What is the best home remedy for head lice?
July 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment
During the fall in 2004, my oldest daughter , who had recently started school, complained of an itchy scalp and I found head lice. The family could not believe that this was happening to us. Always paying attention to the family’s personal hygiene, it had not crossed our minds that we might have a problem with head lice.
Within days my other daughter, spouse and myself were all battling the little critters and having no idea what to do. Personally, I was repulsed by the experience and I was frantic and frequently tearful as I tested all the home remedies for killing head lice that I could lay my hands on.
My first instinct was to nuke the little critters with anything I could buy, but found none of the manufactured remedies were effective. Was my approach all wrong? You tell me , but it took us a full month of constant work to discover that these manufactured head lice products cost the earth and deliver minimal results. And, after reading leaflets about the products, I was wondering if I was harming my kids by using pesticides regularly, I knew I’d rather have lice than open them up to sinister side effects or long-term health issues (take a look at the labels on Kwell, Lindane, etc. which it is claimed have been linked to leukemia). After a long search we found a excellent (and surprisingly thrifty ) home remedy for head lice that offered one of the safest and most effective home remedies for getting rid of head lice and I know now that I would never expose such risk to my girls again with drug store pesticides. It is common knowledge that pregnant women are warned against using these pesticide treatments. Those warnings must be for a reason.
To help you make an educated decision about which home remedies for treating head lice are most effective., I’ve listed some of the most popular home remedies for killing head lice that are free of chemicals and are frequently claimed to be effective home remedies for head lice.
1. Using mayonnaise to suffocate head lice
The method of using mayonnaise is to coat the head completely with mayonnaise. Wrap the mayonnaise coated hair with cling film , fitted securely to the head using knots or rubber bands. IMPORTANT – DO NOT COVER THE FACE…ONLY THE SCALP AND HAIR.
Leave the yucky mess on for about 3 hours,and with any luck you’ll discover suffocated head lice when you return. Use a nit comb to remove debris before washing out the mayonnaise. Wash with warm, soapy water and keep doing this treatment every 4 – 7 days until there is no more evidence of lice.
This isn’t the cheapest or least time consuming home remedy for head lice but your hair will be nice and soft afterwards.
2. Tea tree oil as a home remedy for head lice
If you do an oil and tea tree oil mixture and leave on for half an hour . This can be an effective home remedy. Some people have sensitive skin, so if your child complains of burning, remove the oil and try another way to remove the lice.
The treatment we used had tea tree oil in it and we saw success with this. Tea tree oil is expensive in its pure state but, as you only use a few drops per treatment it lasts for ages.
3. Using heat to kill head lice
Some experts maintain that using a hairdryer will kill head lice. Of course, most kids aren’t going to let you apply a hair dryer on a warm setting to their heads for a half-hour at a time, and their hair may get dry and brittle too ….so we never tried this one. . In any case, you would still need to nit comb afterwards afterwards and this treatment, like the mayo, needs repeating every 4-7 days until there is no trace of lice left.
4. Electric Nit Combs
Some people find an electric nit comb useful. If this treatment appeals to you, you can find the combs anywhere online, and even in some local drug stores. Personally, I I didn’t like electric nit combs. When I tried one as they have a way of dishing out a nasty little zap to to my childrens’ scalp if there was the hint of dampness or sweat or by making the the wrong angle to the comb when using it.
In my own experience it was helpful for quick relief from a tickly scalp before sleep but often just stunned rather than killing the lice giving them the chance to breed again!
For a detailed review of Freedom From Head Lice’s recommended product CLICK HERE.
All the best in solving your child’s head lice problem. Just remember, head lice won’t last forever, and you’ll soon look back on this time of trial as just a bad memory.
Nit cement dissolving home remedies for head lice
December 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
What are nit cement dissolving treatments?
Nit cement dissolving treatments are old-fashioned home remedies for head lice that rely upon the use of acidic products to dissolve the cement that the head louse uses to attach its eggs (and subsequent nits) to the hair shaft.
Vinegar has been a historically popular example of nit cement dissolving techniques. However, for some people, the acidic nature of vinegar has been too harsh for their skin leaving irritation. Vinegar is, for this reason, best avoided as a home remedy for head lice.
As well as home remedies for head lice, there are also some commercial treatments being sold that claim to dissolve nit cement. Formic acid is used by Step 2 with this in mind. Clear have also claimed that their enzyme system has a similar nit cement dissolving action. The efficiency of either of these treatments is yet to be proven for treating head lice.
How can vinegar help head lice?
