If you have discovered a head louse issue in your home or with your children and do not want to use chemically laden shampoos and sprays, there are other choices.  Many different things have been utilized to remove head lice and their eggs, and this article will investigate many of those things.  The goal of this article is to help you find an alternative head-louse treatment that works.

Smothering Methods -

Many parents who do not want to place chemicals on their child’s head have used different products to smother the lice.  This typically involves placing some sort of substance on the child’s head and saturating their hair with it.  You would then place a shower cap on the child’s head and allow them to sleep all night with it on their hair.  The next morning, you would wash the child’s hair out.  This is supposed to smother the head lice and kill them.  You would have to repeat this process within a week to kill any newly hatched lice.  Then, of course, you need to remove nits with some sort of comb.  The most common products used to smother the lice are full-fat mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, baby oil, and even olive oil.

Researchers say that this method can actually work, but you should be warned – it is very messy.  You may also have to wash the child’s hair several times to remove oily residue.  For things like petroleum jelly, you can sprinkle baby powder into the child’s hair and then wash it out with a grease-fighting dish detergent.

Insecticides -

Want to get those bugs out without the chemicals?  There are natural products that are insecticidal in nature without being full of dangers for your child.  Some of these products include anise, ylang ylang and citronella oils.  They should be pure essential oils in order to work, but they will need to be diluted.  Undiluted essential oils can be very skin irritant, so what you would need to do is mix them into a base liquid.  One of the best working bases is ooil.  About ¼ cup of olive oil and five to seven drops of essential oil should work just fine.  Leave this on your child’s hair for 30 minutes to an hour and then rinse or shampoo with regular shampoo.

Removing Nits and Eggs -

No matter what alternative head-louse treatment you utilize, you will still need to remove the nits.  Most schools will check for nits before your child is ever allowed back in.  A very fine-toothed comb will be effective at removing these nits.  You may have to pop a movie in for your child, as this can be quite time-consuming.  You will need to remove each and every nit you can find, going strand by strand.

Warnings -

You may hear or read a lot about alternative head-louse treatments; however, you need to use your own judgment for some of them.  Never put gasoline or lighter fluid on your child’s hair.  Both of these things are extremely flammable and can even poison your child when it enters the blood stream through absorption.  This is not only a bad decision to make, you could end up seriously injuring your child.  Utilize the tips and ideas above for alternative head-louse treatments.

Nix Lice Treatment is perhaps one of the most popular kinds of treatment for head lice.  This is what I used when my daughter came home a few months ago and said the school nurse had found bugs in her hair!  I was completely horrified and went right out to purchase a treatment.

Cost:

The first thing I noticed about the Nix Lice Treatment is how expensive it is!  The complete kit that contains a cream rinse, a detangling and nit-picking comb, a cape to cover your child’s clothing, and a cloth to place on the floor was over $30.  We also got the Nix Lice Control Spray, which is about $7 for 5 ounces.  That doesn’t sound like much when you’re trying to remove insects from your hair, but a couple of old towels would have worked for the cape and floor cloth, so essentially we only paid for the shampoo and a comb.  If you have more than one person to treat in your home, which is usually the case, get ready to spend a good chunk of money.

Performance:

I washed my daughter’s hair first with regular shampoo and then saturated her hair with the Nix.  There was a strong chemical smell that made me wonder what I was placing on my child’s head, but we let it sit for about 10 minutes.  After that, I rinsed her hair thoroughly and used the comb.  I did notice dead lice coming out of her hair, and when I was confident that I had the bugs out, I checked back through her head.  I noticed that the comb did not remove the nits, or eggs, of the lice.

I went back through every strand of her hair with my fingernails to ensure that no nits remained.  Nix suggests treating the hair again within a week to ensure that any nits that are left behind are taken care of, as well.  I took her bedding, stuffed animals and hair accessories and sprayed them with the lice control spray and then bagged them up to ensure that those little critters wouldn’t live through the ordeal.  I also sprayed my furniture, the mattresses, cushions, and pillows.  It has been three months and we haven’t noticed another louse problem.

Overall Rating:
Overall, since we have not had another problem, I will say that the Nix Lice Treatment worked well.  The price was terrible, as was the smell, but the performance was good.  There are also warning labels that you should be aware of that state that redness, rash, and itching can occur.  You should also see a doctor if you experience trouble breathing, an infection, or eye irritation.  Of course, don’t use this product on pregnant individuals.  Nix Lice Treatment worked well for us, even if we did pay a fortune.  I guess that’s the price of ensuring that you are not a host for tiny, blood-sucking critters!

