| Lice | How Spread | Symptoms | Causes | Remedies |
Do you want to know the symptoms of lice in hair? Head lice have been around for decades: to live, they have adapted to their environment – human hair – and our tries to eliminate them. Nowadays, head lice infestations have become difficult to treat, and their removal has become an even tough challenge. Repeated head lice infestations are unfortunately widespread nowadays!
This article will deeply explain the symptoms of lice in hair, causes, and permanent solutions.
Lice
Lice are tiny insects that don’t have wings. They suck the blood from animals and the human body as they live upon them. Head lice are also known as pediculosis. Mainly there are three types of head lice. The body lice, head lice, and pubic lice. It bites the skin of humans and causes extreme itching. Sometimes due to lice itching, many people get some skin problems also.
Lice don’t have jumping legs, so they can only crawl – and surprisingly they crawl very quickly. That makes it easy for them to hide and hard for you to spot them! They avoid light and are most active at night.
How Lice Spread
Lice are spread by the body to body contact due to intercourse, sharing personal items such as combs, clothing, helmets, hats, and brushes. Its color varies from grey to brown. The adult lice size is about sesame seed size.
Symptoms of Lice in Hair
There are many symptoms of lice in hair. Some of the most common symptoms of lice in hair are below:
Itching
One of the more apparent symptoms of lice in hair is itching of the scalp, and you will feel like scratching it often. Sometimes this itchiness will also occur on your neck and shoulders due to allergy to the saliva of lice when they bite on your skin to feed on the blood.
One thing to point out is that some people might not even experience any of the itching symptoms.
Nits
Another one of the most common symptoms of lice in hair is that you will find nits on your hair. Nits are lice eggs that look like small dandruff flakes. One way to tell if it’s nits is to give your hair a shake. Dandruff will fall off hair easily, whereas nits will not, as they have a natural ‘glue’ that allows them to stick firmly on the hair shaft. Nits are tiny and are about the size of 0.8mm by 0.3mm. They are in an oval shape and usually in pale yellow or white color.
The female lice will lay eggs on the hair shaft, and these nits are ‘glued’ tightly to the hair, which is usually very close to the scalp (within 6mm of scalp) because they need the body heat for hatching.
Symptoms of Lice in Hair According To Type
1 Head Lice
The symptoms of lice in head hair are itching in the scalp due to scratching sores caused on the scalp. The scalp may be infected, tiny grayish-white eggs that are clinging to hairs close to the scalp, small insects one-eighth of an inch long, and grayish or brownish are found behind the nape the neck, and also behind the ears.
2 Body Lice
due to the lice bites on the buttocks, back, and other body parts, red raised bumps are caused, and eggs are seen on the clothing.
3 Pubic Lice
itching is caused in the genital region, in the crotch area there are tiny crab-like insects, to the base of pubic hair eggs are attached and on underwear small dark specks.
Causes Of Head Lice
The wingless head lice parasites feed on human blood every three to six hours. Lice and their eggs or nits may be white, cream, or tan. Their claws are used for clinging to hair or clothing, making them crawl easily from one person to another.
Close Interaction
The head lice are usually transmitted through the head to head contact. For example, the school children play and work very closely such that their heads come in touch. As a result, the normal child gets easily infested from the lice infected ones.
Sharing Things
Head lice can also be easily transmitted by sharing infected towels, clothing, bedding, hats, combs, brushes, hair accessories, headphones, pillows, and stuffed toys.
Home Remedies For Head Lice
These are the 06 best traditional home remedies that have been used for years, even before the medicated shampoo came out.
1. Onion Juice
Onion For Head Lice
Get an onion; it doesn’t matter what kind, and juice it. Massage the onion’s juice into the scalp and leave on the scalp for three or four hours. After that wash the hair thoroughly until there are no more lice to be seen. This remedy will not kill the eggs on the hair at this time, so you must do this for three or four days to kill the remaining lice.
2. Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil For Head Lice
Add fresh coconut extracted oil with camphor powder in a small bowl in the mix. Massage this mixture into the scalp before going to bed. Wash the hair and scalp thoroughly the next morning. Repeat this method for four days to kill all the lice completely.
3. Lice Comb
Lice Comb
You can get rid of lice entirely without using any product at all by using a lice comb to get rid of the nits (eggs) and tweezers to remove the live bugs. This method is very time consuming but works. You may have to do this for several days, as well.
4. Oil Massage
Oil Massage
You can use real mayonnaise, olive oil, or Vaseline. Massage into the scalp before bed and cover with a shower cap. Wash your hair thoroughly in the morning, using a fine-tooth comb to remove the nits.
5. Custard Apple
Custard Apple For Head Lice
Take a raw custard apple and grind it into a powder, including the seeds. Massage the powder into the scalp before bed. Tie the hair back with a cloth or use a shower cap. Wash the hair in the morning.
6. Hair Wash
Hair Wash For Head Lice
Wash the hair in Sea Breeze facial cleanser each night before bed. Washing the hair method will not only kill the lice, but it will also prevent lice from ever coming back.