Children who are in school are prime targets of head lice.  These things are easy to prevent but hard to treat.  Kids between the ages of three and twelve are most likely to get these pesky critters because of the exposure to many other children in daycare, camp, sports groups, and school.  These kids also love to share personal things like hairbrushes, hair clips, caps, jackets and other things.  This makes it easy for lice to spread, although they do not fly or jump.

Lice are also not characteristic of bad ,hygiene as is popularly believed.  In fact, the cleaner the hair, the better off the louse is.  He can grip the strand more easily.  They also do not spread disease.  They do, however, make you itchy and annoyed, and can even cause inflammation or infection from scratching skin.

Here are some helpful tips for child head-louse treatment that will help clear your kids of these annoying pests:

1.  There are three major steps in effectively getting rid of lice.  These include killing the adult lice, removing the eggs from the hair, and treating the belongings and environment of the person with head lice.
2.  Butter, petroleum jelly, olive oil, and even whole-fat mayo are great because they smother the lice.  The nits will still need to be removed from the hair.  Out of these, olive oil comes out of the hair easier; however, you may still have to shampoo several times.

3.  When your kid’s hair is wet, the lice stop moving.  This makes it easier to get them out.  Using a flea or lice comb with teeth that are close together is a great idea.  Although a flea comb will work, never place any flea-killing product on a human.  Three-tenths of a millimeter is as far apart as the comb’s teeth should be.

4.  For child head-louse treatment to work, you must not only clear the child, but also the environment of lice.  This includes other people in the family who may have lice.  All bed linens, blankets, terry towels, clothing, and other things that lice may be on should be washed in water that exceeds 130 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also, you will want to dry them on the highest temperature for at least half an hour.  Throw pillows, rugs, toys, or other things that cannot be washed should be sealed into an air-tight bag for at least 14 days.

5.  Shampoo, cream, or lotion that contains medicine to kill the lice may be suggested or prescribed by your pediatrician.  You can also purchase items over-the-counter if home remedies do not work or if there are too many lice to kill in this way.  Experts do agree that lice are becoming resistant to the chemicals in over-the-counter medications, so you may have to utilize a different method of treating them.  Do not use a blow dryer after applying treatments that may be flammable!

Asking your doctor for children that are under two years old is a good idea.  Over-the-counter medications are too strong for their skin and scalps.  Also, it is not a good idea to shave the hair of your child in order to get rid of head lice.  Short hair may, however, prevent lice infestations more easily.

Being conscientious of your hygiene, including avoiding other people’s personal things such as hairbrushes and hats, can help you prevent lice.  You may also want to share with your children what can happen if they do use other people’s items.  Here are some home remedy louse treatment tactics that you can make yourself from things that you already have in your cupboard or fridge.

1. An equal mixture of vinegar and olive oil can be applied to the hair generously.  Ensure that all parts are saturated and place a shower cap on the head.  After one hour, wash the hair the way you typically would.
2. Lather old-fashioned, whole mayo on the hair and the scalp.  Be sure to get all areas and strands.  After an hour, rinse very well and then wash as normal.
Petroleum jelly can be lathered onto the hair as well.  Like mayo, it is difficult to remove from the hair, but it does suffocate the lice.  Try sprinkling powder or flour into the hair before trying to wash this out.

3. Garlic paste and an equal amount of lime juice should be applied to the scalp.  After 30 minutes, you can shampoo your hair.  Similarly, almonds can be ground and mixed with a bit of lime juice and left on the hair for 30 minutes also.

4.  Essential oils are very useful for getting rid of lice, including rosemary, geranium, anise, ylang ylang, and more.  These should be diluted before they are massaged into the hair.  After 30 minutes of allowing these to soak under a shower cap, the hair can be rinsed and washed.

5.  Shaving lotion can also be applied to the hair and the scalp and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.  The chemicals in the lotion kill the lice as well as the eggs.  You should condition the hair afterward to restore oils and moisture.

