Bed lice bites on humans. Linen lice bites and methods of getting rid of them

Lice bites, even by themselves, can create great discomfort. constant itching. This is especially true after pubic lice bites - in this case, the unpleasant feelings after the bites simply do not allow the affected person to relax for a minute.

As a rule, an allergy to lice and their bites occurs when there is a significant infestation and manifests itself in the form of rashes on various parts of the body. Tissue swelling may occur, and in some cases, enlarged lymph nodes and increased body temperature.

Constant scratching of lice bites on the head, even can lead to suppuration of wounds and the subsequent development of pustular infections, they, in turn, in an advanced form develop into pyoderma.

Infections transmitted by lice during bites are also very dangerous. Thus, body louse and, rarely, head louse are carriers of relapsing or typhus, as well as certain types of fevers. Any bite is a risk of contracting one of these diseases (infection can occur while scratching the bites, when the insects are accidentally crushed and the liquid inside them gets into the wounds).

How linen lice bite, symptoms and treatment

Attention: Children are most often infected with lice in friendly groups - hiking, summer camps, kindergartens. It is after returning from these places that you need to carefully examine the child’s body and head under various pretexts.

What does the skin look like after bites?

The bites of these insects appear as slightly swollen, small red spots. On a fresh bite you can often see a puncture site of the skin - a drop of dried blood remains here for a certain time. A couple of hours after the bite, this droplet is no longer visible.

With a small number of lice, their bites are almost invisible. If there are a lot of insects, then multiple bites in their most favorite places combine into large spots and become similar to allergy rashes.

When the rash appears due to an allergic reaction, the bites themselves join together into spots, and their surface becomes covered with a small crust. But, as a rule, it hardly comes to this, since lice begin to be destroyed much earlier, but in cases with street children this is a typical case.

Situations are possible when bites on the skin go completely unnoticed by the affected person: people with insensitive skin almost do not feel lice bites and simply do not pay attention to their consequences. These cases are some of the most serious, since these people show signs of head lice only in the later stages of the defeat, and before that, insects manage to multiply in large numbers and infect almost all the people with whom the infected person communicates.

Beneficial properties of anise oil and use against lice

But body lice bites can easily be confused with flea or bedbug bites, which have approximately the same appearance and sizes. The most pronounced difference between lice bites is their lack of characteristic chains of multiple bites. These chains are left behind by both fleas and bedbugs, but lice do not have such a manifestation.

We must not forget about the bluish spots on the bite areas: they are also hallmark pediculosis.

The lice bite process in detail

The distinctive pose of a blood-drinking louse: the insect slightly raises the back of its body and tries to bury its head as deeply as possible into the skin.

When a louse bites, it uses the salivary duct to spray saliva into the wound, which contains an enzyme that prevents blood from clotting. It is this enzyme, acting on the nerve channels in the skin near the bite, that subsequently causes redness and itching. In lice larvae, this enzyme is produced in the body in small quantities, and for this reason their bites are not so noticeable.

Important: nits don't bite, since these are only lice eggs, which are in a special protective shell, which also provides them with attachment to the hair. The question of whether nits can bite usually arises among untrained people due to the fact that the nits themselves are better visible, and the number of nits on the head in some cases is visually greater than lice due to the numerous number of hollow shells (so-called dry nits ). Therefore, with constant itching, it often seems that it is nits that are biting, but this is absolutely not true.

Features of the life of lice

How to effectively remove lice from humans?

How to get rid of lice?

Despite their endurance, lice have several vulnerable points in their development cycle. For starters, this sensitivity to high humidity , as well as strict requirements for temperature conditions during the reproduction process. Any deviations in temperature of 30C reduce the fertility of insects, which makes it clear how to prevent lice from appearing.

When choosing preparations for linen or body lice, you need to take into account the form of its manufacture. The most convenient for this purpose are various aerosols or concentrated spray compositions.

