Hello! Last year, my niece was sent to me for the summer. She is still a fidget, forever somewhere with a girlfriend disappeared. That arrival picked up lice somewhere.
At first I didn’t say anything, but from the side I didn’t notice any special signs. She hid everything from me, because she really did not know about these parasites.
So I would immediately calculate the presence of parasites. This is not so difficult. Want to know how to understand that you have lice? By what signs can this be quickly determined? Then in the material below you will find all the necessary information.
The content of the article:
How to quickly understand that you have lice?
How to understand that you have lice, certainly every person who at least once in his life has encountered a similar problem can. It is impossible to forget the discomfort, but remembering them is even more unpleasant!
After all, there are a lot of ways to detect lice, and anyone can cope with this scourge.
Pediculosis
Lice are an extremely unpleasant problem that should be dealt with as soon as possible. However, you should not run to the hospital with the slightest suspicion of the appearance of these insects. It is quite possible to determine their presence on their own. You can do this with a few simple methods:
By using a comb with fine teeth. It is very difficult to see lice, they move very quickly and practically avoid exposure to light. However, it is a comb with small teeth that is the ideal option to quickly and easily determine the presence of lice.
Search for nits. At their core, nits are eggs of head lice that are still in the formative stage. They are practically immovable, therefore, they are easily determined during combing. The most important thing is to carefully consider the comb and not lose sight of them.
Use of a magnifying magnifier. Lice and nits are not so easy to detect, due to their very small size. People whose vision leaves much to be desired should not even try to examine them on a comb.
However, this does not mean that they cannot diagnose the presence of insects in the head on their own. For these purposes, you just need to use a magnifying glass or glasses with multiple zoom images.
In the vast majority of cases, lice are found in young children, who often come in contact with a large number of peers. However, this does not mean at all that the problem cannot knock on the house of an adult. Such an outcome is quite possible, so you need to carefully monitor the condition of your body.
Symptoms
As a rule, the sensations associated with the appearance of lice do not immediately make themselves felt, but only when they wound up on the head in an impressive amount. The first thing you need to pay attention to when examining is small reddish spots located almost throughout the head.
They are parasite bites and are equally present on the head of both an adult and a child. Directly during a bite, a person does not experience any pain, and you can notice what happened only by visual changes.
In the future, the patient may experience a slight itch, which as the parasites multiply, will only intensify. It comes to the point that a person begins to actively comb the skin, which is fraught with infection. As practice shows, not everyone can cope with the desire to moderate itching.
In addition, the patient may have the feeling that something is constantly creeping along the head, which he must certainly tell close friends. They will certainly help him conduct an initial examination and identify unpleasant guests. If they do exist, then you need to urgently consult a doctor.
In some cases, the appearance of lice is accompanied by faster hair contamination. This symptom is quite individual, and it is not possible to find out only by it whether lice appeared. A similar phenomenon requires attention, but panic ahead of time is not worth it.
Disease prevention
Unfortunately, not a single person can be insured against the appearance of lice, because these parasites easily crawl from one head to another. However, their arrival can be completely avoided by observing the basic rules of hygiene. The patient must learn a simple truth: "The rules apply to anyone, including me."
In any case, it is strongly not recommended to start the hair condition, because a dirty head is the most beneficial environment for the reproduction of lice.
Timely combing is also mandatory, because lice also quite often settle in tangled shreds of hair.
In addition, parents whose children attend kindergarten or school are advised to constantly examine the children in order to prevent the problem in time.
In the event that the institution already has cases of lice, it is temporarily better to refuse to visit it. After all, being a carrier of only a few insects, a child can easily infect all members of the family.
The most important thing is to take appropriate measures in time and in no case to panic. Lice - this is a completely treatable problem, a huge number of people coped with the bark.
Self-determination of head lice
In recent years, the quality of life has increased significantly.But the world was not always so comfortable and safe. In the war years, the citizens of our state suffered lack of money, hunger, cold, and most importantly, the invasion of insects and other parasites.
Lice were a common problem of the time. Today the situation has stabilized somewhat, but sometimes outbreaks of infection still occur.
What are the symptoms of lice?
How to understand that you have lice? The first sign by which you can immediately judge the appearance of head lice is expressed in the appearance of itching on the scalp. It occurs due to bites of parasites. Local redness and abrasions are also observed.
