. It is strictly forbidden for a future mother to be treated for lice with insecticidal preparations. And you can paint your head with resistant paint at any time.

Exactly where the child contracted lice may remain a mystery. But every summer, several times a month, carefully examine his head. Especially before the start of the school year. And one more taboo: loose hair outside the house. For prevention. It is in Europe that pediculosis is no longer considered a disease, but in our country lice in a child are a shame and disgrace for his parents, whatever you say. Maybe just this disgust for lice saves us from such a shocking lice, as in Europe?

The material was prepared using Internet resources by doctor Konon T.A.

Pediculosis in children: a never-ending story

Pediculosis in children has long ceased to be a purely social phenomenon. According to statistics, schools are the main foci of pediculosis outbreaks in autumn. And lice are brought there not by the children of alcoholics, but by tanned and rested on distant shores guys from prosperous families. Most cases of pediculosis are recorded in children who have been on vacation in England, France, that is, in developed European countries. How is this possible? Now I'll tell you. And at the same time I will tell my story of treating pediculosis in a child with long thick hair.

PEDICULOSIS IN OUR CHILDREN – WE DON'T BE PRINTS

Say what you like, but pediculosis in children, or, more simply, “lice” is a parasitic disease that brings not only physical discomfort, but also certain “moral suffering”. In our society, there is a widespread opinion about pediculosis as a disease of unscrupulous people, homeless people and other "rabble". It is believed that in a decent family, a child cannot get sick with anything like that. And if lice are found, this fact must be hidden from all friends and neighbors. Otherwise, what a shame...

Such silence ends with the fact that lice roam from one child's head to another with complete impunity. Finding out the source of head lice infection is not possible, because even good neighbors will not tell you that their children (friends of your child) have returned from summer vacation with lice. At best, you will receive this valuable information after it has become your reality. Then, as more experienced neighbors, they will begin to give valuable advice on how to treat pediculosis.

“Your girl has lice,” the class teacher said, taking me aside on the second day of visiting the school. After that, I had a note from the school nurse in my hands, which included a diagnosis of pediculosis and a ban on attending classes without a certificate from the clinic. “God, where from?!” was all I could say then. I was very ashamed...

And in vain. Later, I found out that pediculosis in children is not as rare as it is customary to think about it. Every autumn, with the beginning of the school year, lice are found, on average, in 15-20 children per thousand primary school students, and this is only what is officially registered by polyclinics. After all, many parents carefully hide the fact of infection from others because of shame: they don’t even turn to a pediatrician, but treat pediculosis at home with all sorts of folk remedies.

In autumn, schools become the main centers of pediculosis. Lice in the classroom is brought mainly by children from wealthy families. According to Rospotrebnadzor, in 2006 the incidence of head lice in children after the summer jumped 2.5 times compared to previous years, primarily due to those who traveled abroad in the summer. But these are data from 2006, and not some modern propaganda in retaliation for the sanctions.

PEDICULOSIS IN CHILDREN IN EUROPE IS NORMAL, DID YOU KNOW?

Old Europe is the most willing to share her lice with us. And, not some kind of Bulgaria or Montenegro. It turns out that the most “lousy” country in Europe is Great Britain. Pediculosis in children in English schools and camps is a common thing. At the same time, no one declares quarantine and, imagine, does not isolate lousy children. In summer camps, where children are supervised by educators, they are simply treated with special remedies for pediculosis, which, by the way, are very effective, according to the “victims”. If lice are found in children during the school year (the peak is in autumn), the parents of the students only receive notifications that pediculosis is at school. How they deal with this information is their own business. The teacher can only recommend that they treat the child for lice, because it ... interferes with the student's work in the classroom, and not at all because he can infect other children. As a result, in the Kingdom of England, elementary school students, regardless of their social status, suffer from pediculosis up to 5 times a year! And you say "princesses don't poop..."

In Denmark, with pediculosis, too, "everything is in order." To such an extent that "lousy Saturdays" are held in this country, promoting the fight against these bloodsuckers. Moreover, it was in Denmark that a special nozzle on a vacuum cleaner in the form of a comb was invented to collect lice from heads. The author of the invention is a school teacher. Can you imagine the scale of pediculosis, if lice can already be removed from children with a vacuum cleaner?

