Best ways for head lice treatment are usage of garlic, petroleum jelly, olive oil, vinegar, baking soda, neem oil, dry heat and salt & vinegar mixture.

What does head lice look like?

When parents see even a tiny speck of moving foreign body on their child’s head, it is enough the send them in a mini panic mode thinking it is lice. So it is necessary to know what a head lice looks like and when you can be sure that it is indeed an attack of the lice’s.

Lice is a tiny parasite which is usually the size of a sesame seed and it survives by pricking the skin of the scalp and consuming some amounts of blood. Their color actually varies. They are usually the color of the host’s hair, thus camouflaging in and making it difficult to identify them easily.

You can however see them along the hairline, behind the ears and the back of neck.  The lice proliferate by laying eggs and then the eggs give rise to new lice. Lice are usually commonly seen in school – going children.

Read More: How To Get Rid Of Lice in a Day? | 11 Quick Home Remedies

Best Home Remedies for Head Lice Treatment in Kids

The problem with lice infested hair is, it leads to incessant itching of the scalp. Lice however are not known to spread any infections among humans. Knowing all this it is best to know treatment methods too which you can follow to help rid your child’s head of these nuisance.

The comb – out method

It is a very basic method and can be used as a method to check if the lice are present. You can follow these simple steps-

• Wet your child’s hair
• Use a fine tooth comb and brush it through your child’s hair in small sections.
• Make sure that the comb goes deep and slightly scratches the scalp to be effective in picking out any head lice.
• Wipe the comb on a towel and then keep repeating this until you’ve combed through all of your child’s hair.

Read More: Head Lice Prevention: 11 Things Every Parent Should Do

Garlic

Garlic is a very well known ingredient used for several health ailments owing to its several beneficial factors. You can use garlic to kill the lice too.

• Take eight to ten cloves of garlic with lemon juice.
• Grind them to a paste and apply it on the scalp.
• Leave it for 30 minutes
• Wash it off with hot water.

Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline)

The use of Petroleum jelly or Vaseline is not just limited to that of a moisturizer and can be used to treat lice too. Petroleum jelly acts as a deterrent and stops the movement of lice. Apply it on the scalp and cover it with a shower cap before going to sleep. In the morning use baby oil and a comb to comb away the dead lices.

Read More: 11 Homemade Conditioners for Infant’s Healthy Baby Hair Growth

Vinegar

You can use distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar and apply it on the scalp. Leave it for a while and then rinse it off with water.

Olive oil

Apply olive oil to your child’s head until its completely saturated. This suffocates the lice and its eggs due to no breathing space. After 15 to 20 minutes comb through the hair to remove all the dead lices. Then shampoo sufficiently to wash off the excess oil. It is better to keep repeating this until your child’s head is free of the lices.

Baking soda

It is another effective way to suffocate the lices and help rid your child’s head of lices. Take one – part of baking soda and three – parts of hair conditioner. Apply this mixture on the hair and comb through the hair in sections. Wipe the comb off the dead lices on a towel and keep combing until you’ve covered all the hair sections. Keep repeating this to acquire complete riddance from the lices.

Salt and vinegar mixture

Salt is an anti – septic and vinegar prevents them from latching onto the hair strands. You can use these to your advantage. Take this mixture in a spray bottle and spray it on your child’s scalp and hair. Then rinse it off.

Neem oil

You can add few drops of neem oil to your child’s regular shampoo and wash the hair properly. Then comb through the hair with a fine comb in sections of the hair to pick out the dead lices. Follow this method for a few times to get rid of the lices.

Dry heat

Lices cannot survive in hot temperature. You can use this to your benefit and use hot air dry for our child’s scalp.

Do’s when affected by head lice

• Do check everyone in the house for head lice. Lice are easily transferred from one person to other so it is best to take precaution.
• Do wash the clothes, towels properly.
• Do find an effective, safe treatment for head lice. You can follow some of the home remedies to chose your pick or consult a professional.
• Do inform others who’ve been in contact with your child of the lice infestation. This is necessary to control the spread of the lices.

Don’ts when affected by head lice

• Don’t wait to start treating the head lice. As soon as you suspect it, start taking effective treatment measures to prevent its excessive growth.
• Don’t use chemicals such as permethrin. Many strains of head lices have grown resistant to this and this just proves to be an ineffective method.
• Don’t share towels, clothes as this leads to an easy way of transferring lice from one to another.

Conclusion

Head lice in children are quite an irritating infestation. It is because it is very easily spread, causes incessant itching and the worst part being they easily camouflage in the head by being the color of the host’s hair!  You can be sure if it is a head lice disturbing your child by the comb out – method.

If it is head lice then do not panic. You can follow certain treatment methods to get rid of lices – vinegar, baking soda, olive oil, Petroleum jelly, neem oil, dry heat, salt, garlic, etc. you will have to keep repeating them quite a few times to get complete riddance of this nuisance.

References

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/from-insects-animals/Pages/Signs-of-Lice.aspx

Head Lice Do’s & Don’ts