Is it possible to use dust soap for lice and nits

Dust soap is indeed one of the most effective remedies for lice. This is evidenced by the reviews of those who were not afraid to use it, and real scientific studies of the effectiveness of its main component (DDT). However, the use of such soap is associated with a serious danger that the main component of the soap poses to a person, and in particular to a child.

Back in the second half of the last century, before the advent of numerous harmless insecticides and products based on them, dust lice soap was perhaps the only truly reliable alternative to "grandfather's" folk recipes based on kerosene and vinegar. Indeed, a piece of such soap cost a penny, and it allowed to remove lice from one go, even in rather complex and neglected cases.

Review

“My mother always poisoned lice with dust, and I brought them out to my children. It is inexpensive and absolutely reliable: the head is washed, hidden under a bag, washed off in half an hour and washed with shampoo. The smell, of course, is terrible, but not a single nit and not a single louse survive after that.

Alena, Makhachkala

Nevertheless, today dust soap is considered a heritage of history: it is used in exceptionally rare cases by residents of especially remote areas. The reason for this is in its side effects, which have led to an almost worldwide ban on this remedy.

What are the properties of dust soap?

 

Dust soap: composition, action, effectiveness against lice

Dustovoy soap is, in fact, a simple laundry soap, to which DDT, one of the most famous insecticides, is added in a certain concentration. It is DDT that is commonly called dust, and thanks to this, the soap itself got its name.

Important!
Do not confuse dust and tar soap. The first has no cosmetic properties and is intended only for the destruction of parasites. The second, on the contrary, improves the condition of the scalp and hair, but it has a rather weak effect on lice.

With the help of DDT for several decades, a variety of insects - parasites and pests - were very successfully exterminated. At one time, its use even began to look like a mania: DDT was sprinkled wherever possible, even when there was no obvious need for it.

It is interesting

According to experts, DDT has saved at least 10 million people in the history of its use. Only in India, with its help, it was possible to eliminate the epidemic of malaria (water bodies, natural reservoirs of reproduction of malarial mosquitoes, were treated with dust): then 5 million inhabitants of villages and rural areas were under threat. Similar situations took place in Greece and Italy. In addition, it was due to DDT that the Green Revolution became a reality - before its use, pests destroyed a much larger part of the crop than after the start of dusting fields and gardens.

In the 60s of the last century, doctors discovered that the accumulation of DDT in the body causes serious intoxication, sometimes fatal. Even before that, environmentalists sounded the alarm because of the mass death of birds that ate on fields treated with dust. Finally, in the late 1960s, the use of DDT as part of human parasite control products was banned in many countries around the world, and lice dust was, in fact, outlawed.

And further: It's time to finally get those annoying nits out of your hair (the article has over 100 comments)

However, dust soap against lice is very effective. DDT is a contact insecticide that can penetrate the parasite's body through the chitinous integuments of its body. This means that if the entire head or other hairy parts of the body infected with parasites are thoroughly lathered with dust soap - so that each insect is sure to get it - all parasites can be destroyed in one treatment.

At the same time, all nits will die. It should be noted that even many modern lice remedies do not have such high efficiency.

On a note

The larva of the common blowfly, which is several times larger and heavier than the louse, dies from the ingress of one millionth of a milligram of dust onto the surface of its body.

The concentration of dust in the soap is sufficient so as not to worry about the amount of product applied to the head: if all the hair is under the foam, this will be enough.

Review

“We as a family have tried several remedies for lice. I washed my hair with Pedilin, my daughter was treated with Nittifor, my husband, like a stern man, washed himself with dust soap. Result: dust soap is beyond competition. I think the nits died before the bag was put on the head.The stench, of course, is unbearable, then my husband was sick all night, but the product works flawlessly. Pedilin is also good, but the nits had to be combed out separately.