At night, irritation intensifies and interferes with sleep. Itching also occurs after shampooing.
Children in this period are restless, irritable and capricious. On the scalp you can find small crusts and redness, cracks. If the above symptoms occur, an examination of the affected lesions should be performed.
What are the signs of lice?
How to understand that you have lice yourself? Carefully examine the skin of the neck, ears, whether there are any bites of parasites. At the roots of the hair you can find microscopic insects that resemble the appearance of poppy seeds. This is lice.
In addition to adults, lice or nits eggs are located on the scalp. They are white in color and relatively small in size. Initially, they can be confused with dandruff and not attach importance. The difference is that the nit is firmly attached to the hair, and it is difficult to remove.
How to identify lice in your head? It is recommended to take a comb with closely spaced teeth and a sheet of office paper. Tilt your head and start combing.
Grains will begin to fall on the paper. On a light background, gray scales will create contrast. Try to crush a grain with a fingernail. If you hear a tangible click, then there is no doubt that this is nits.
Remember that the lack of treatment for pediculosis in children negatively affects the young body. Wounds from bites during combs can become infected.
A sign of the spread of infection is an increase in lymph nodes in the neck and neck. Wounds are festering, and hair is tangled in tangles that are difficult to comb.
How to fight?
The appearance of lice makes you activate to quickly cope with the problem. Many are afraid to tell loved ones about their misfortune, but in vain. The faster you protect others from the disease, the easier it will be to stop it.
In addition to pharmacy drugs, many use traditional medicine. If you do not want to use tablets and ointments, then use such proven tools as turpentine, kerosene, vinegar.
Means have a rather specific smell, but they successfully cope with the task. Pharmacy medicines can act in different ways: some have a detrimental effect on the nervous system of parasites, the second prevent insects from breathing, and they die.
Medicines are presented in such forms as creams, sprays, ointments and shampoos. You can also buy a comb with frequent teeth.
Prevention and Care
Having an idea of how to find out if there are lice on your head, you should think about prevention so as not to worry about a possible infection. Prophylactic agents have a weaker effect than drugs for the treatment of pediculosis.
Essential oils such as ylang-ylang or tea tree oil show a brilliant result.
Add a couple drops of oil to the shampoo before washing your hair. You can also add essential oil to water and use it as an aerosol. Hellebore water helps a lot, but be careful, because it is toxic if accidentally ingested.
The early stages of the disease can be cured by frequent combing with an iron comb. Thoroughly comb their hair after each shampoo.
Use specialized shampoos:
- Veda;
- Moat Tosh;
- Pedilin.
One application per month is enough.
The first signs of head lice that you can recognize in time will allow you to take all the necessary measures to cope with the disease.
Characteristic manifestations of lice
Detecting lice in most cases is easy. To understand how to determine the disease in a child or adult, you need to know the parts of the body where the parasites are localized most often, as well as the main signs of pediculosis.
It seems that the symptoms of lice are so specific that it is difficult to confuse them with another pathology. However, in some cases, the diagnosis of pediculosis gives a false positive or false negative result, so sometimes it is possible to determine pediculosis only in the specialist’s office.
First symptoms
There is still a stereotype that head lice appear only in those who live below the poverty line and do not take care of themselves. However, any completely wealthy and clean person can identify lice.
Parasites that feed on blood on the scalp are very tenacious and easily transmitted from person to person in public places.
A louse without a carrier can survive a week. During this time, she finds a victim who soon has the first signs of head lice, or dies. There are three types of lice in humans:
- headache;
- wardrobe;
- pubic.
In a child, parasites often wind up in the hair. The appearance of lice in a child is possible after visiting a kindergarten, returning from a camp, after swimming in public reservoirs, after playing in a regular sandbox. Lice in a child cause him significant discomfort.
How to find out for yourself that a child has head lice? We can name the typical symptoms of pediculosis in children and adults:
During a bite, the parasite secretes saliva, which our body perceives as a foreign substance, which causes allergies. In addition, the claws on the legs of lice strongly irritate the delicate scalp, which is why an intolerable itching occurs, which makes it necessary to comb the skin to blood.
