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.
Symptoms of Head Louse Infestation
October 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Principle symptoms of head louse infestation
1) An itchy scalp may not mean that you have head lice
Although the thought of being contaminated by head lice is enough to send any of us into a frenzy of self-conscious scalp scratching, having an itchy scalp is not a symptom of head louse infestation that everyone experiences. Usually the symptom of an itchy scalp means that a sensitivity to head louse saliva has been developed and it often takes up to three months for the number of lice on the scalp to multipy to a level where sensitivity occurs.
2) Visual clues of head louse infestation
The most likely clues will visual ones that you or your child has head lice. For example:
- Head scratching due to “tickly sensations” as opposed to an itchy scalp may indicate the presence of lice.
- Small black spots left on the pillow case may be head lice that have dropped off the scalp.
- The empty eggshell of the louse (known as the nit) may become obvious on stands of hair near to the scalp. This indicates head louse infection has occurred. The further down the hair the nits are found, the longer the infestation has been going on (unless they are old unremoved nits from a previous infestation that have not been removed).
I am suspicious that my children have head lice. How can I be certain there are lice on their scalps?
Detection combing is the most reliable way to confirm a true case of head lice infestation before deciding to treat your child. Your pharmacist will be able to supply you with a plastic or a metal head lice detection comb that you can use to check your childrens’ scalps with.
