Olive Oil smothers and kills active head lice, making nit removal easier and moisturizing the hair and scalp. Part hair and apply the oil directly onto the scalp.
Go to your drugstore and buy Cetaphil cleanser in the soap department. No prescription is needed. It works by coating the lice and suffocating them. Apply the Cetaphil cleanser throughout the scalp to dry hair.
But here's the problem: Lice can actually cut off those spiracles and hold their breath for up to eight hours! Because these oils are relatively thin, the bugs are easily able to shut those breathing tubes before the oil has a chance to seep into them to block them.
The oil must remain on the head for at least 8 hours to be effective. Even though it is very likely that a single application of the oil will kill all stages (eggs, nymphs and adults) of the lice, I recommend retreatment about 7 days after the initial treatment.
Suffocate the Lice
Soak your child's head in olive oil or coconut oil. Cover with a shower cap for at least 2 hours (or preferably overnight). When ready, remove the shower cap, and separate the hair into small sections, then use a metal nit comb to carefully remove the lice and eggs. Rinse the hair well with shampoo.
Olive Oil smothers and kills active head lice, making nit removal easier and moisturizing the hair and scalp. Part hair and apply the oil directly onto the scalp. Massage into the entire scalp making sure to saturate the hair. Apply a shower cap.
View Protect yourself from the damage of chronic inflammation. First off, here's what not to do: don't shave your or your child's head, or coat it with petroleum jelly or mayonnaise or anything else designed to “suffocate” the parasite. You'll probably end up with greasy, smelly, lice-infested hair.
The conditioner does not kill lice but stuns them for about 20 minutes enabling easier removal. The long toothed metal comb will remove nits and the stunned head lice. Wipe the comb on a white tissue and check for any lice or nits. Keep combing until no more appear on the tissue.
The lauric acid in coconut oil may help kill lice. This treatment is not as effective as other over-the-counter (OTC) treatments for lice, but it's less toxic for your body. Coconut oil might be a viable option for people who can't tolerate the stronger treatments.
Tea tree oil appears to be able to kill some live lice (at least when used in conjunction with lavender oil), however we know that over-the-counter lice treatments are far more effective at killing live lice and getting rid of the eggs once an infestation has occurred.
Eucalyptus oil is believed to be an ideal treatment because it kills lice as well as their eggs. One study determined that eucalyptus oil kills 100% of lice and their eggs in just one hour.
Lindane is a hazardous insecticide used to treat head lice and scabies. Despite the established health and environmental dangers of lindane use and production—and the existence of alternatives—the chemical is still sold in most of the United States as a prescription drug.
How It Works: Baby oil not only makes suffocates the lice but also makes the hair slippery making it difficult for the eggs to remain attached to the hair.
Dish soap, like Dawn, does not kill lice. But it may help remove the bug-suffocating glop—olive oil or Vaseline—that parents slather into their kids' hair by cutting through the greasy mess left behind.
Avoid sleeping in the same bed as the person with an active lice infestation. Avoid sitting where the person with lice has sat in the past two days. Wash linens and clothing in hot water and dry on high heat. Place stuffed animals, pillows and items that cannot be washed into an airtight bag for two weeks.
Head lice survive less than one or two days if they fall off the scalp and cannot feed. Head lice eggs (nits) cannot hatch and usually die within a week if they do not remain under ideal conditions of heat and humidity similar to those found close to the human scalp.
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly. Lice infestations must first be treated by improving the hygiene of the infected person.
They found vinegar was actually the least effective treatment method for getting rid of lice or suppressing the hatching of nits. Vinegar wasn't the only home remedy that didn't do well. No home treatment prevented lice from laying eggs. Even with prolonged exposure, most home remedies were unable to kill nits.
The combination of olive and tea tree oils nourishes the scalp and reduces head lice. Lavender oil, vodka, or rubbing alcohol mixed with tea tree oil work best for head lice. However, there are a few side effects, like allergic reactions, associated with tea tree oil.
Sometimes it will be easier to remove the nits if you wet the hair with white vinegar while you are combing the nits out. Vinegar helps loosen the "glue" that holds the nits to the hair. Separate and comb small sections of hair at a time.
Heat Method:
Products such as Lousebuster are very effective but even a home hairdryer can successfully treat lice. DO NOT USE HAIRDRYER WITH MEDICATED TREATMENTS OR TREATMENTS THAT CONTAIN ALCOHOL--THESE PRODUCTS CAN CAUSE FIRE AND SEVERE BURNS TO YOUR CHILD!
Body lice, close relatives of head lice, die when exposed for 5 min to a blow dryer delivering air at 50°C. Researchers in Salt Lake City, USA (Brad M Goates and colleagues. Pediatrics 2006;118:1962–70) have assessed six different methods of killing head lice using hot air.
Some believe it will make the lice weak so lice can be brushed out of the hair more quickly. However, rubbing alcohol is not an FDA-approved treatment for head lice. Nor has it been proven to have any effect on head lice.
Some concentrations and ingredients may be harmful for some people. Some people also use things such as petroleum jelly, margarine, peanut butter, hair gel, mayonnaise, or cooking oils (e.g. olive, corn, canola). These do not kill lice.
Smothering agents: There are several common home products that may kill lice by depriving them of air and smothering them. These products include petroleum jelly (Vaseline), olive oil, butter, or mayonnaise. Any of these products may be applied to the scalp and hair, covered with a shower cap, and left on overnight.