Localization of itching. If pediculosis is suspected, it is necessary to take into account where it itches. When lice appear on a child’s head, itches most often behind the ears, in the back of the head and on the temples. Manifestations of pediculosis are more common in children from 3 to 12 years old, since children's skin is thin, with a minimal layer of sebum, making parasites easier to eat.
The presence of nits. An irrefutable sign of the presence of lice is considered to be nits on the hair. It is not difficult to recognize them: the eggs of the head louse are fixed with sticky liquid to the hair and resemble dandruff. But dandruff, unlike nits, is easy to shake off hair, while nits are firmly attached.
Lice bites. Present in places where parasites are located. They resemble a combed pimple, are gradually covered with crusts, sores, and can fester as the disease develops. With pediculosis, these signs cannot be overlooked.
Adults or children who discover the first signs of lice on their head should be checked by a health professional.
Pediculosis is a contagious disease, so everyone who has contacted an infected person will have to be examined.
Diagnosis of the disease
If children are more likely to suffer from lice on their heads, then the adult population is more susceptible to infection with pubic lice. Understanding that lice appeared in certain intimate places, a person is often shy and prefers to be treated independently, but this leads to the progression of the disease and to more complex treatment.
How to understand that you have lice in the intimate area? The defining signs of pediculosis in adults are as follows:
- severe itching in the pubic or anus;
- burning on the mucous membrane of the genitals;
- local allergic reaction;
- bluish spots at the site of a parasite bite;
- dark seals on the pubic hair - attached nits.
After self-identification of lice of any type, it is advisable to undergo a medical diagnosis. It is very important to distinguish the signs of lice on a person’s head from the manifestations:
- seborrheic eczema;
- dermatitis;
- psoriasis;
- neurodermatitis.
The specialist can use additional hardware methods for making a diagnosis. To diagnose lice, a Wood lamp is sometimes used. How to detect lice in a child and adult? The algorithm for examining whether a person has lice is as follows:
- Before the inspection, it is advisable to wear plain-colored clothes of neutral shades, parasites are more visible on it.
- The doctor looks at the hair and scalp with a Wood lamp, in a fluorescent color, which shows live nits: they look like pearl balls.
- If the inspection is carried out at home with children, it is necessary to wear gloves, take a scallop with frequent teeth and a magnifying glass.
- Inspection begins with the occipital region, temples and the area behind the ears.
As a rule, the first signs of lice appear when the parasite begins to bite through the skin and drink blood. The wetter the climate, the more insects will be: the optimal conditions for the reproduction of parasites are a temperature of about 36 ° C and a humidity of 75-80%.
If any type of lice is found in an adult or child, treatment should be started immediately. Female head lice lays up to 4 eggs per day, pubic parasite - up to 3 pcs. In the case of improper self-medication, a person may develop a whole colony of skin parasites in a month.
How to determine the development of complications?
It is not difficult to exterminate blood-sucking insects, provided that the rules for disinfection and proper use of drugs are observed. As soon as there are signs of lice, you should immediately contact specialists for help. Pediculosis is fraught with serious complications in case of improper treatment or its complete absence:
First of all, pediculosis leads to insomnia, especially the lack of sleep affects children: they become moody, irritable, in schoolchildren memory and concentration are reduced.
A bacterial infection can get into the wound after a lice bite or combing, as a result of which boils, dermatitis, pyoderma, skin eczema can occur.
With advanced forms of head lice in a person, the appearance of the hair deteriorates, tangles are formed: lumps of tangled hair, where lice, nits are glued, glued together with the fluid that the eggs attach to the hair. An extremely unpleasant putrefactive smell starts to come from the patient.
In addition to infection of combed wounds and the occurrence of skin diseases, a lice carrier can become infected with such a serious illness as typhus. Now this disease is rarely diagnosed, its main carrier is a body louse.
The first symptoms of typhoid fever:
- fever up to 40 ° C which lasts up to two weeks;
- red rashes in the form of spots on the abdomen, usually appear 3 days after the temperature rises;
- hallucinations or delusions;
- disturbances in the work of the heart, liver, lungs.
Unfortunately, everyone can get lice. You need to be alert and not to believe the myths prevailing in society:
- Incorrect is the common belief that lice are more often settled on dirty hair. It is much easier for parasites sucking blood to bite through skin where there is less sebum, that is, on a cleanly washed head.
