How to use kerosene for lice and nits without harming your health

Expert articles

1. 1. How long does it take for lice to hatch?
2. 2. How many days do lice hatch from nits: incubation period in numbers
3. 3. Incubation period of lice: features

The louse is in many ways very different from its blood-sucking counterparts. She is not able to fly like a mosquito or jump like a flea. However, its short powerful legs have strong hooks at the tips, thanks to which this parasite is able to move around very quickly, and, having reached its target, confidently attach itself to the hair of its new owner.

By the way, lice choose humans as their host. There are several species of these insects that parasitize different parts of the human body.

Lice infestation is scientifically called pediculosis. This disease is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms:

• • itching;
• • irritation
• • poorly healing skin ulcers;
• • restless sleep (at night a person is in a static state, which may increase the frequency of bites).

In addition to the actual inconvenience, a person poses a risk of infection to others. That is why, when the first symptoms of pediculosis are detected, it is important to quickly navigate and begin treatment. But before that, let's get to know the enemy by sight.

What is pediculosis

Pediculosis is an infection of a person by blood-sucking insects that parasitize the head or other parts of the body. Lice are insects that are 1.5 to 5 mm long and gray or brown in color. They are able to move quickly and move from one carrier to another.

The temperature of the human body is optimal for lice and their vital functions. In order to feed on blood, they bite on the skin. This causes a person to experience itching and a tingling sensation reminiscent of mosquito bites.

The incubation period of pediculosis is short - a week after the parasites get on the head, a person begins to experience discomfort. Other signs of the disease include spots or scratch marks on the skin, the appearance of nits on the hair, and irritation and restlessness of the person.

How long does it take for lice to hatch?

First, let's note: parasite eggs are not able to move on their own and are tightly attached to the base of the hair. However, if the wearer has a lot of them, they can come off during restless sleep, combing, or wearing a hat. Accordingly, there is a risk of getting such free-floating eggs on your own hair. If we talk about how many days it takes for lice to hatch, it is approximately 5-8 days depending on the ambient temperature.

If the nits actually get and become established in the hair, on average it takes up to 2 weeks before the first bites occur. The fact is that nits hatch into nymphs - smaller copies of adult insects. They can already bite through skin and drink blood, but not yet reproduce. Therefore, their number is usually small, and the bites do not cause significant discomfort. After another 2 weeks, the nymphs complete their development and turn into mature lice, which begin to lay eggs. An adult insect lives 44-46 days, during which time it manages to lay from 120 to 140 eggs.

But if it is adult lice on the hair, they begin to bite the new “owner” almost immediately, but the same 3-4 weeks will pass until the moment when there are a lot of parasites and the person feels serious itching. Before this, the host may not even be aware of the new “tenants”.

Can lice come from nerves?

Despite the fact that lice have been known to mankind throughout history, many people still believe in myths associated with insects. Otherwise, the question of whether lice can appear from nerves would not have arisen in our enlightened times.

The misconception that lice can appear after severe stress is associated with the genetic memory of people who survived wars, famines and other shocks. These events were often accompanied by inevitable unsanitary conditions in which it was easy to become infected. This gave rise to a stereotype about the possible cause of infection, which has survived to this day.

Lice are parasites that live on human skin; they cannot live inside the body, especially without proper nutrition. Thus, nerve lice cannot infect either an adult or a child. Nerve lice are a myth.

Why and where do lice come from?

The louse is a human parasite. The insect feeds on his blood and lives on his body. This applies to head and pubic lice. There is also a body louse, which only feeds on a person, but lives in clothes, bedding or other textiles next to a person in order to always have access to food.

Parasites are transmitted from person to person through contact or through the use of personal belongings. This insect cannot fly or jump, but crawls quickly. It can travel considerable distances on any surface, so it is not necessary for the heads to touch for the louse to move from its host to a new victim. Sometimes you can pick up a pest from a headrest in public transport or from a lounger in a sauna, where previous visitors left them. Lice can live outside the human body without problems for up to two days. They survive even in water, so you can catch them anywhere.

The most risky places where you can become infected with head lice are places with large concentrations of people. Children bring lice from kindergartens, schools, summer camps, and leisure centers. Adults can become infected in a hospital, sanatorium, long-distance train, airplane, prison, temporary detention center, hairdresser or swimming pool. If you visited an establishment where there were many people at the same time, and they stayed there for a considerable time and could be in close contact, then after visiting such a place you should be especially vigilant in order to detect lice in yourself in time and begin treatment.

