How to Treat Head Lice

Is your child's scalp infested with lice? Research shows that about 6 to 12 million kids in US get head lice each year. You are very likely to get worried about it and are frantically looking for a solution that can help you get rid of lice from your kids' head. If you are tempted to use Rx insecticides, then be warned that they can be toxic. But, the good news is that there are some tried and tested home remedies and methods that can help in treating lice.

The first and perhaps the most common method people resort to get rid of lice is to use a lice comb on the child's hair twice every day for a month. It can give you the desired result most of the time. You can combine this combing ritual with some easy home treatments.Most home treatments basically works towards immobilizing the lice thereby suffocating them and hence easier to catch.

We are listing some of the simplest yet effective treatments below.

–          Medicated Shampoos: There are several medicated shampoos available in pharmacies that are designed to kill lice. They are effective in some cases. However, it is seen that lice are becoming more and more resistant to them. So, along with shampooing hair with it, nitpicking and combing is also needed.

–          Rinsing the Hair with Vinegar: Vinegar is known to dissolve the bodies of dead nits. After you have taken a head bath rinse your hairs with 50% vinegar and 50% water. Wash your hairs with plain water a couple of times to get rid of the smell of vinegar.

–          Olive oil and Vinegar Hair Mask: Mix half cup vinegar and half cup olive oil. Apply this mixture to the hairs and scalp of your kid about an hour before bath and put on a shower cap. Wash the hairs after an hour with the regular shampoo.

–          Petroleum jelly: Roaming lice will get immobilized if you apply a thick layer of petroleum jelly to the scalp and keep it overnight.  In the morning use baby oil to remove the petroleum jelly. Lice will also get removed in the process. Repeating this process for a week in a row can give good results. The down side of this process is that you will have to shampoo the hairs quite many times to get rid of all the jelly.

–          Essential Oils: Essential oils are known to be quite effective in treating lice. One effective recipe for making an oil mask for treating lice is combining 20 drops tea-tree oil, 10 drops rosemary oil, and 15 drops each of lemon and lavender oil mixed into 4 tablespoons vegetable oil. The prepared oil mixture should then be rubbed into the hair and left for an hour or more before washing hairs.

By following the above mentioned method, one can get rid of lice to a great extent. It is also advisable to have separate combs and brushes for everyone in the family. If one has lice and a common comb is used, then it can easily spread to other members of the family.

References

https://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/home-remedies-for-head-lice

https://www.medicinenet.com/head_lice/article.htm