In France, according to our compatriots who went there for permanent residence, they also treat pediculosis without validol: well, the child has lice, and so what? “I often stand at a traffic light next to a pharmacy. The window dressing changes every season. Vitamins are advertised in winter, weight loss products are advertised in spring, and sunscreens are advertised in summer. And in autumn, a scout with a mouthpiece decorates the window. He trumpets: "The lice are back!" Sometimes, instead of a scout, the window displays giant lice, which are chased by giant spray cans with all kinds of anti-lice poison, ”a Russian mother who lives in Toulouse wrote on one of the forums. Her own children contracted head lice in the first week of the school year. But naive Russian parents realized this only when leaflets were handed out to everyone at school: “Dear parents, there are lice in school, treat your child’s head, as well as hats and bedding.” And, mind you, there is no talk of any quarantine, or any disembarkation of children with pediculosis from school.

Why is there such an attitude towards pediculosis in Europe? Perhaps because in our days all diseases, the carriers of which lice have been from time immemorial, have been practically defeated. By itself, a louse bite is not dangerous to humans unless it is infected. But if not ... In the past there was even a sign: lice appear in the house to the deceased. Horrible, huh? But if we remember that in those distant times, lice were carriers of typhus, then the logic of this "sign" becomes obvious. Fortunately, now the probability of catching this infection from lice is reduced to zero. So many Europeans treat lice like mosquitoes. And they begin to withdraw only when they already deliver tangible discomfort.

PEDICULOSIS IN CHILDREN: WHAT TO TREAT IF YOU'RE LUCKY

In my childhood, the treatment of pediculosis was reduced to the use of dust, kerosene and tar soap. I remember how I wanted to climb the wall from the smells of these products. Fortunately, both dust and kerosene, despite their effectiveness, are considered unjustified barbarism these days. And tar soap, contrary to the image, is recognized as useless. From the pediatrician, I received a list of how to treat pediculosis in children with the words that all drugs work, choose what you can afford.

Of course, the simplest and most effective method of dealing with lice in a child is shaving. Insects do not live on a bald head and, most importantly, cannot reproduce, since they attach their eggs in the root zone of the hair. No hair - no nits, no nits - no new lice. If I had a boy, the story would have ended there ... But shaving a girl, and even a first-grader, is humiliating. My daughter's hair was thick and long, and I decided that I would not cut my child's hair short, let alone shave it bald.

Of course, this decision has complicated our fight against pediculosis. We spent 2 weeks on the complete removal of this infection. I think if I had at least some experience in this area, and I could have thought for a minute that my clean child is scratching his head because there are lice, the scale of the disaster and the timing of its elimination would be less. But I was captivated by the mass illusion that well-groomed children at home these days do not get pediculosis. The result of this delusion resulted in 14 days of hassle.

Initially, we were determined that you can get rid of lice in a maximum of a week. The treatment plan for head lice was to kill lice and nits with the treatment, comb out the hair, re-treat on the seventh day and show the doctor a clean head. But it was not there. On examination, the pediatrician found several live nits (they, you know, make a characteristic crack under the nails, unlike the dead ones). And she sent us to recover. It was then that I realized that one chosen remedy for pediculosis, albeit the best according to reviews, is not enough.

What helped us cope with head lice in a child with long hair:

1. TREATMENT WITH PHARMACY PRODUCTS FROM PEDICULOSIS.

You should not believe the promises that the product will remove both lice and nits. From my own experience, I can responsibly state that this is not the case. Pharmaceutical chemicals do not kill nits! They act on lice, suffocating, paralyzing and dehydrating living parasites. But nits are eggs, they don't breathe (contrary to the claims of some advertising brochures), so they don't care about such chemicals. Most preparations for the treatment of pediculosis, which say "destroy lice and nits", in fact, only kill lice, and you are invited to comb out live nits by hand with a special, included in the kit, frequent comb. If you carefully study the composition of such preparations for pediculosis, then in addition to the main active ingredient, they contain oils or alcohols that soften or dissolve the glue with which the nits are securely attached to the hair, and it becomes easier to comb them out. I personally did not find drugs that really kill nits on our pharmacy shelves. There are enough of them. But the actual effectiveness is doubtful to spend the family budget on them. How we "unstuck" the nits - I'll tell you a little lower.