- The root of the error is also wrong, which states that lice feed on skin flakes and do not live on dyed hair. Parasites feed only on human blood, so neither dandruff nor hair dye scares them and can not destroy insects.
- For parasites, the blood type of a person does not matter, the length of the hair, because they are attached at the very base of the roots.
- To eliminate parasites on the scalp or in the intimate area, do not use the old methods in the form of vinegar or kerosene: in this case, a chemical burn of the skin is guaranteed.
If the first symptoms of head lice are found (nits in the hair, severe itching), it is necessary to disinfect the room, clothes, toys, shoes and bedding, and also visit a pediatrician or dermatologist.
In order to exclude the infection of persons who came into contact with a person infected with lice, they need to be examined additionally and preventive treatment should be carried out.
Self-examination of the head. How to understand that you have lice?
One of the preventive measures of pediculosis is a thorough examination of the head.
It can be carried out independently at home or with the help of medical personnel.
This is the simplest procedure that does not require special skills. But before proceeding to the inspection of the head, you need to have a clear idea of what to look for.
How to understand that you have lice?
How do you know if you have lice or not? It is almost impossible to detect the initial stage of infection with lice. One or two insects do not cause a person any tangible discomfort.
Indirect symptoms of head lice:
- Small rash. Lice regularly feed on human blood, per day they make 4-6 bites.
- A small redness appears at the site of the insect bite, the skin swells slightly, visually resembles a mosquito bite, only much smaller.
Multiple bites are often mistaken for an allergic reaction or dermatitis. When pediculosis is started, the papules (the site of a lice bite) combine and visually resemble large cyanotic spots. A distinctive feature of a louse bite is that the skin around the bite acquires a blue tint.
Severe itching. Making a bite, the insect punctures the scalp and simultaneously with saliva injects a special enzyme into the wound, which prevents blood coagulation.
The human body perceives this enzyme as a strong allergen, therefore it reacts to it with severe itching.
Education abscesses. With intensive combing of the scalp, minor injuries and scratches form, and these are open doors for any infection. Combing the scalp with dirty hands, a person himself can bring the infection into the wound, which will provoke the formation of ulcers.
Indirect symptoms can indicate both head lice and other scalp diseases. Therefore, to accurately establish the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to identify direct evidence of the activity of lice.
Direct evidence:
- Live insects. Finding a live insect when inspecting the head is a great success. Lice quickly move over the surface of the scalp and hide in the hair. Due to their small size (only 3-4 mm) and protective color (translucent, brown shade) they are almost invisible. Under adverse conditions (air temperature below 10 degrees Celsius and above 40 degrees Celsius), lice fall into a stupor and move more slowly.
- Nits. Nits are cocoons with lice larvae or in other words their eggs. The female insect, as soon as it falls on the hair of a new victim, immediately begins to take care of the offspring and lays eggs.
Under favorable conditions, the female is able to postpone 4-6 nits per day. Each nit is very firmly attached to the hair shaft in the root zone (at a distance of 2-3 cm from the scalp).
Nits are not afraid of such procedures as washing your hair or brushing your hair with a simple comb. It is problematic to remove them, even many special chemicals aimed at combating parasites instantly kill adults, while they are not able to harm nits.
Nit has a light color, so it is very visible on dark hair. It is difficult to remove from the hair, in order to remove it simply with your fingers or nails you need to make an effort.
Nits can be either alive (in which there is a larva) or dead (the larva has already left the cocoon and turned into a young individual). To distinguish living nits from dead is quite simple: you need to put the nits between the nails of the thumbs and squeeze it. Living nits will make a distinctive sound, similar to a crunch, but dead no.
If direct evidence of the presence of lice (live nits or the insects themselves) is found, it is necessary to immediately begin the treatment of pediculosis.
How to inspect the head?
A thorough examination will help to identify whether head insects have appeared. Detection of indirect symptoms cannot unambiguously indicate the presence of lice; to confirm pediculosis, either the insects themselves or their offspring, nits, should be identified.
Principles of a self-conducted procedure. Inspecting yourself is not recommended, since this procedure is ineffective. At the initial stage of pediculosis infection, lice are localized in the occipital region of the head and temples. It is impossible to make a thorough examination of these parts of the body yourself.