6.  Even beer works!  Mix with cloves and basil leaves into a mushy paste, then apply to the hair and scalp.  After 30 minutes, rinse and wash your hair.
Isopropyl alcohol should be utilized to soak all hair accessories, hair brushes, and combs.  If you’d rather, simply throw them away and purchase new ones.

No matter what type of common head-louse treatment you utilize, you will need to treat the entire household.  This is because lice can be passed easily just through one simple egg or nit that has fallen from the host and picked up by another member of the family.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money to treat head lice or waste a lot of time.

Tricks for removing lice from your home -

A hot dryer usually equals a dead louse.  Wash bedding, towels, mattress pads and stuffed animals in very hot water.  At a temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, water is hot enough to kill lice and their eggs.  Clothing, cloth hair accessories, scarves, and hats should all be washed in the same temperature water and then put into a dryer on the highest setting for at least 20 minutes.  Clothing that cannot be washed this way can be taken to the dry cleaner.

Things that you aren’t able to wash or dry clean can be placed into air-tight bags for two weeks.  This might include some stuffed animals or accessories.  Your carpet, rugs, and furniture need to be vacuumed as well, along with your vehicle and throw pillows.

Items like brushes, combs, clips, or other hair accessories should be soaked in hot water and soap.  Soaking items like this in rubbing alcohol will kill lice and eggs as well.  Another very helpful common head-louse treatment tip is to soak the hair.  When your hair is wet, the lice stop moving for a period of time.  Then, comb the hair with a special fine-toothed comb.  Many people swear by certain home remedies like petroleum jelly, whole-fat mayonnaise, and even natural oils like tea tree, eucalyptus, anise and ylang ylang.

Here are some effective common head-louse treatment tactics that are non-toxic and safe for sensitive skin:.

Lime juice and garlic paste in equal parts should be applied to the hair and scalp.  An hour after applying, shampoo thoroughly.
Mayo or petroleum jelly should be applied to the hair in order to suffocate the lice.  Sprinkle the hair with baby powder before attempting to wash this out.
Almonds that have been ground and mixed into a couple of tablespoons of lime juice should be applied to the hair for 30 minutes before washing.
A fourth of a cup of olive oil and two teaspoons of tea tree oil can be applied to the hair and scalp and left for an hour before shampooing.

Lice do not discriminate!  You can be infected with head lice regardless of your age, your background, where you live, or how much money you have.  Although many people believe that lice like dirty and greasy hair better, the truth is that they prefer cleaner hair.  Their eggs stick better to hair that is clean, and they are able to grasp cleaner hair more easily.  Lice can be picked up through physical contact or by using items of a person that has lice.  This might include a brush, hat, hair accessories, bedding, or even towels.

Pesticides and insecticides are two of the most common treatments for lice.  Most of the products and shampoos you can purchase at the drugstore either contain malathion or phenothrin.  People with asthma should not use these forms of treatment, as they can cause an allergic reaction or irritation.  Pregnant women should, of course, consult their physicians before utilizing any head lice products, and parents should do the same before treating young children.  Experts agree that lice may be growing resistant or immune to some of these common lice-fighting chemicals, rendering them useless.

Many people are also turning to natural methods of fighting lice infestations.  While in some cases the process may take a bit longer than using the store-bought medications, there are some benefits.  For example, most natural methods are safer and non-toxic.  Lavender, geranium, and even tea tree oils are all believed to be great lice treatments.  These would simply be massaged into the scalp after being diluted, and the nits and lice come out easier and quicker.

Outside of these common treatments, there are many home remedies that lots of folks swear by.  In fact, they are quite efficient at getting rid of those pesky critters.  Some examples of these home remedies include lathering shaving lotion on the head to kill lice and their eggs, utilizing antiseptic mouthwash to shampoo the hair, and mixing baby oil and vinegar to use on the hair.  While covering the hair and scalp with petroleum jelly suffocates the lice, it is quite a mess and you may have to shampoo the hair many times before all of the residue comes out.  Regular flour or baby powder can help absorb this residue if you sprinkle it on before shampooing.

