Effective Home Remedies For Head Lice

Head lice should be taken seriously, there are a lot of treatments available to the general public, most of them are quite efficient if done correctly, but some of them are chemical and can have side-effects.

For example, do you know what kind of substance you are putting on your child’s head when you are using head lice shampoo? That the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends Nix as the most effective treatment for head lice, does not mean it is actually the most effective and anyway you are still using pesticides. While some people feel like chemical products are the best and only way to get rid of head lice, other people definitely want to look for other solutions.

If you do some research you can quickly come up with a long list of home remedies and natural treatments against head lice, but not all of them will actually work. This depends on the type of remedy, on the degree of the lice infestation you are facing, and on the way you do the treatment, as a good treatment will not work if not done correctly. Here are some remedies that have been tested and have proven to work, whether empirically or scientifically.

Some essential oils have proven to effectively fight head lice. You can also do it yourself at home by following this recipe: Mix 2 ml of lavender essential oil with 1 ml of essential oil of peppermint. Add 1ml of melaleuca essential oil and 1 ml of tea tree essential oil. Then add 10 ml of alcohol 40 degrees. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray the neck and temples every morning as a prevention measure. You can also spray hats and scarves to prevent the risk of transmission. If your hair is already infested, spray 12 times on your head and rub your hair and scalp. Then comb your hair section by section with a head lice comb to remove dead lice as well as nits.

Another head lice home remedy that works well is olive oil. You can put together one liter of olive oil, 20 drops of lavender essential oil, 20 drops of geranium essential oil, 2 sprigs of rosemary and a few mint leaves (optional, as this is only for the flavor). Apply this mixture to dry hair after brushing it. Then you’ll want to comb the hair in order to distribute the mixture, especially if you are dealing with long hair. Leave the product about 24 hours and make 2 normal shampoos to remove the fatty oil.

A cheap and effective method to fight head lice is to use alcohol (flavored with lemon or orange) that you can put on your children's hair. Of course you have to be very careful so as not to pour it into their eyes! But it is highly effective because head lice die within minutes and the hair stays shiny.

Eventually, if your goal is to prevent lice from coming back, a good measure against lice is to put a few drops of lavender oil on the collar of your kid’s shirts. Lice hate the smell and this will keep them away.

Most head lice home remedies do work, in spite of what you will sometimes read or what people will tell you. If you choose to use them, remember that their effectiveness will depend mainly on your ability to prepare and apply them correctly.