Comb hair thoroughly with a special comb. To do this, you need to pour a little water into the bathroom or lay a plain light fabric on the floor and, tilting your head forward, carefully comb through the entire hair starting from the back of the head.
If there are insects or nits on the head, they will necessarily fall onto the fabric or into the water, or remain on the crest.
Neutralize lice activity with a hairdryer.Air temperature above 40 degrees, can neutralize the activity of insects, under the influence of this temperature they fall into a stupor.
Self-surface inspection of strands at the mirror:
- stand at the mirror;
- point the lamp with bright light at a well-visible area of the head;
- to divide hair into small locks;
- Carefully review the available strands for nits or lice.
How to determine the presence of parasites
Preparatory stage. Equipment:
- lamp with bright light;
- magnifying glass (magnifier);
- a comb with frequent teeth.
Room: Cover the floor with a plain light cloth. If the inspection will be carried out in the bathroom, you need to get a little water.
A patient:
- Cover the patient with a light plain fabric from the shoulders and below. So that when parasites fall out, they can be detected and neutralized.
- Dissolve the hair.
- Comb and lay evenly so that the locks do not get tangled.
- Divide the entire hair into small curls.
A proper thorough examination of the head for pediculosis can be carried out only by an outside person, it is impossible to produce it yourself.
Step-by-step instruction. An outsider, armed with a magnifying glass, carefully scans each strand of hair along its entire length.
Nits and dandruff are visually similar to each other, but to distinguish between them is quite simple. Dandruff easily crushes from the hair, and nits stick tightly and do not move.
Subsequent disinfection
After inspection, you need to boil a comb or comb (inspect it with boiling water or lower it in alcohol). If lice or nits are found, the fabric must be washed in water above 40 degrees, and after drying ironed on both sides.
The patient’s clothes (when lice and nits are found), also need to be washed in hot water (above 40 degrees) and ironed.
Medical checkup
It is performed by a medical worker (nurse or doctor) in all places of a large concentration of people (sanatoriums, schools, kindergartens and so on).
A medical examination is a planned event, which, according to sanitary-epidemiological acts, is carried out regularly.
According to paragraph 3.12 of SanPiN 3.2.1333-03, the following population groups should undergo regular inspection of lice:
- Children in boarding schools - once a week.
- Hospital patients - upon admission to the hospital for treatment.
- Pupils of schools and preschool institutions (kindergartens) - once every three months.
Inspection of the head for pediculosis, it is recommended to carry out regularly. This is the easiest and fastest way to detect parasites and start treatment on time.
What signs of pediculosis are important for anyone to know
Lice parasitic disease caused by head lice can be epidemic in nature and potentially dangerous for all age and social groups. Knowing how to identify the main signs of pediculosis in the early stages, contributes to a more successful and faster treatment of this ailment.
What insects cause this unpleasant disease?
The causative agents of pediculosis are insects from the order Anoplura, known to everyone as lice. They are species-specific ectoparasites - each mammal has its own individual small bloodsuckers that simply cannot live without the usual “breadwinner”.
Pediculosis in people is due to the presence of at least one of them. The most common species - up to 98% in all habitats of Homo sapiens - so far are three:
- Head louse (Pediculus capitis),
- Scythe (Phtirus pubis),
- Body louse (Pediculus vestimenti).
If the first two species are considered a completely natural inheritance of our evolutionarily close ancestors, then the last species is a clear acquisition of human civilization.
Having its own specific places of localization, methods of nutrition and physiology, lice of each species harm our body in their own way. The timing and first signs of the presence of these insects vary greatly among different social and age groups of people.
Common symptoms at the initial stage of infection
According to statistics, the most common form of head lice is headache. At the first stages of the development of the disease, the main culprits - adult lice - are almost invisible. The latent period can last from a few days to a month.
The latter, in turn, with mild to moderate infection cause mild allergic irritations, swelling on the scalp, and itching. The appearance of redness, nonspecific irritation on the skin behind the ears, in the area of the temples or in the occipital region is the first sign of a possible infection with head lice.