Another of the most common louse treatments is to simply comb through the hair with a special comb.  The comb should be a fine-tooth, preferably metal comb with teeth that are no more than three-tenths of a millimeter apart.  This will help grab each strand of hair so that no louse or egg is left behind.  Just one being overlooked can result in re-infestation in a matter of a few weeks!

Flea combs work as well as a fine-tooth comb.  However, do not ever use flea or animal parasite products on a human to kill lice.  Some other things you should never do is place kerosene, gas, or alcohol on a human’s head in order to try to kill the lice.  These are all extremely dangerous and could result in serious injuries.

Nix Head Lice Treatment -

Nix is a popular brand of head-lice treatment.  With their complete lice treatment program, you get a cream rinse, a nit-removing comb, a cape to protect your children’s clothes, and a drop cloth for the floor.  You simply wash and rinse your child’s hair, lather the cream rinse into their head, and let it sit for 10 minutes.  After you have allowed the cream rinse to sit, you will need to rinse again and go through your child’s hair in sections to remove the dead lice.  You also need to remove the nits.

The biggest downfall about the Nix treatment is that it does not kill the eggs and that it is expensive.  So, you will need to retreat your child’s head or your head within a week to ensure that any newly hatched lice are dead.  With the price, having to treat all of your children or the entire family can be very expensive.  It does work in most cases, though.  If it doesn’t work for you, chances are you need to visit the doctor for something stronger.

Hair Clean 1-2-3 Lice Treatment -

This treatment is one of the only non-toxic treatments for head lice.  It is made of olive oil, alcohol, ylang ylang oil and anise oil.  You will place this on your head or your child’s head and saturate all areas of the hair, including the scalp.  You will then leave the product on for 15 minutes.  After this time, you can rinse the hair and then go through it with a fine-tooth comb.  Try to remove all of the dead bugs and nits as well.

This product is great because it’s not full of chemicals like the typical store-bought lice treatments.  However, many find that the licorice smell is too strong.  This is due to the anise that is in the formula.  While this may be annoying to some, the fact remains that the product does work and there are none of the side effects that come with chemical-laden lice treatment shampoos that are readily available anywhere.

Lice Blaster -

This product is another non-toxic treatment that really works for killing lice and preventing you from getting lice again.  It is made with essential oils and extracts that naturally kill the lice, and it also works to prevent them from getting back into your hair.  You simply place the cream on the hair and saturate through.  Allow it to sit for around 15 minutes before rinsing and going through the hair with a fine-tooth comb.  You can use this product to retreat within a week to ensure that any newly hatched lice are dead.

The biggest downfall of this product is the price.  It is around $30 for one bottle, which is enough to treat one to two people depending upon their hair types.  However, it works and is non-toxic so you don’t have to worry about side effects.

Lice can be frustrating and difficult to get rid of but looking at these reviews can help you determine which is best for you and your family.

Treating the Body -

To treat the body, you will need to wash the area with an insecticide formulated for pubic lice.  You can get these from your local pharmacy.  Usually this will involve washing with a shampoo that you allow to sit on the pubic area for around 10 minutes.  After this, you will rinse the area and search for the pubic louse eggs or nits in the pubic hair.  These are usually found at the base of the pubic hair close to the skin.  You need to remove all of these nits, and often you will need to retreat the area within a week to kill any newly hatched lice.

Treating the Clothing -

To prevent yourself from becoming infected with pubic lice again, you will need to treat your clothing.  You can do this by washing all of your clothing in hot water and then allowing them to dry on high heat.  Repeating the high-heat cycle in the dryer will ensure that they are dead.  You will also need to treat your bedding as well, and you can do that in the same way.  Take special care to treat the underclothes, as these are the clothes that the pubic lice are most exposed to.

Sexual Partners -

Because pubic lice are transferred through sexual contact, your sex partner will probably also need to be treated.  If he or she is not and you become intimate with them again, you could become re-infested with the pubic lice.  Both of you may need to retreat the area within a week to ensure that all newly hatched pubic lice are dead.  It is a good idea to refrain from sexual intimacy until both of you are completely cleared of the pubic lice.

