Determining the presence of lice in your hair or body may be a tough question to answer, but here, we will decipher everything you need to know about finding out how long you can have lice before noticing. People relate severe itching to having lice on the body, but this is not so in all cases.
Sometimes, it could just be dry scalp or dandruff on your har or body. One important thing to note is that lice are usually very active in the night, when one is sleeping, which sometimes makes it very difficult to ascertain whether one is infected or not.
How Long Can You Have Lice Before Noticing
When you have lice, scratching and itching of your hair will become excessive and frustrating. At this point, you should check your head for head lice. It could take days, weeks or months before you realize that you are already infested with head lice, this will sometimes come with frequent itching of hair.
Having lice is dependent in most cases on the type of lice and where it is situated in your body.
In the case of head lice, however, one of the things to look at when determining how long you can have lice on your head before noticing is the thickness of your hair. If you have very thick or curly hair, noticing the presence of head lice may take weeks or even months.
Body lice may take weeks before you notice though. The only thing is that people tend to remove their body and pubic hair all the time, and as such would not notice the presence of lice “otherwise known as crabs” on their bodies.
How can you get lice?
Head lice can be caused when there is contact head to head with someone infested already, or when you share items like clothing, brushes, trimmers or anything that has come in contact with the hair of the host.
So, you have to be careful about how you relate with people as regards using their clothing items.
Treating lice at home
The best place that lice can spread from one head to another is through nearby items at home. These include bedding, towels, and hats. The only thing that can keep them going is human blood, so they do not last long on these objects before they get hold of a body.
The tips I am about to share will help you prevent the spread of lice in your home.
Use hot water to wash clothing or items generally that have been worn by someone else. It is part of not wanting to take any chances.
When you expose items to high temperatures of 128.3°F for more than 5 minutes, the eggs of lice called nits tend to die. So washing of whatever item that comes in contact with the scalp is an effective way to treat lice at home.
An alternative to the washing these items is to seal them in a plastic bag that will create the required amount of heat needed for lice to die.
The ideal time to open the plastic bag is after 2 weeks.
It is hard to say that some hairs carry lice eggs attached to it. You do not need to know the exact feature here. Vacuum rugs, sofas, upholstery, other furniture, and floors in order to handle this situation.
Lastly, having lice does not mean you have a bad disease that everyone should talk about. Most people that have lice treat it with home remedies even before they begin to show symptoms. Lice can be present in the head of those who are even more hygienic.
Is there any effective way to cure lice?
There is a cure for almost any hair disease or infection and lice is not an exception. A study has shown that up to 12 million kids in school get head lice each year. This shows how fast and easy they can spread.
The first effective way to cure lice is prevention. That, I must not fail to mention. It is also important to be aware of the effective ways to prevent, control and cure lice when you notice them.
I have gathered some of the best ways to cure lice at home with affordable and accessible items. They are listed below.
The first thing that should come to one’s mind when lice are noticed is the possible treatment to it.
Another important thing is to check yourself when you discover that someone you are close to has lice. This may be very difficult to know.
Lice can also be transferred from someone who has lice that sleeps on the same bed with another person.
Now that you know the possible ways that lice can be transferred from one person to the other, and having the right precautions in mind, it is time to take look into recommended medications for killing lice.
Effective medication for Lice treatments is called pediculicides and it is available almost anywhere. An example or lice treatments include shampoos, lotions, and cream rinses.
You should get a prescribed medication before applying any of this treatment to kill lice at home.
Important tips when killing lice with medications at home
To effectively kill lice, bear these tips in mind.
The first tip is to always follow the instructions provided in these medication packs. It is very important.
Make use or the lice comb attached with the product for killing ice that has been bought. You can alternatively use a comb with a fine-tooth.
Make sure you avoid the way the product touches your body. Hence you should not use any of these products while in the shower.
The shampoo in use should be applied over the tub while the person who wants to treat should be fully dressed.
The most common side effect of lice treatments is skin irritation. They may cause temporary burning or sting of the skin.
There are as well other ways to treat love apart from the use of chemicals as treatment. You doctor may recommend wet combing.
Wet combing is another effective technique to cure lice on the head. In this process, the hair is soaked in water to make it wet, then a fine-tooth comb is used to get rid of any lice in the hair in strokes.
To get the best result of wet combing, make sure the process is repeated continuously for three weeks.
I’ve also found out that petroleum jelly can suffocate and kill lice and its eggs present in the hair. Other examples that are related include mayonnaise or olive oil.
While they are greasy substances, they may not really work as effectively as other methods mentioned above.
Prevention of lice – Ways that work
One of the reasons why lice will spread easily among kids is because they play all the time and are likely to come in contact with each other almost every time.
Notwithstanding, there are some ways to prevent the spread of lice not only among children but all your household. While they are hard to notice, these tips I’m about to share with you will help curtail and rescue the spread of head lice.
1. Look out for your personal belongings
When you share your personal belongings and space with someone who has lice, there is a high possibility that you will get head lice even without knowing.
Examples of the best breeding places for lice include Closets, lockers, drawers, and common clothes hooks. They are great mediums for lice to pass from one person to another.
Children may not be too concerned about this but it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that kids keep their personal belongings like hats, coats, scarves, and other clothing away from public use. This is not for kids to do alone in the prevention of lice.
2. Reduce head-to-head contact
It is entirely normal to have head to head contact when playing with someone, but if you really want to reduce the spread of lice and prevent them from getting into your hairs, then you should reduce head to head contact.
Especially when it Boils down to children, it is difficult to avoid them creating head to head contact in some video games. But this is a very easy way for lice to transfer from one’s head to the others.
Teachers who deal with little children should also be careful and take these steps and principles to prevent the spread of lice.
3. Avoid sharing head-touching items
There are some items you should share to prevent coming in contact with lice. Items like head-touching belonging should be avoided. It may be quite difficult to do this but it is one easy to To prevent getting head lice.
Some of the items you should be more careful with when sharing with someone include:
- headsets and earbuds
- combs and brushes
- scarves and coats
- towels
- hair clips and accessories
- hats and bike helmets
Immediate actions to take after noticing lice
While it is very difficult for you to notice when you get lice, there are immediate actions you can take to kill them fast.
Do you know that it can take up to six weeks for you to notice that you have lice in your head? In some cases, they will make your hair itchy and you will begin to scratch frequently.
But in some favourable conditions, they will show signs before three days. What do you do next? How do you kill it and get rid of it fast?
The first immediate action is to look out for household items such as towels, bedding, and rugs. Make sure they are properly Disinfected as they pose as great breeding places for lice eggs.
The second thing is to educate your kids on the spread of lice and how they can come in contact with it. Caution them not to share their personal belongings with others.
When kids have lice, Don’t let it look like they have been infected with a great disease. Simply educated them on what lice are and how you can cure it without pain. Kids are actually scared of pain.
In some weird cases, medicine will not prevent lice. Only your carefulness will. I came across some really great ingredients that can combat lice.
But be aware that they are not yet approved by the FDA. But several claims have shown us how they work effectively. These ingredients include
- tea tree
- citronella
- eucalyptus
- rosemary
- lemongrass