Those little red bumps on your child’s head have turned out to be lice, and she has been sent home from school. Millions of school children catch lice every year, usually from one of their classmates. However, there are a lot of efficient natural head lice treatments you can use from the comfort of your own home.
It’s up to you to find the best way to get rid of them. You want to alleviate the itching and the discomfort your child is feeling as soon as possible. You also want to use a product that is safe and natural.
We want to share several basic, non-chemical remedies. These are simple and most of them can be prepared and applied in the privacy of your own home.
1. Vacuum Cleaner Head Lice Treatment
AirAllé has a very high success rate in ridding the hair and scalp of lice and their eggs, also called nits. One hour is all it takes to rid your child of lice using this device. In most cases, 100% of the lice eggs and about 80% of the hatched lice are terminated by this machine.
AirAllé® (formerly known as the Louse Buster) looks like a vacuum cleaner, but it’s a concentrated blow dryer. AirAllé is the only medical device cleared by the FDA to deal with head lice.
Lice Clinics of America uses this tool in its three-step process to eliminate lice. Watch this short video to see how they can rid your child of lice in one hour.
However, you could also opt for another vacuum cleaner that is safe for hair.
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2. Neem Oil Mixed with Shampoo Head Lice Treatment
The Neem leaves and the oil made from its leaves can do wonders to help alleviate head lice. Neem oil can be mixed into your shampoo. Wash your child’s hair with this several times a week for the next month.
You might also find soaps with neem oil.
The plant contains a natural compound that keeps the lice from breathing, eventually killing them.
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3. Essential Oils Head Lice Treatments
These bugs have begun to gain some resistance to the traditional over-the-counter lice treatments. However, they have shown no ability to resist essential oils. These have been an effective means of killing lice and nits.
There are five or six oils that work, but the most useful are tea tree and eucalyptus oils. The tea tree oil has been noted to kill 100% of the live lice in an infestation in only 30 minutes. Phillip J. Gregory, PharmD, addresses the use of tea tree and other essential oils as useful in the treatment and prevention of lice infestations.
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To use one of these oils, add 20 drops of essential oil to your shampoo. Wash the hair with this infused shampoo. Follow that with a rinse of apple cider vinegar. That will raise the ability to kill more lice.
4. Apple Cider Vinegar and Coconut Oil Head Lice Treatments
Rinse the hair with apple cider vinegar. When it dries completely, slather on the coconut oil, fully covering the hair and scalp to suffocate the lice.
All the hair must be placed in a shower camp which should be worn for eight hours. Comb the oil-covered hair with a nit comb before washing it. Use a blow dryer to kill more lice.
This vinegar and coconut oil treatment will need to be repeated once or twice every seven days over the next three weeks. It will ensure all the lice and nits have been killed.
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5. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is made of naturally occurring soft, porous fossils that are easy to crumble into a powder. Use as a non-toxic means of ridding a person of head lice.
Place a towel or sheet around the neck and shoulders. Carefully smooth the DE onto the scalp. Be careful to keep the dust from getting under the towel. Massage the DE into your child’s scalp.
Tie an old scarf or piece of cloth around her head and leave it on overnight. Wash the hair in the morning followed by a meticulous combing. Repeat this process every 7 days for the next 3 weeks.
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6. Lice or Nit Comb
Using a lice comb is one of the most effective tools in fighting a lice infestation. You must adhere to certain rules when combing the hair to rid your child of lice. The Head Lice Center outlines in detail what is required to eliminate head lice using a nit comb.
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Make sure to cover the shoulders and back with a white towel. Lice are easier to see on the white towel or sheet. After washing the hair and dividing it into small sections, starting at the very edge of the scalp, draw the metal lice comb through to the end of the hair.
Continue this way until every section of hair has been combed from every angle. It may take a couple of hours to comb through her hair which can be frustrating for a child. Try to have something that will entertain her to help the time pass faster.
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When you have finished, make sure to run all the towels and clothes through the wash on a hot water setting. Dry them in a hot dryer to kill any nits or lice. Wash the comb in very hot water. If you have a metal comb, boil it in hot water.
6. Saline-Based Lice Spray
A saline-based spray can decimate lice and their eggs immediately. You should spray this solution on your child’s hair and scalp before bedtime. Wash their hair in the morning as usual.