This can be a very embarrassing thing to deal with, but also very common.  If you’re not sure what to do or if the store-bought medication is not working, you should visit your doctor.  He or she will be able to recommend what to do next.  The tips and ideas in this article will help you get rid of pubic lice for good.

Clothing –

Body lice do not actually live on the body!  They live and lay eggs in the seams of clothing.  They do come out onto the skin, but only when they are feeding.  Then they return to the seams of the clothing.  For this reason, many doctors do not recommend actually treating the body with any sort of medication.  Simply washing and drying your clothes in a high-heat dryer for an hour should do the trick.

Body –

One thing you should know, even if you do not actually treat your body with medication, is that body lice itch.  This is one way to tell if you are infected.  However, you can continue to itch even after you have successfully gotten rid of the body lice.  This is due to small allergic reactions to their bites.  Rubbing on a cortisone cream or anti-itch lotion should help with this until you are fully over the reaction.

Taking hot showers for a few days until the body lice are clear should help.  You will also need to treat your bedding and unlaundered clothing.  Washing them in hot water and then drying them for two cycles on high heat should be all that is needed to get rid of the body lice on the clothing.  If you are still having issues, you may need to buy a medicated treatment.  There are lotions, shampoos, and creams at your local pharmacy, and you can ask the pharmacist which one you should use.  Read all directions before using.  If you notice bumps on your skin that contain puss, dark patches on your skin, or if your skin has a bad smell, you should visit the doctor.  This could indicate a skin infection that will need prescription medications to clear up.

Pubic Lice –

Pubic lice are a form of body lice that live in the pubic hair.  If you have lice present here, they are completely different from body lice and typically do need

to be treated with medications.  They are typically treated with a pubic shampoo that is similar to head-louse shampoo.  They are also usually spread through sexual contact, so sex partners usually need to be treated as well.  You can tell if you have pubic lice by intense itching and small red bumps in the pubic area.

Although any form of lice is frustrating, body lice are generally easier to get rid of than head or pubic lice.  Simply following the tips above or the advice of your health care professional should get you moving in the right direction to get rid of body lice for good!

Free tips for the hair -

When you are removing nits or lice from the hair, soak the hair in conditioner or olive oil.  This will make it more difficult for the lice to hold on to the hair strands, and it is said that it smothers and helps kill them as well.
To keep your child from getting lice in her hair, talk with her about borrowing other people’s hair brushes, hats, or other hair accessories.  Explain to her what can happen if someone else has an infestation and why to avoid using other people’s things.
Pull the hair back and braid it.  Even using a bit of hairspray will reduce your child’s chances of getting head lice.

Free tips for preventing another infestation –

You will need to treat your child’s bedding and other things as well.  This includes stuffed animals that they sleep with, pillows, hats, scarves, hair accessories, and hair brushes.  Place all bedding and stuffed animals in the washer.  Wash in hot water and dry on high heat.  You may want to let them go through two cycles of drying.
Soak your child’s hair brush and plastic or metal hair accessories in boiling water with a small amount of bleach for 30 minutes.  Allow them to dry and ensure that they are fully rinsed.
Wash hats, scarves, and other clothing in the same way you washed the bedding and stuffed animals.
Change your child’s sheets every single night that you are treating them for head lice and follow the washing directions each night, as well.

Free tips for products -

If you are using a store-bought product, please follow the directions very carefully.  They do have very potent chemicals in them, and leaving them on for an extended period of time can be very dangerous.  Be sure to read the entire label before using.
When using mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, or olive oil, which are all products that have been effective in treating lice, use a shower cap.  This way, your child doesn’t have to sit in one place for hours.  Let them run and play and even sleep with the shower cap on.
To get petroleum jelly or baby oil out of the hair, sprinkle the hair with baby powder first.  Then, wash the hair with a grease-fighting dish detergent.  You may want to condition after doing this.

Getting rid of head lice can be a royal pain in the neck, but you can do it.  Stay focused and you can utilize these tips to rid you of head lice for good.