Of the commercial remedies for the treatment of pediculosis, I will single out two at once, because we were helped by their alternate use on the advice of the second pediatrician, to whom we came after the first week of unsuccessful treatment. Firstly, this is a Para Plus spray, which contains not one, but three active ingredients at once. Secondly, Paranit shampoo (namely shampoo), containing mineral oil, and not containing insecticides, so it went well with the first remedy without the danger of poisoning the child along with lice. The advantage of this shampoo was the frequent comb included in the kit. It was with them that we combed out the nits after processing. We alternated Para Plus and Paranit with an interval of 3-4 days, instead of using one thing with an interval of a week.

2. COMBING LICE AND NIT.

Combing with pediculosis is the only one hundred percent way to remove lice and nits. Moreover, without combing out the nits, all your efforts to combat lice will be in vain. After treating the head with a special tool, it is imperative to comb out the hair with a thick comb (they are sold in pharmacies both separately and as a set with various preparations for pediculosis). So you can understand the scale of the invasion, and follow the dynamics: how many lice are combed out for the first time, how many in a few days, in a week (ideally, not a single one). I do not advise spending money on expensive miracle lice combs advertised on the Internet. There is nothing special about them, except for the price. This is such an "axe porridge" - without treating the hair with agents that soften the glue of the nits, all these combs are not effective. And after processing, any metal comb from nits, which comes with a lice remedy, will also cope with combing.

After trial and error, we found that the vinegar solution works best on the glue. Cheap and cheerful. The essence of the method is simple: table 9% vinegar is taken (in no case do not use vinegar essence!), It is diluted in a ratio of 1: 2, that is, 1 part of vinegar - 2 parts of water. Dry hair is treated with this solution along the entire length, starting from the roots. The easiest way to apply the vinegar solution is with a sponge. In this case, you need to try to ensure that as little vinegar as possible gets on the scalp. But if it hits, it's tolerable. After treatment, all hair should be hidden under a bag or a rubber bathing cap. This is done so that the vinegar does not evaporate ahead of time. Action time - 30 minutes. On the Internet, you can read recommendations to keep the vinegar solution on your head for at least an hour. But, in practice, half an hour is enough to get the desired effect and at the same time not burn the child's scalp in an vinegar bath. After 30 minutes, carefully comb the hair from the roots to the tips with a special comb. Important: the procedure for combing after vinegar is best done in the bathroom. This is done so that adult lice, stupefied by vinegar, do not fall on clothes or the floor when combing out, which would lead to re-infection. After each pass through the hair, the comb should be rinsed with running water so as not to return the freshly combed nits back into place. Processing is best done every 3-4 days. Especially if you decide to follow the same difficult path as we do - at all costs to keep long thick hair in a child. By the way, instead of table vinegar, you can use 3% apple cider vinegar. Or hellebore water, which also has a beneficial effect on the hair. But at that time hellebore water was in short supply in pharmacies. So, we managed table vinegar.

3. WASHING AND PROCESSING OF ALL ITEMS.

Everything that could be washed went to the wash at 60 and 90 degrees (lice and nits die at 50-55 degrees, and at 40 you just give them a bath). Everything that could not be washed in hot water, or simply impossible to put into the washing machine, was treated with A-Par spray: pillows, mattresses, a sofa, a carpet in a nursery, hats, etc. The floors throughout the apartment and other surfaces were washed with a solution of table vinegar.

AGGRESSIVE: PEDICULOSIS AND BREASTFEEDING

At the time when the eldest daughter was diagnosed with pediculosis, the youngest was only 2 months old, and I was breastfeeding her. My baby, fortunately, did not have time to get infected, despite close contact with my sister. But I, although not much, but hooked ... What should a nursing mother do if all remedies for pediculosis are contraindicated during breastfeeding? Permanent hair dye to help you. Not sparing, but one that contains hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide (h3O2) burns both lice and nits. And in low concentrations, it dissolves the glue of nits. Therefore, if you dye your hair with hydrogen peroxide dye (found in most lightening and highly lightening paints), and after dyeing, rinse your head thoroughly and comb it with the same frequent comb, then the chances of getting rid of head lice in one go will be very high.