Home Remedy for Head Lice
Home remedy for head lice (Q1): Anyone have any home remedies?
Please can you help.. My child has head lice, does anyone have any home remedies that will work?
(reply by sydstranda)
Ok, seriously, I just went through this with my 4 kids and i did a ton of research. most important, DON’T buy any of the kits, they are highly toxic and don’t work well at all. this worked for all 4 kids absolutely foolproof, with no recurrance.
Get a big bottle of medicated dandruff shampoo - it MUST have coal tar in it. Sit the kid down in front of the t.v. (lol) and take about a half teaspoon at a time and rub it into their DRY hair. this will take a long time and a lot of shampoo. let it sit in the hair for about an hour then wash it all out. Coal tar can be pretty rough (turned one of my kid’s scalp red for a day), be really sure not to get it into the eyes.
You will see dead lice washing down the drain. this stuff will kill all the living lice 100%. this is only half the battle, now you have to remove the knits (eggs) or you will have a reinfestation in 3 - 8 days. while the kid is still in the tub, rinse hair with vinegar and let it sit in for about 15 minutes or until they can’t stand it. this will loosen the "glue" that attaches the knits to the hair.
Finally, put in a very generous amount of conditioner into the hair and leave it in. back to the t.v. this is the worst part - you need to buy one of the metal combs sold seperately for knit removal. you have to section the hair and comb every square millimeter as carefully as possible to remove every single knit. you will want to have some papertowels or something to wipe the comb frequently. this took me about an hour per child, it is imperative that you are extremely careful.
The whole process took about 3 hours per kid, but we got rid of all lice in one weekend and some people deal with it for years, most importantly we didn’t expose our kids to cancer causing toxins. if you miss just 2 knits, and they hatch and mate, you will be starting all over. if you see live lice again (it would take about a week) repeat the whole process.
The lice can’t live off of a head for more than 24 hours, so it isn’t really important to go crazy cleaning carpets, etc… also, the knits are really really close to the scalp so be dilligent. good luck!
p.s. i wanted to add that mayo is supposed to do the same thing as the shampoo, but you have to leave it on overnight in a bag, which is a choking hazard to small kids, and even more uncomfortable than the shampoo. trust me on this method it really works. shopping list; metal knit comb, vinegar, coal tar shampoo. that it!
(reply by David/Pilar)
There are many. Go to webMD for some of them. Olive Oil. mayo etc but the real task comes after wards. It picking the lice and their eggs out of the child’s head that can take hours and hours and if you don’t get them all the school will send them home. I have five kids and this has happened more than once sadly. What I did was shave their heads it solved problem. Sounds mean but it keeps them in school.
(reply by dodlydink)
When your child takes their bath or shower have them wash their head with regular bar bath soap and blow dry the head-lots of them cannot survive the heat and you can get a nit comb and pick them out-it’s very time consuming! Have fun! Public schools are great for spreading the little critters-make sure your child’s not picking them up from school-it can be a vicious circle!
Home remedy for head lice (Q2): Any home remedies work?
Head lice yikes... Any home remedies work, please let me know?
(reply by Michelle D)
My pediatrician suggested soaking hair in vinegar before using the Nix treatment, it loosens the glue holding the nits.
(reply by Rain32)
Cheap conditioner (suave) and a plastic grocery bag for at least a half hour. Put conditioner on your dry hair-be sure and soak your hair with it, and get around the hair line and behind the ears especially. Wrap your hair up in a plastic grocery bag, twist up the extra bag and tuck under, grab a towel -clean and wrap it around your head.
Your gonna look like you just washed your hair,in case someone comes over..lol.. After a half hour or longer-the longer you leave it on the better, comb through it with a metal lice comb-bought at your local drug store. Your gonna want the towel you had on your head to wipe the comb off as you go.
When your done you will rinse out your hair like normal. And then the next day comb through for any nits or dead bugs.-Works every time all the time. Also this is better than the nix you buy at the store, b/c your not ripping your hair out and if you have small kids this is better for them, and the kids sit still for it..
(reply by Kristen)
Mayonaisse. Completly soak their head in mayo, leave it on there for about an hour, then rinse. Then rinse again. 
. It’s really good for thick hair or for little girls with long hair, cause pulling those pick comb things through that can be hell. Anything with a high concentration of oil will work, cause Lice wont hold onto oily hair. And yes..after the initial "yuk, I have mayo in my hair" feeling goes away, it’s awesome, cause it gets rid of the lice, kills the eggs, and makes hair very silky.
(reply by mmrtnz)
There is a special shampoo that you can buy and it will kill the head lice. But it is not enough to use that shampoo. You have to remove also the eggs that is attached to the hair. The eggs looks like a tadpole in shape. Here in the Philippines, the shampoo that I am referring to is called Kwela, one bottle is enough. Also, there is a special kind of comb that will sweep the head lice out of the head.
I suggest that you seek professional help to a doctor on how you will remove those head lice. Also, be sure to clean the pillow cover, etc.
Click here for How to get rid of head lice
