How You Should Use Essential Oils for Head Lice Treatment

Lice are very likely to infest a child or an adult no matter how much he/she cares for hygiene. It really makes you panic when you realize that someone of your family has got infested with lice. You start looking for the best ways to get rid of the lice. You find many manual, natural and chemical ways to do so, but what to choose is the question. The use of natural oils has been found a very effective way to remove lice and nits from human head. It may be very rewarding if you apply tea tree oil for lice and coconut oil for lice for the treatment of head lice found in you or your child.

• Tea tree oil

Filled with powerful antiseptic properties, tea tree oil has been found very effective against the head lice. A practical research has proved that a 1% tea tree oil solution is enough to kill 100 percent head lice within 30 minutes after its application. Being very strong in its effect, it may hurt the sensitive skin of some people. So, you must apply it to a small area first just to check the sensitivity of your child's skin or that of yours. If you find it affecting adversely, you may dilute it by mixing a good amount of carrier oil like vegetable, olive or almond oil with a ratio of three tablespoons to one tablespoon of tea tree oil. Two to three applications a week will smother all the lice and nits to kill them and then you can remove them through combing your hair section-wise for the best results.

• Coconut oil  

The successful smothering technique is fruitful with the coconut oil as well. Leaving it on the hair for at least two or more hours will suffocate the lice and loosen the grip of nits onto the hair. Then you may wash the hair with a shampoo of some fine quality and comb out all the lice and nits from the head. Again, the smothering technique may not be as effective against the nits as it is against the adult lice. So, repeating the treatment for a few more times is necessary to get the desired results. The antiseptics and the antioxidants present in coconut oil are not hazardous to the human skin and cause no irritation or allergy to even the most sensitive head skins.

• Neem oil

Though very ill smelling, this natural oil has shown marvelous results when applied against lice and nits. Application of Neem oil disrupts the life cycle of a louse and it is killed then and there, making the oil a strong insect repellent. You may either buy some Neem-oil based shampoo from the market or mix 8 to 10 drops of this essential oil with one ounce of your regular shampoo. Apply and leave the mixture on your hair for around 20 minutes and then wash your head thoroughly and efficiently to remove all lice and nits. Repeat the whole process at least twice a week to get the best results.