Home Remedies for Head Lice

Every person dreads the thought of their child or themselves coming home from work or school with a case of the head lice.

 

What are head lice?

In case you didn’t know what they are, head lice are a tiny parasites that hides under the hair on the scalp where they feed on blood and reproduce quickly and in numbers that can make them very difficult to eliminate. The bad news is lice can infest people of all ages and prefer clean hair to lay its eggs in! This is because the head louse nits or eggs, stick better to cleaner hairs than oily ones. These nits cannot be dusted off like dandruff. Adult head lice can cause severe irritation through the action of its saliva.

 

How are they spread?

You’d believe they’re spread by direct physical contact with an infected person; the truth is they can actually step aboard through the use of shared personal items, such as combs, hair brush, towels, bed linen, and such like items.

 

What are some symptoms of head lice?

The head lice symptoms, of course, are unmistakable – an intense itching on the scalp and the back of the neck. If you where to examine the infected person’s scalp, around the nape of the neck or above the ears, you would find small white nits attached firmly to the hair shafts. This is a sure giveaway of lice infestation.

I have compiled here a list of home remedies for getting rid of these pesky litte critters, but always check with your doctor before trying anything.

 

Mayonnaise:

Apply mayonnaise thoroughly to the scalp and cover the hair with a plastic bag. Leave it for one hour and heat it with a blow dryer for 5 minutes. Rinse the hair and apply regular hair gel. Use a fine-toothed comb to remove nits and lice.

Vinegar:

Vinegar is an excellent home remedy for killing head louse. Simply wash your hair with vinegar and it’ll kill all the lice within two days!

Tea tree oil and olive oil mixture:

Mix olive oil with tea tree oil and apply to the hair and rub into the scalp. Wait for half-an-hour to an hour before washing. Wash the hair to remove the oil and rinse the hair again with vinegar. This would loosen the nits to the hair shaft. Finally comb the hair to get rid of any remaining lice.

Olive oil:

Soak the hair in olive oil and leave it overnight. Wash hair normally to get rid of the oil. This done, rinse now with white vinegar and let it remain for 5 minutes. Afterwards, rinse the hair with lukewarm water to remove the vinegar.

Try making  a very strong solution of salt dissolved in really hot water in a large white bowl or dish pan. Soak your head for about 5 minutes, pouring the solution through your hair to get completely soaked. You can see the lice in the water. Wash your hair with dawn dish liquid, rinse with a 1/2 white vinegar 1/2 water mixture and pour through the hair. Apply conditioner and leave it in. Put on a shower cap or use plastic wrap and leave on at least an hour. Comb through your hair with a lice comb cleaning it out often with an old tooth brush, placing the material on to a white paper towel or tissues. After you have combed every inch of your hair, wash with your regular shampoo with a few drops of oil of peppermint added. Condition as usual and towel dry. Comb out with a wide toothed comb and dry with a hair dryer set on hot. Repeat in 7 days.

You will need:

A jar of petroleum jelly
baby oil
Dawn liquid dish soap
Shower caps
Coconut Shampoo and Conditioner

Right before bedtime slather the petroleum jelly in each affected head really thick, covered the heads with the shower caps(secured the backs with a hair tie)
In the morning remove the caps. Add the baby oil and worked it thru. Then comb thru the hair, everything should come out of the hair easy. Then lather the heads with the Dawn soap, which helps break down the oils, then wash with shampoo and conditioner. You may have to shampoo the hair a few times to get all the oil out especially if it is thick hair.