Particular attention should be paid to children, especially during outbreaks of head lice in children's institutions. Lice are a common occurrence in kindergartens and schools. Children easily pass them on to each other. At the same time, children usually cannot tell adults that they have parasites. They do not perceive itching as a symptom of the disease. In rare cases, children do not itch their heads at all, even with a large accumulation of parasites. Therefore, parents should very carefully examine children's heads when washing, combing, and simply upon returning from kindergarten or school. After visiting a children's camp, such an inspection is required.

Psychosomatics of lice

After becoming infected with lice, a person experiences not only physical, but also mental suffering. Continuous itching causes irritation, impairs sleep and appetite, causes increased anxiety and a feeling of constant fatigue. In young children, lice can provoke continuous crying, restless behavior, and refusal to eat. This is another reason why many people associate the appearance of lice with nervous disorders.

When a person is in a state of psychological shock, his immunity deteriorates. It is believed that increased sweating may serve as an additional factor for attracting parasites. Thus, a person becomes more vulnerable to the development of various diseases, including lice infestation. But in any case, infection requires contact with a sick person, and there is no direct relationship between head lice and a stressful state.

Precautionary measures

If a person decides to use kerosene against lice, it should be remembered that the product is quite dangerous. When using it, all safety precautions should be observed:

• carry out the processing procedure away from open flames and sparkling devices;
• Before you start treatment, you should check yourself for a skin reaction. This product should be applied to any area of ​​the skin and left for a day. If, after this time, red inflammatory spots do not appear on the skin, you can treat the scalp;
• You should handle delicate baby heads with extreme caution. The best option would be a mixture with the above components or diluted with water. You can also use ready-made products for the treatment of head lice in children, you can find out about them on our website;
• If unpleasant sensations such as burning, itching or dizziness occur during treatment, the treatment procedure should be stopped immediately.

It is necessary to carry out the processing especially carefully, not to allow kerosene to get into your eyes, nose or mouth. If this happens, you should immediately rinse the damaged area with plenty of water.

The main routes of infection or dispel the myth that lice can come from nerves

Pediculosis can occur in the following situations:

1. 1. Close contact with an infected person, “head to head”. Parasites quickly move and transfer to a new host. The most vulnerable category to infection are children from 3 to 12 years old, who spend a lot of time in joint games and activities.
2. 2. Using other people's things or bedding. For some time, lice can retain the ability to live outside the human body, so there is a certain risk of infection through pillowcases
3. 3. Staying in establishments with large crowds of people. Very often, children in school, kindergarten or summer camp, and adults in barracks, correctional colonies, nursing homes, and boarding schools become infected with lice.

Insufficient hygiene care is not a direct cause of lice. Parasites can penetrate both clean and dirty hair with equal success. You also cannot get rid of insects by washing your hair with regular shampoo.

Instructions for use

When choosing medications, people have a lot of questions. One of them is whether it is possible to get rid of parasites using this liquid and how to use it. Any kerosene can be suitable for this, but it is highly undesirable to use aviation and automotive preparations. The reason for this is high toxicity. The liquid that is used to refill lamps or technical kerosene is perfect.

It can be used as the only component or you can prepare a medicinal mixture using the recipe:

• Apply the product to the hair using a cotton pad or swab (each strand needs to be treated). The scalp needs to be given special attention. After treatment, cover your head with a plastic cap and a warm cloth on top. Keep for 2 hours. After this time, rinse your hair especially thoroughly with shampoo. You can add a vinegar solution. After washing, thoroughly comb each strand;
• You can treat with a mixture of shampoo, kerosene and vegetable oil (1:1:2). Leave the mixture on your head for 15 minutes. After the allotted time has passed, rinse and comb well. This treatment can be done once every 3 days;
• The following mixture is prepared: honey, water, kerosene, shampoo (preferably for children) - 3:4:1:1. Leave on hair for half an hour. Next, rinse well and comb out the already dead insects. The mask can be applied every day or every other day;
• Apply a mixture consisting of milk (200 g), badger fat and kerosene (3 tablespoons each) to the skin. The prepared mixture is kept for 1 hour, washed off, and insects and their nits are combed out.

We recommend reading: review of special anti-lice combs, where to buy, price.

It should be remembered that after one application, all pests may not die, so the procedure should be repeated after 2-3 days.