Saline-Based Lice Sprays are a homeopathic way to deal with lice infestations. They can be found under a few different brand names in your local drugstore or purchased from an online vendor.
7. A Little Dab Will Do
Mayonnaise will suffocate lice and nits. You will need to cover your child’s head generously with mayonnaise and put a shower cap on their head. They will have to leave it on for six hours.
At that point, you can shampoo their hair as many times as needed and blow it dry. The heat from the blow dryer will kill off some of the lice that survived the initial treatment.
Comb through the hair with a nit comb to remove the lice. This process will have to be repeated once every seven days for the following two months.
8. Garlic Head Lice Treatments
Make a paste from 10-12 cloves of garlic and 2-3 teaspoons of lime juice. Grind them into a fine paste. Smooth the paste onto the scalp. The lice will be repulsed and drawn out by the potent scent of the garlic.
Leave it to sit for about 30 minutes. Shampoo completely to make sure all of the garlic is removed. Repeat this procedure every day for one week.
Eating a lot of raw garlic or taking a garlic capsule every day will help to get rid of the lice. Rubbing garlic oil onto the scalp will also help to destroy any remaining lice.
9. A Daily Glass of Orange Juice Keeps You Healthy
You must use 100% pure orange juice. Pour it onto the scalp and work it through the hair. Place a shower cap on your child’s head and leave it on for 40 minutes.
You will then need to comb through their hair using a nit comb to loosen and remove the dead lice and nits. Rinse the scalp and hair with warm water followed by a thorough shampoo and conditioning treatment. Finally, comb through their hair one last time.
10. Alcohol Head Lice Treatments
Any kind of alcohol will work, including rubbing alcohol. It will kill the head lice and dissolve the glue-like substance the nits leave on the hair.
Pour the rubbing alcohol over your child’s head and massage it into their scalp and hair. (For the younger children, it’s possible to use cotton balls to apply the alcohol to their scalp and hair.)
Let it sit for several minutes and add a hair conditioner to the scalp. Comb thoroughly with a nit comb and wash the hair as usual. This procedure must be repeated once a week for the next one to two months.
Due to the high flammability of alcohol, be careful to keep the person being treated away from a hairdryer, any kind of curling iron, or any open flame (including cigarettes) until their hair has been carefully washed.
11. White Vinegar Home Remedy for Head Lice
According to Joan Sawyer, author of, “Head Lice to Dead Lice,” “white vinegar doesn’t kill head lice, but instead … dissolves the cement-like solution that secures the lice eggs to your hair.”
The eggs will be much easier to remove by using a nit comb. To use the white vinegar solution, mix one part white vinegar with one part water. Apply this to the head and work it through the hair. Next, follow the instructions for the other application you choose.
What Are Lice?
Head lice are an extremely contagious insect parasite. They are essentially harmless and don’t carry diseases. These microscopic insects live within hair and lie close to the scalp.
In order to survive, head lice must feed off another living body. Their source of food is human blood and they retrieve this from the human scalp. Head live are unable to fly and struggle to survive in water for very long away from their host. In fact, they cling onto hair strands for dear life whenever the host bathes.
But where do head lice come from in the first place?
Geographic Origins
Human head lice are categorized into different clades based on their genetic makeup. A clade is classed as a group of organisms that are not genetically identical to each other but share a common ancestor.
The clades of human head lice are named A, B, and C. They all have different geographic distribution and varying genetic characteristics. It is thought that clade B head lice originated in North America, but migrated to different parts of the world including Australia and Europe.
How Are Lice Transmitted?
Head lice are transmitted from one host to another host through close contact. This generally means head to head contact between an infected person and a non-infested person. Sharing things like combs, hairbrushes, towels, hats, and other personal items can also spread lice. Lice travel by crawling.
Get Rid of Head Lice Today!
A head lice infestation is a frustrating thing for your child and the whole family. We have offered a number of natural methods of dealing with lice without resorting to the use of harsh chemicals.
Try one or more of these home remedies, maybe starting with ingredients you already have in your home. You will find that one or more of them will certainly help you safely eliminate the lice from anyone in your family.