Linen lice are popularly called body lice - a special form of head lice that spend most of their time in the folds of a person’s clothing and crawl onto his body only to feed on blood. They also lay eggs on clothing, and due to their inability to fast long time They occur mainly in people who do not take off, change or wash their clothes for a long time. They can bite a person on the back, arms, legs and sides of the body - neither pubic nor head louse are not capable of this.

As a rule, suspicion of linen lice bites arises in people who find unusual itchy lesions on their bodies, reminiscent of insect bites. Their task is to find out who bit them and what measures need to be taken urgently.

The photo below shows the linen lice themselves at the time of the bite:

And on next photo- individual linen lice bites:

When a louse bites, it injects saliva containing anesthetic substances into the wound, so the bite itself is quite painless and can only cause a slight tingling sensation. Below are a few more photos that show how linen lice bite:

“After a week with our parents in the village, we began to suspect that it was not mosquitoes that were biting us. Firstly, there were no mosquitoes in the house, and we turned on the repellent regularly. But in the morning everyone is still itching, there are red bites all over the body, even where the blanket was there all night. At the same time, nothing seems to bother us or the child at night. We started to investigate and found out that the entire bed was infested with lice. And only on one sofa, on which dad watches TV. They are small and fit in all the folds. We immediately took this bed and the linen from other beds to the dry cleaners in the regional center, sprinkled the whole house with pyrethrum, fried the mattresses and pillows in the sun, and after that nothing seemed to bother us.”

Anna, Eagle

After some time, linen lice bites become quite painful and cause severe itching.

It is normal for a person to have an involuntary reaction to scratch the bite site, but when you find them, you should control yourself and not scratch to avoid infection of the scratches.

Symptoms of lice and how the patient feels

When there are a large number of linen lice, their bites cause a disease called pediculosis. Its symptoms are much more extensive and distinct than the signs of single bites:

• Red, dry rashes all over the body, even in areas where there are no bites. This rash is itchy and painful when scratched. The photo shows erythematous rashes caused by linen lice bites:

How to distinguish lice bites from other insect bites

Linen lice bites resemble bites from other insects in many ways, and a single papule can easily be confused with a bite, e.g. bed bug. But if you look at the picture as a whole, you can find differences:

Sometimes lice bites are confused with scabies (caused by scabies mites). However, with scabies there are no visible signs of skin puncture at all, and such misconceptions usually occur with scabies in places that are not visible to the victim - on the neck, under the shoulder blades, between the buttocks.

The danger of lice bites

• typhus
• relapsing fever
• trench fever.

These diseases were once responsible for the deaths of many thousands of people around the world, but today they only affect the population of the poorest developing countries.

This is interesting

Lice are one of the hosts of rickettsia - bacteria that cause a large number of There are enough diseases that are similar to one another. IN tropical countries Lice carry diseases that are unfamiliar to residents of the temperate zone, and therefore the full list of infections they carry is quite wide.

The first symptoms of diseases caused by most lice-borne infections are fever, headaches, nausea, and fever. If such symptoms occur several weeks after severe lice bites, you should definitely consult a doctor.

Products for treating lice bites and relieving pain

Usually, random and single bites of linen lice do not require treatment and go away without consequences after a few days.

The louse feeds on the host's blood. An adult insect even has food preferences, which Aristotle spoke about in his writings. Lice prefer to drink the blood of girls 6-10 years old. This selectivity is due to:

• special hormonal composition of blood;
• thin, delicate skin that is easily pierced;
• the presence of long hair, which makes it easy to attach and hide.

The jaws of lice look like peculiar stilettos, located on both sides of the oral cavity. When a louse bites, its sharp jaws pierce the human skin right up to the blood vessel and immediately begin to suck blood. During this process, she slightly raises the back of her body, and tries to immerse her head deeper into the owner’s body. The louse injects saliva into the wound, which is formed in its salivary canal and contains a special enzyme that prevents blood clotting. This enzyme affects the nerve endings located at the site of the bite, which ultimately causes redness and itching in the person.

If you observe the feeding process of a louse, you can see through the translucent body of the insect how it fills with blood.