What You May Have Heard -   

There are a million myths and advised treatments when it comes to getting rid of head lice, and some of them, if listened to, can be very dangerous.  One of these potentially dangerous treatments is kerosene.  Never place kerosene, gasoline, or lighter fluid on your child’s head.  Aside from being highly flammable, they can actually cause damage simply by absorbtion into your child’s blood stream.  No matter how desperate you are to rid your child or yourself of lice, do not use these items.

You may have heard that you should treat everyone in the household if one of your children comes home from school with lice.  That is absolutely not true, as you can actually help build their resistance to medications designed to kill them.  You may also risk side effects to your family that are frustrating, irritating, or even seriously damaging.  Check the hair of your other family members. If you see active lice, you want to treat that person.  Otherwise, only treat the afflicted members of your family.

Using Store-Bought Lice Medications -

No matter how frustrated and desperate you are, follow the directions on the bottles of treatments to rid you of lice.  If you are only supposed to leave the treatment on for 10 minutes, leave it for that amount of time only.  Don’t think that you are helping kill them better because you leave it for 15 or 20 minutes.  All you are doing is increasing the risk of side effects and damage.  Leaving a product on longer than you are supposed to does not increase its efficacy.

Alternative Treatments to Help Rid You of Lice -

If you are planning on using herbal treatments, make sure you are not taking other regular medications.  Herbs can interact with prescription medications in the same way that other prescription medications can.  Also, do not use an essential oil on the hair, skin, or scalp without diluting it.  If you don’t dilute it there could be very serious reactions.

Most people do not know this, but you do not actually have to place anything on the hair of the afflicted person.  You can remove the lice and nits by the combing method.  All you need is some olive oil or conditioner and a nit comb.  You can get this at your local pharmacy.  Simply saturate the hair with one of these things and separate it into sections.  Then, comb each strand and section to remove the live bugs.  After rinsing the hair, comb again and then separate again.  This time, pick out all the nits you see from each and every strand of hair.

Lice is a frustrating and even sometimes embarrassing thing.  Hopefully you will find helpful tips above to help you get rid of the situation quickly.

Anise and Ylang Ylang Test -

A recent study was done where researchers divided infected children into two groups.  In one group, researchers treated the children with anise and ylang ylang essential oils, both of which have antifungal, antiviral, and insecticidal properties.  The other group was treated with the common drugstore chemical shampoos for killing lice and their eggs.  In both groups, the percentage of children who were treated and cleaned of head lice was 97%.  However, the anise oil and ylang ylang oil do not carry the hazard of potential side effects that have been reported with the chemical shampoos and sprays.  Obviously, this treatment works and without the damaging effects of traditional shampoos.

Bug-Busting Method -

This method is for parents who do not want to risk applying anything to their children’s hair and involves frequent combing and bug removal.  You start by using ‘nit combs’ to remove live lice.  You can use a bowl of water to put them into as you find them.  This will show you how many you have found.  Simply go through each section of the hair a couple of times and remove each and every live louse you can get – you will also need to remove as many of the eggs as you possibly can.  A bit of olive oil worked into the hair does make it easier to get the bugs and nits out.  You will need to perform this busting method every four days to ensure that you get the lice that have recently hatched.  You will also need to wash your child’s sheets every night for a week – this way, any lice that fall from your child’s head to the pillow or sheets will be removed in the wash and not able to reproduce.

Why Choose an Alternative Louse Treatment?

The chemical-based shampoos and rinses are full of dangerous chemicals.  There are reported side effects like rash, skin infection, trouble breathing, and even damage to the central nervous system.  Many parents do not want to place this on their children’s heads, so they opt for an alternative louse treatment.  Many of them are just as effective as the chemical ones without the risk of side effects that come with the store-bought or prescription lice removers.

Ensure that you check every person’s head who lives in the house with you or who comes over frequently.  Tell your child not to use someone else’s hair brush, comb, hats, or other hair accessories.  This will keep your chances of getting head lice very low.