For those of you who have experienced a head-louse infestation, you know how frustrating and even embarrassing it can be.  One thing a lot of people do is try those chemical shampoos and sprays.  While they may work for some, lice have a very interesting immunity built up to most of those products.  In this case, a more natural treatment might just be the answer.  Olive oil is a great and natural thing that can be utilized for many different conditions, including head lice.  Here are some tips on how to use olive oil to treat your head lice.

Olive Oil and Anise Oil -

By using a ½ cup of olive oil and about four or five drops of pure anise essential oil, you can create quite an effective treatment for head lice.  Olive oil is said to smother these little bugs, as well as making it very difficult for them to grip the hair strands and lay eggs.  It also helps you to remove the nits or eggs of the head lice.  Anise is a great natural insecticide that will help to get rid of head lice.  Simply rub this all over the hair and scalp, remembering to cover each section of hair and the ends.  Leave this on for 30 minutes, and then wash the hair with a regular shampoo.  It may take a few different shampoos to get the oil residue out of the hair.

Olive Oil Overnight -

Another treatment with olive oil involves covering each section of the hair in olive oil and placing a shower cap over it.  Simply go to sleep with the olive oil still on your head and wash it out in the morning.  Of course, other things need to be treated as well, such as the bedding, hats, stuffed animals, or other things that come into contact with the head.  This treatment is based on the theory that olive oil smothers the lice and in turn, they come away from the hair shaft.  This is true for the eggs as well.  You can use a very fine-tooth comb to go through each area of the hair to remove any dead lice and their eggs or nits.  Many schools will not allow children to come back until each and every nit is gone from their hair.

Olive Oil and Conditioner Combing -

Because olive oil helps remove the lice and nits from the hair shaft, using it to help comb through your child’s hair is a good idea.  Simply slather his or her head with the olive oil. Then, after you have covered every part possible, take a generous amount of conditioner and place that on the hair in addition to the olive oil.  Wait one to three hours, and use a very fine-tooth comb to go through each section of the hair. This should help you to comb out any head lice that are on your or your child’s head.  After that, rinse and wash the hair a couple of times to remove the oil.

Using olive oil treatments can save money and help you control the situation.  It also helps you keep from having to put chemicals and potentially hazardous poison on your head or your child’s head.  Use the tips above to get rid of lice effectively and safely.

If you or your little one are currently suffering with head lice, you probably understand how difficult it is to get rid of them.  Because they have been around for thousands of years, they have adapted to the point that it is darn near impossible to get completely free of these little blood-suckers’ grasps.  Speaking of their grasp, they have tiny little claws that are specifically designed to allow them to hold on come rain, snow, sleet, or the most powerful chemical you can find.  If you are searching for louse treatments without placing potent chemicals in your hair or in your child’s hair, you’ve come to the right place.  This article will discuss natural treatments for lice and how to remove them from your hair.

Essential Oils -

Many people who do not want to use potentially dangerous louse-killing chemicals swear by essential oils.  In fact, the most commonly used are anise oil and ylang ylang oil.  Both of these are known to have antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticidal properties.  In fact, in a recent study, one group of children was treated with conventional chemical shampoos while the other group was treated with these essential oils.  In both groups, 92% of children became free of head lice with both different types of treatments.  The bonus side of essential oils is that they do not come with irritating side effects the way chemical shampoos can.  Often, these come with an itchy head and a rash.  Some of these chemicals are even known to be damaging to the nervous and immune systems.

Olive Oil and Citronella -
Many people utilize a mix of these oils in order to keep bugs from gripping the hair as well as laying their eggs.  Of course, citronella is a bug repellant, and the olive oil will not hurt your child’s hair at all.  In fact, it may make the hair healthier.  The mix of these oils is said to make it easier to remove nits and eggs as well.  Even baby oil has been used to treat lice, simply by applying it and allowing it to remain for 30 minutes to an hour.  Note – You may have to wash the hair several times before the residue from the oil comes out.

Preventing Recurring Infestation -

Along with removing the nits and the bugs from your head or your child’s head, you will need to treat anything else they may have come into contact with.  Usually, this means bedding and pillows, stuffed animals, sofas or other furniture, hats, hair brushes, hair accessories, jackets and clothing.  One of the ways you can do this without chemicals is to tie everything up into garbage bags or airtight bags.  You can really only do this if you have a spare of everything.

Leave them for a month at least.  When that month has passed, give them all a thorough washing and drying.  Some people believe that drying them on high for an hour is enough to get rid of bugs and eggs on these items.  Ensuring that you treat all items will keep lice away from your head and out of your hair!