The bite site has a slight swollen redness that begins to itch very much. Sometimes you can even consider a specific injection point where a dried drop of blood remains for several hours.

In one meal, the insect sucks out about 0.5 ml of blood. One louse makes 4-6 punctures per day.

If there are few lice, then their bites are almost invisible. But if there are significantly more of these insects, then in some places large areas of skin lesions, framed by bluish spots, are likely to appear. In advanced cases, lice bites can cause a severe allergic reaction, which is characterized by rashes, a sharp increase in temperature, tissue swelling, and enlarged lymph nodes.

The same one resembles a needle prick, which is more noticeable for a person. And it is also quite difficult to confuse lice with mites. A hard lump of considerable size appears at the site of the tick bite. Also important is the fact that a tick can suck blood for several hours or days, but for a lice a couple of minutes is enough.

Most of all, lice bites are similar to mosquito bites, only after that it is almost impossible to see the mark mosquito bite, because his proboscis is too thin. But you can’t go wrong with a louse bite – a bluish spot appears around it.

The pubic louse lives on hair in the pubic area or, in some cases, in the armpits. This insect looks very peculiar - it has powerful long legs and a short body. It is believed that the most unpleasant sensations from the bites of pubic lice are the ones that cause constant discomfort to their owner.

Fortunately, many experts believe that pubic lice will soon become an endangered species as human sanitation improves even in poor countries.

The head louse lives on the hair, mustache and beard. It is less dangerous than clothes lice, since it is practically not a carrier, but it still poses a threat of lice.

As for body lice, they are similar in appearance to head lice, but differ from the latter in their lifestyle. They spend most of their lives in the folds of clothing, where they lay eggs. They move onto the host’s body only to get enough blood, so their bites are located along the trajectory of their route.

Linen lice appear only in those people who do not take off or change their clothes for a long time.

What is the danger of lice

For example, bacteria - rickettsia - can live in the body of lice, which are carriers of a large number of similar diseases. After a louse bite, a person can become infected with typhus. Infection usually occurs when scratching the bite site, when the insect is crushed and their insides fall into the bloody wound. Also, scratching an itchy area can lead to decay of the wound and pyoderma.

In the War of 1812 and the First World War, typhus carried by lice killed, according to historians, more people than battles and battles.

Today, pubic lice are rarely carriers dangerous diseases, but the risk exists, so the problem of infection needs to be given serious attention. As a rule, people in African countries suffer, since the main cause of head lice is failure to comply with basic sanitary and hygienic rules. However, the possibility of becoming infected with lice in crowded places, or in rooms where preventive and disinfection measures are carried out improperly, cannot be ruled out.

How to treat lice bites

If the lice bite is single, then it does not require treatment and goes away on its own after a few days. If the lice infestation has taken a serious form, then you can get rid of the consequences using ordinary pharmaceuticals, for example, hydrogen peroxide. It disinfects the affected areas of the skin while the wound has not yet healed.

Also good remedy– hydrocortisone ointment, which prevents the development of allergic rashes.

If lice bites cause an allergic reaction, you can treat them with Menovazin, Golden Star or Rescuer balms. They will help reduce itching and the size of rashes.

If pustules appear on the body, then self-medication is useless, and you should urgently consult a doctor.

In addition, to get rid of body lice, additional measures are necessary - to review all clothing to examine folds and seams and get rid of those where lice and nits are found.

How to get rid of lice using traditional medicine methods

In application they use essential oils tea tree, cloves, eucalyptus, orange, juniper, rosemary, lavender. The antibacterial properties of oils prevent infection from penetrating into the bite wound, have a repellent effect, and restore the epidermis.

Oils can be combined with each other or with alcohol-containing liquids, for example, alcohol, cognac or vodka. They facilitate the penetration of bioactive substances into the skin and dissolve the adhesive substance with which nits cling to the hair.

Other acid-containing substances are also effective:

• pickled vegetable brine;
• acids contained in the juice of berries and fruits;
• various organic acids, such as citric, acetic, tartaric, malic.

