Head lice are one of the most frustrating situations to face. It’s horrible to receive the call from the school that informs you of your child’s condition. The sense of failure is heavy regardless of how careful you are about household cleanliness and your children’s hygiene. Further frustration mounts as you are faced with the need to eradicate the creatures from your home and from your youngster’s head. A trip down the remedy section at the drugstore is often just as devastating. Most remedies sold involve painful combs and dangerous insecticides. No parent wants to apply an insecticide directly to the head of a child. There are, fortunately, some natural approaches in getting rid of lice.
Most natural remedies for head lice include the need to comb through the hair with a fine-toothed nit comb. Chemical remedy kits often include these combs, but it’s also possible to find them sold separately. Other companies create electronic nit combs that are intended to kill the lice during the combing process. These can be ineffective and expensive. If you can’t find an individually sold nit comb, obtain a comb with fine teeth in order to conduct the most thorough combing possible.
One of the simplest products to obtain and apply to your child’s head is baby shampoo. Sold in bulk packaging, this can be an inexpensive product that isn’t nearly as dangerous as pesticides. Pour an abundant supply on your child’s head and work it in. Allow it to remain in place for as long as half an hour. Rinse the shampoo out and comb through the hair thoroughly to remove lice and nits. Repeat the process daily for a two week period. It is important to note that the hair can be difficult to comb through at first with this method. Use a large-toothed comb to remove tangles before continuing with a small-toothed comb.
Similar methods involve the application of olive oil or mayonnaise to the hair. Allowing the suffocating effects of these materials to work on adult lice allows the killing of the small pests. It’s important to leave the oil or mayonnaise in place for at least 30 minutes. After this time period has elapsed, begin combing through the hair is small sections, working from the scalp to the end of the hair to remove all dead lice and nits. Have paper towels handy to remove material from the comb after each pass through the hair. After completing treatment, shampoo to remove excess oil or mayonnaise. It’s important to understand that the greasy nature of these materials may require more than one shampooing in order to effectively clean the hair. It’s also important to realize that olive oil can be an expensive treatment.
Hair conditioner works especially well as a pesticide-free approach to removing lice and nits. As in these other methods, soak your child’s head in conditioner and allow it to remain in place for at least 30 minutes. Begin combing small sections with a nit comb. Work from scalp to ends in small sections, pinning completed sections out of the way. Use a paper towel to wipe the comb in order to remove dead lice and nits along with excess conditioner. Upon completion, shampoo your child’s head to remove excess conditioner. Conditioners can be much more affordable than some of the previously mentioned products. You can select a natural conditioner or a favorite conditioner in order to use a scent that appeals or a product that you trust. One of the best added results of this method is that it can be performed daily over a two week period, allowing for inexpensive frequent treatment that provides a level of prevention in removing any missed adult lice or newly hatched lice. A two week time frame encompasses the time a newly laid egg requires to hatch.
There are commercial products available that incorporate the conditioner approach. In fact, some of the same ingredients included in conditioners that have strong records of safety for use on children are also incorporated into the commercial lice removal products. Much the same approach is used to treat the hair and remove the lice without the need for harmful chemicals. While the products aren’t necessarily all natural, they lend credence to the validity of removal with natural conditioners.
In all cases, it’s important to check other members of the family for infestation. Lice don’t survive long off the body, so it’s not necessary to treat every little recess of your home. It is important to monitor and clean bedding, pillows and furniture that your child uses frequently. It is also essential to check daily for further evidence of lice and nits. If you think your child may have been exposed to a situation in which lice were present, preventive treatment with one of these non-pesticide approaches can help in assuring yourself that your child is free of lice.