Adults most often quickly get used to minor itching, experiencing only slight discomfort. But a high degree of overwhelming already in this period can cause additional reactions - especially in children - irritability, insomnia, mild fever, a slight increase in lymph nodes.
Pubic lice bites lead to a constant burning sensation and itching in the genital area and anal opening. These insects often settle in the armpits, and in advanced cases - on the eyebrows and eyelashes.
A non-specialist can also understand the possible causes of such manifestations, signs of lice will be quite obvious.
Even if specimens of parasites that have pumped blood are inconspicuous, it is necessary to contact a medical institution as soon as possible to conduct an appropriate examination.
Primary external signs of parasites
What external symptoms do lice leave as evidence of their presence on the human body? Numerous bites, causing the corresponding allergic reactions, lead to the appearance of the following characteristic signs:
- local erythrem on the head and neck of the patient (head louse);
- small - from 3 mm to a centimeter - bluish spots in the inguinal or axillary region, as well as on the abdomen and hips (ploschiki);
- a rash evenly distributed throughout the body with cyanotic spots around the bite sites (signs of clothes lice).
The entry of pathogens into the wounds from scratching and bites leads to the formation of pustules on the skin - an additional "signal" about the presence of these parasites.
The completion of the first phase of the invasion (usually 10-15 days after contact with the infected) is indicated by the appearance of nits in the hairline or in the patient’s clothing. This means that the stage of intensive reproduction has begun in insects (more about reproduction).
Females tightly fix their eggs to 14 pieces per day on the fibers of tissues and at the roots of the hair.
On the head, nits resemble dandruff. Live eggs are bright white, and dead eggs have a grayish color. In such a situation, one should not be surprised at the leading question of a good acquaintance, uttered in a whisper: “Do you have lice, or what?”
Special medical examinations will be able to refute or confirm the worst suspicions and reliably identify the symptoms of head lice.
When illuminated with a Wood lamp, lice eggs and young larvae acquire a bright blue color. Signs of lice are evident. The presence of nits is irrefutable evidence of the presence of pediculosis in an active person in the development of a disease.
Signs and treatment of head lice
The first symptoms of lice may not appear immediately, but after several weeks from the moment of infection. Among the main features include:
- severe itching at the site of the bite;
- the appearance of small grayish spots in places of bites;
- the appearance on the hair of lice eggs (nits);
- in severe cases - an increase in lymph nodes behind the ears.
Combing the bites leads to the appearance of wounds on the scalp, which, in turn, leads to their infection, suppuration and fever. If untreated, the hair becomes brittle, dull, does not comb well and gets tangled.
Symptoms of infection with pubic pediculosis are similar to the head: itching, dark spots at the site of bites and the presence of egg nits. In this case, lice, if untreated, can spread to the chest, axilla, mustache, beard, eyebrows and eyelashes.
Symptoms of infection with clothes lice are severe itching and the appearance of edematous blisters in places where the folds and seams of the clothes come into contact with the skin.
Constant combing leads to skin damage: scabies, eczema and pyococcal infections (impetigo, furunculosis) can appear on the affected areas. Over time, the skin in these places becomes a dirty gray color, thickens, folds form on it.
Causes of infection
The main reason for infection with lice is the transfer from a sick person to a healthy person through direct contact and through personal items: a comb, towel, clothes.
After 10 days, new insects appear from the nits: in a couple of weeks they will also reach puberty, which means they will begin to lay their eggs. Each louse lives about 40 days. During this time, she manages to lay up to 400 eggs.
Treatment and prevention
Pediculosis treatment is carried out depending on the type of lice. But in any case, it should include a set of measures to destroy both adults and eggs. A close examination of the patient's surroundings should be subjected to a thorough examination: family, group in kindergarten, classmates.
In order to avoid infection with lice, it is important to remember about personal hygiene:
- Do not use someone else's comb and do not share your own;
- Do not exchange headgear;
- Do not use other people's underwear and clothing.
In case of infection, you can get rid of lice by using special lotions and shampoos purchased at the pharmacy. However, in any case, they affect only the adult lice - not a single drug can completely destroy the eggs.
Pubic lice can be eliminated by shaving the hair in the pubic area and in the armpits, but with pediculosis along with the sanitary treatment of the body, simultaneous disinsection of living quarters, clothes and bedding is necessary.
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