Also used are decoctions of plants such as bird cherry, eucalyptus, lavender, wild rosemary, wormwood, celandine, tansy.

The combination of folk remedies and pharmaceutical ones increases the effectiveness of processing.

It is almost impossible to notice this attack with the naked eye. Only when bites appear on the body after sleep, which itch terribly, does a suspicion arise that an infection has occurred.

It is a mistaken opinion that linen (body) lice are the lot of marginalized people. You can become infected in transport, in a store, and even in a queue. Wherever it is observed large cluster people and they touch each other's clothes, transmission of infection is possible.

Places where the risk of infection is highest:

It is quite easy to distinguish between a louse bite and a bug bite, although both are unpleasant problems and the methods of control are, in principle, the same. If bedbugs do not choose where on the body to drink blood, then the lice are “tied” to their habitat.

Therefore, small red bite marks appear where the seams of clothing touch the body, lining up in an even line. In bed, insects usually nest in the side folds of sheets and corners of duvet covers. Therefore, most often there will be bites on the arms and legs, less often in the face and neck after a night's sleep.

A person does not immediately feel the bite. Only after the substance injected into the blood begins to dissolve, a thickening appears on the skin and a small red spot appears that itches unbearably.

If a blister is observed on the body from a bug, then a small red dot and a small painful lump remain from the louse.

A string of small itchy bites after sleeping on the body or after wearing certain clothes is the first sign of infection. The above photo of linen lice bites will help you quickly identify the carrier of the infection and begin thorough disinfection.

The danger of body lice

When scratching bites, small festering wounds appear on the skin, especially in children, which also leads to the spread of skin lesions. infectious diseases.

Methods of control and prevention

Don't hope that folk remedies will help cope with body lice; they are best used for prevention. For example, herbs such as tansy, spurge or fern leaves and, of course, personal hygiene.

A good method is to treat all joints of shelves in the closet with dust or tar soap. A piece of old rancid lard also repels lice and should also be used to wipe all the cracks and corners of the furniture. The bed will also have to be completely treated with soap from the bottom and top.

• A good product “Executioner” is one bottle per five square meters. It is diluted with water and the solution is used to treat all furniture and even floors. Many users claim that such disinfection is extremely effective.
• It is advisable to dry the laundry outdoors in the sun for a day or leave it in the cold for two days.
• The best solution is to call an insect extermination team, but the smell after such sanitation does not disappear for about a month. Therefore, if there are children in the house, it is better to use more gentle methods of treating the room.
• Medifox or Pyrethrum sprays do not have a strong odor and effectively cope with the problem; they are especially good for treating upholstered furniture, pillows and blankets.
• All bed linen, especially pillows and blankets with natural down and the feather must be sent to dry cleaning with additional insecticidal treatment.
• Loose powders against lice and bedbugs also help. We put things in plastic bag with powder, close tightly and leave for three days. After that, wash as usual.

Everyone should know how to identify this parasite. To do this, you need to learn to distinguish lice bites from the bites of other blood-sucking insects.

How dangerous are lice?

Lice bite wounds cause severe itching. But not only this. diseases:

• typhus;
• quintan;
• relapsing fever.

Pathogenic bacteria are found in insect excrement. They enter the human body through open wounds that appear after an insect bites a person’s skin.

Interesting!

Numerous scratches lead to the appearance of:

• dermatitis;
• eczema;
• purulent inflammation.

My daughter developed red spots on her neck. I remembered that the day before she ate a lot of sweets, and therefore decided that the body reacted to a large amount of sugar with a rash. She gave the child an antihistamine and sent her to bed. At night, my daughter woke up and complained of itching. In the morning we went to the hospital. Imagine my surprise when the pediatrician determined.

Ekaterina Anatolyevna, Murmansk

Itchy wounds prevent children from concentrating and prevent them from studying and sleeping normally. Adult family members have no idea that the child is suffering from lice. Nervousness is attributed to severe stress.

Head lice