Head Lice Treatments to Treat Nits

If someone in your home has been diagnosed with a head lice condition, there is no need to panic; however, there is a need to act quickly. Pillows, bedding, and furniture must be treated right away because this is where the parasitic creatures may have departed the infected head in wait for the next head to come along. This is one of the reasons that the condition is so very contagious. You must also treat the infected person, and in your quest for head lice treatments, you have a few options.

Traditional Over The Counter Treatments

Possibly the most popular head lice treatments on the market today are those that our mothers used when we were little. They are chemical treatments that include pesticide as their active ingredient. These head lice treatments kill adult and young lice, but have no effect on the eggs, or nits. For this reason, the treatment must be re-applied in five days to kill the newly hatched parasites.

These are very harsh head lice treatments, and they could burn the skin and damage the hair. Of course, these have always been side effects that we figured we could live with because the treatments worked so well. However, as lice have evolved, they have become resilient to these treatments, making it harder and harder to get rid of the little pests for good.

Home Remedies For Lice

Parents seeking chemical free head lice treatments have found a few remedies that work, including mayonnaise wraps, vinegar washes, and Listerine mouthwash. These remedies have all been known to work without using chemical based over the counter solutions.

While each of these has been known to work over a course of days of treatment, each has its own drawbacks. Mayonnaise is a very messy treatment, and Listerine can cause almost overwhelming burning in the scalp for some. The fact is that over the counter pesticide based head lice treatments are more consistently successful.

Natural Shampoos

Fairly new on the market, natural head lice treatments in the form of enzyme based shampoos seem to combine the advantages of pesticide based treatments and home remedies. They are actually made of an enzyme that is produced by the lice themselves, which ensure they will not develop a resistance to them, and these shampoos actually work on the nits as well. You do not have to wait for the nits to hatch and then treat again.