Basic ways to get rid of lice

There are many methods for removing blood-sucking parasites, including using various pharmaceuticals or traditional medicine.
They can be divided into three groups. Physical (mechanical)
To get rid of lice, the hair from the head is completely shaved. Parasites are deprived of access to their habitat and die. This radical method will only suit some people.

For those with long hair, combing is recommended. This procedure is quite labor-intensive and takes at least 40-60 minutes. Using a fine-toothed comb, carefully comb the hair to remove living individuals and their eggs (nits).

These methods are not the most effective, especially when there are large numbers of parasites.
Chemical
Hair and scalp are treated with special pharmaceutical preparations or traditional medicine. After applying them to your head, it is recommended to wait a certain time, and then rinse with water and wash your hair with regular shampoo.

This method is more effective than mechanical lice removal. But if you decide to use folk remedies, you need to act carefully so as not to damage the scalp.

Some folk remedies do not give the desired effect and can only be recommended as auxiliary methods in the process of getting rid of lice.
Combined
This method involves removing lice in two stages. First, the head is treated with an anti-pediculosis agent, and then the hair is combed out with a comb. Combing is necessary in order to completely remove the nits that are attached to the hair.

This method is considered the most effective and safe, but it is very important to make the right choice regarding the anti-lice medication. It must be destructive to insects, provide rapid action, be convenient to use and have no contraindications.

Incubation period of lice: features

Now you know how many days it takes for lice to appear - it takes up to 4 weeks from the transition from nit to adult in ideal conditions. But it is worth considering that if the air temperature exceeds +40 °C or falls below -22 °C, the development of the larvae stops. And if autumn or winter reigns around, and a person is often in the cold, the process is lengthened. Therefore, it is possible to accurately answer how long it takes for lice to hatch from nits only taking into account external factors. By the way, the love of washing hair does not in any way affect the rate of development of larvae and reproduction of adults. Both of them hold onto their hair very firmly and are highly resistant to hypoxia, that is, they can easily not breathe for several minutes while under water.

Prevention of infection

In order to avoid re-infection, certain precautions must be taken. They do not provide a 100% guarantee of protection against infection, but they significantly reduce the risk of developing head lice:

• • avoid close contacts with strangers, especially if their appearance causes rejection;
• • teach the child to maintain a reasonable distance from other children during games;
• • observe hygiene rules;
• • do not use other people's combs, hats, hair clips, towels, or lie down on someone else's bed linen;
• • regularly examine the child's head to identify lice and nits;
• • if you have long hair, braid your hair or put your hair in a ponytail, since loose hair makes it easier for lice to move onto the scalp

Having identified lice in a child, you need to immediately inform caregivers or teachers. This is necessary in order to stop the further spread of infection in the children's group. Employees of the children's institution will work to identify carriers of lice and remove parasites from children.

How many days do lice hatch from nits: incubation period in numbers

The metabolism of parasites largely depends on the ambient temperature. So, to find out the incubation period of lice and nits in humans, it is worth starting from standard air humidity of up to 70% and air temperature of 25-31 ° C. In this case, the parasites will need:

• • 5-8 days to leave the dense shell of the egg;
• • 1 day to go through the larval stage
• • 5 days to complete the first instar nymph stage;
• • 8 days to transition from the second instar nymph to the adult stage.

After this, the insect becomes adult and fully ready for reproduction, which means that their number will increase exponentially.

Where are you most likely to get lice?

Parasites spread most quickly in places with high concentrations of people. The more people there are, the more contacts between them, the more favorable conditions for the spread of head lice. One person can infect dozens or even hundreds of others. High-risk places are objects in which a person is forced to stay for a long time and in which he cannot influence the sanitary condition:

• hospitals;
• prisons;
• barracks;
• hotels;
• camps;
• educational institutions.

Also risk areas are:

• public transport;
• sports facilities;
• swimming pools;
• hairdressing salons.

However, you can catch lice in any public institution and even on the street.

Is it possible to get lice without close contact?

Lice cannot fly or jump far, as, for example, fleas do. But they move quite well on different surfaces. The insect can crawl a distance of 30 - 50 cm. This means that there is no need for close contact to pick up lice. That is, a person with lice could sit on a bench in the park, put his hat on it, from which the louse had crawled onto the bench, and leave from there. And another person, sitting down on this bench in half an hour or an hour, can become a new victim of the insect.