November 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Vinegar is often claimed to be the panacea that cures all evils. Vinegar to cure head lice is therefore a popular home remedy for head lice. The argument is that vinegar destroys the glue holding the louse egg onto the scalp. As this destroys its feeding opportunities, it will die.
How do I use vinegar so that I can help head lice to be killed?
Vinegar, on its own, is unlikely to help kill head lice. If vinegar can help head lice be gone by dislodging the eggs by destroying the glue holding them to your scalp…then it’s a useful tool in your armoury against the little critters!
As vinegar will not necessarily kill the live lice and the unhatched nymphs, nit combing is an essential part of the process. If you do not want to use a chemical treatment, vinegar can be part of your approach to make combing out the lice and nits using conditioner more successful. However, if you want to be absolutely confident that you have sorted the problem the following steps are recommended:
- Shampoo your hair then do a thorough rince of the hair with white vinegar. The glue holding the eggs to the hair will be dissolved by the acetic acid present in vinegar.
- The vinegar itself will not necessarily kill live lice so, at this stage, you may like to use an over the counter head lice preparation to kill the adults off.
- Once the treatment has been completed, do a further thourough rinse with white vinegar to dislodge the nits.
- Once this process is completed, take the time to thoroughly comb your hair using a high quality nit comb. Take your time over this…you don’t want any of the little critters escaping!
- Repeat this process every seven days until clear of head lice.
- Wash clothing and bedding that has been in contact with the scalp at the hottest temperature possible to kill the lice …it is heat rather than the soap that will kill them.
- Vacuum soft furnishings and car seats thoroughly.
If you prefer to use a home head lice remedy that is quick and effective, Freedom From Head Lice recommends Head Lice No More as an inexpensive and effective tool to rid your household of head lice quickly and cheaply.
Can mayonnaise kill head lice?
November 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Can I use mayonnaise to get rid of head lice?
Using mayonnaise to kill head lice is a home remedy and therefore has limited scientific testing done on the technique to assess its efficiency. However, using mayonnaise to get rid of head lice is a popular home remedy for head lice with the added benefit of deep conditioned shiny hair after treatment is complete.
Method for using mayonnaise to treat head lice
The idea is that the hair and scalp are smothered with mayonnaise and then a cap is worn over it for 12 hours. For this reason, people using mayonnaise to treat head lice tend to do their treatment overnight.
The question is, can mayonnaise kill head lice? The answer is that mayonnaise can probably suffocate head lice and, through the oil in mayonnaise, make the lice easy to comb out using a nit comb.
However, it is doubtful whether the mayonnaise will have any impact upon the unhached lice. The result may be that these lie dormant and then hatch out a few days later causing a recurrence of head lice infestation. The only way to completely avoid this is to do repeated treatments every few days before newly hatched lice start to breed.
As a natural and harmless home remedy for head lice, using mayonnaise to treat head lice probably has a slightly greater efficiency than using conditioner to comb out live lice (as hopefully any lice missed out during combing have died) and may be a lot more messy due to the duration of application of mayonnaise.
For a really efficient and speedy method of treating head lice naturally at home, Head Lice Be Gone is a highly recommended resource costing little more than a couple of jars of mayonnaise and giving you the expertise to conquer head lice infestation quickly and discreetly.
How to prevent head lice
November 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Why does it seem easier for adults than kids to prevent head lice?
It’s frustrating – isn’t it? The kids just keep on coming home from school with lice …. yet adults seem to prevent head lice without trying. What’s their secret?
Head lice love clean fluffy hair that isn’t oily or full of hair products or generally dirty. Hair that’s clean like this makes it easy to glue those eggs onto the hair shaft…so they will breed more successfully.
Us adults tend to use gels, mouse, hair spray etc on our hair to achieve the style we want. This doesn’t make our hair a nice place to set up home for a head louse. In addition, we adults are less likely to share hats or snuggle our heads against pillows or toys where a person infested with head lice may have been before us. All these behaviours help adults to prevent head lice.
What can we learn from this about how to prevent head lice for children?
- You can help to prevent head lice on your child’s head by tying back long hair as much as possible and using styling products on it. This will avoid stray hairs giving a route for lice to move from one head to another as well as making your child’s scalp less inviting for head lice to set up home.
- Whilst it is important for your kids to learn to share, part of what they need to learn is to share appropriately. Sharing hats, hair brushes and towels should always be avoided in the effort to avoid cross contamination of head lice.
- Using a head louse repellant and treating outbreaks promptly are all part of the effort to prevent head lice. Headlice Be Gone is an excellent ebook detailing how to make a home remedy for head lice and a head lice repellant. For less than the price of an over-the-counter treatment for head lice this great little guide will save you a fortune and make your child less likely to have recurrent head louse infestation.