Anna, Kirov

 

Dangers and side effects when using dust soap

More than 300 mg of DDT per kilogram of body weight when taken internally is considered to be lethal for humans. Roughly speaking, for poisoning at a time, you need to swallow about 20 grams of DDT - this is quite a lot.

However, dust has a very unpleasant quality - it constantly accumulates in the tissues and is practically not excreted from the body. This means that even if the dose is not received immediately, but in parts, the result will be the same.

A dose of 16 mg/kg already leads to serious poisoning, sometimes with instant vomiting. Smaller amounts usually cause moderate intoxication.

At the same time, DDT, getting on the skin, does not cause much harm. However, when using dust against lice, the substance can penetrate into the eyes, nose, scratches at the site of bites on the head during treatment, which will still lead to the penetration of the insecticide into the human body.

Review

“My son brought us lice from the children's camp. Nothing terrible, of course, but unpleasant. Grandmother washed his head with dust soap in the old fashioned way, and in the morning he had to take Tema to the hospital - he was very sick and vomited, his whole head was sprinkled. The doctor looked at us as if we were insane, saying that dusting against lice and nits is the same as pouring gasoline over our head and setting it on fire. Theme was on a drip for three days, then he went home for a week, and then we just shaved his head and forgot about the lice.

Lydia, Pskov

It is believed that DDT, accumulating in the body, can lead to various mutagenic disorders, the occurrence of malignant tumors, weakened immunity, the development of diseases of the nervous system and brain, poisoning and death of the fetus in pregnant women. There is no direct evidence of such assumptions due to the cessation of the use of dust, but there are prerequisites to believe that these fears are not unfounded.

And further: A very useful thing that allows you to get rid of lice and nits without any chemicals - a special medical comb ...

Symptoms of dust poisoning are:

• nausea and vomiting
• muscle weakness
• headache
• shortness of breath, and in asthmatics - an exacerbation of the disease
• allergic reaction with skin rashes.

If at least a few of these symptoms appear after the use of dust soap, the patient should definitely be shown to the doctor. Doing gastric lavage and drinking activated charcoal in these cases is useless.

There are contraindications of another property - soap itself dries the skin very much and can lead to irritation. Therefore, people with dry skin should not use dust soap.

 

If the decision is made: how to use dust soap correctly

But if it is still decided to use dust soap against lice (highly not recommended), it must be used in accordance with the following rules:

• the handler must put on a respirator, goggles and rubber gloves, wet the soap and lather the head of the patient
• the patient must always sit with his eyes and mouth closed
• after applying soap, a rubber cap or bag is put on the head, which is pulled under the hairline with an elastic band
• the foam is kept on the head for up to half an hour (at the first sensations of tingling, burning, itching, it must be washed off) and the head is thoroughly washed with a simple shampoo several times
• still wet hair is combed out with a fine comb (it is good to use special pediculicide combs for this) to remove dead lice and nits.

It is worth remembering about the very unpleasant smell of dust: after removing the lice, its “aroma” can persist for quite a long time.

Dust soap should not be used frequently or regularly. Dust destroys lice and nits already at the first treatment, but if suddenly after that the parasites still remain on the head, it is better to remove them by any other means.

 

Tar soap, aerosols and shampoos: an overview of alternative means

If possible, it is better to replace dust soap with safer and no less reliable lice remedies. For example, the following options are good for this:

• Pedilin shampoo and Para-Plus aerosol - these products destroy both lice and nits, but are not toxic to humans.
• Lice sprays Paranit and Nyuda - they do not destroy nits, but are completely safe and are recommended for use in children.
• Pediculicidal combs - you will have to comb your head with them for several days in a row, but they are devoid of any contraindications and side effects.

And finally, there is always the option to simply shave the hair infested with lice. This is the most effective, simple, safe and affordable way to fight. If the infection occurred in the summer, shaving the hair will help restore the healthy condition of the scalp even faster.

 

An interesting video about lice and methods of dealing with them

 

What causes lice and how to deal with them correctly