It is worth saying that the risk of lice infection exists only on the condition that the carrier becomes a female, which, if it comes into contact with a new person, will lay at least one egg. If you pick up a male or an immature larva, the disease will not develop.

Effect of kerosene on lice

Kerosene is very aggressive

a chemical that affects not only lice, but also their eggs - nits. It is this factor that most often becomes decisive when choosing a method of treating head lice, since many special anti-lice shampoos, sprays and other insecticidal agents neutralize only lice, and cause absolutely no harm to nits.

Most modern remedies work as follows: parasites, along with human blood, absorb an insecticide that paralyzes their nervous system.

Nits are protected by a hard shell that does not allow substance to pass through, leaving the embryo intact.

At the same time,
the delicate insecticide does not in any way affect the sticky secretion with which the nit is attached to the hair.
As a result, after treatment, lice are exterminated, but their new population remains alive. If you do not repeat the procedure in time, the newly hatched lice will have time to lay eggs, which will again be completely safe. And this cycle can continue for a very long time. Kerosene acts much more aggressively - it penetrates the chitinous cover of the parasite and clogs its respiratory system. At the same time, the substance weakens the attachment of nits to the hair, destroying the structure of the sticky secretion. But lice and nits are not the only ones who feel the destructive effects of kerosene.

The aggressive substance can leave painful burns on the skin, as well as severely worsen the condition of the hair and hair follicles.

Who can't?

In the article, we partially figured out who should not use flammable liquid to fight parasites, to summarize:

1. children under 14 years of age;
2. pregnant and lactating women;
3. people with dry colored hair suffering from increased hair fragility;
4. people with damage to the surface of the scalp;
5. for allergy sufferers.

The stronger the concentration of kerosene, the more effective the resulting composition will be, but it is important to remember that kerosene and its vapors are harmful to humans.

Does kerosene help in the fight against lice?

Since kerosene is very toxic, it actually kills parasites. But at the same time, it can penetrate into scratches on the scalp and have a negative effect on the human body. Moreover, this method is very dangerous due to the fact that kerosene is highly flammable. In world practice, since 1989, at least nine cases of burns of children during kerosene treatment have been recorded. These tragedies apparently occurred because, contrary to popular belief, it is the kerosene vapor that is flammable, not the liquid itself. Kerosene vapor can ignite due to the presence of even the smallest spark. All it takes is a stray spark from a lighter or electrical appliance.

Considering that nits are very reliably protected by a thick shell, treatment with kerosene is not always effective - most eggs are not destroyed. Nits breathe less intensely than adult parasites, so the poison does not affect them as strongly. This means that the treatment procedure will need to be repeated until the last lice hatches from the nits. This significantly increases the risk of poisoning the body with toxins, especially when it comes to treating lice in children. Being a powerful toxin, kerosene greatly irritates the scalp, so cases of dermatitis are common after such treatment.

How to get rid of linen lice in an apartment

Another way to get rid of linen lice in an apartment is to treat it with disinfectants that have a composition that can have an effect on lice. Such drugs can be purchased in pharmacies, specialty stores or online. These include:

• Medifox-super
• Akromed-U
• A-Par
• Medilis-I
• Forsyth Anti-louse
• Checker Tsifum

Please note that these products are intended specifically for home treatment, and not for treating head lice on the body and hair. When turning to store consultants for help, be sure to focus on what you need the product for - for the body or for treating your apartment and things. Use products only according to the instructions for use and approach this process as scrupulously as possible, since even the slightest untreated area can become a life-saving island for lice and, after immediate relief, the problem will gradually begin to appear again.

How to treat your head and how long to hold it?

Apply the composition to your hair and lather lightly, then cover your head with a plastic bag. How long do you keep the composition on your hair? For an adult – at least an hour; for a child, 15 minutes is enough. After the specified time, the hair must be rinsed with warm water and shampoo. After this, you need to take a fine-tooth comb and comb out the nits from wet hair. The comb can be dipped in vinegar to make it easier to separate the nits from the hair. The treatment procedure must be carried out every three days until the parasites completely disappear.

Contraindications to the use of kerosene

Kerosene is not recommended for use if there are various injuries on the skin - wounds, scratches, burns. This will only worsen the condition of the skin. The product is contraindicated for use by children, as well as on excessively dry and sensitive skin.

Another contraindication is the risk of developing allergic reactions. Testing is required before use. A small amount of kerosene is applied to the bend of the elbow and wait a few minutes. If redness and itching appear, you should not use kerosene.