Inexpensive Home Remedy for Head Lice

Now that the kids are in school and the weather is cooling off, parasites are looking for a nice warm place to reside. Unfortunately our children's heads are the perfect host for these little critters. Fortunately they don't carry disease. They just itch like crazy and they are disgusting! No child is immune, even kids with impeccable hygiene can get head lice. Although my son never got them, we believe it was due to the massive amounts of hair gel he wore! Nothing could have lived in that!

If your child comes home scratching their head, take a look at their hair shaft over their ears or towards the back of their neck. If you see little white oval shaped eggs and or insects the size of sesame seeds crawling around. Don't (I repeat...DON'T! ) reach for any of the products at your local pharmacy! They are immune to the chemicals and you'll be wasting your money, and the stuff isn't cheap! I found this out the hard way! Do buy yourself one of the lice combs as you will need this to remove the eggs.

The insecticides used to treat head lice are usually strong chemicals with the potential to cause side-effects such as more scalp irritation. Some types of these insecticides are:

malathion (eg Quellada M)4,6
phenothrin (eg Full Marks)4,6
permethrin (eg Lyclear)4,6
Another type, carbaryl (eg Carylderm), is only available on prescription. Experts recommend that it should be saved for infections that are not cleared by other insecticides.

Insecticides for treating lice are available in lotions, liquids or cream rinses. Shampoos are also available but these are not considered effective. The most effective insecticides are alcohol-based lotions, but these are not suitable for everyone, particularly people with severe eczema or asthma.5

Liquids or cream rinses are water-based and are recommended for young children and for people who get asthma or eczema.5 If you are pregnant or breast-feeding you should check with your doctor or health visitor before using insecticides, which should also be avoided for children aged under two.2

You should follow the instructions carefully. Usually the insecticide lotion should be rubbed onto your, or your child's, scalp and hair and left for a minimum of 12 hours before you wash it out.

This will kill the living lice, but may not kill the eggs. The treatment therefore needs to be repeated a week later to destroy any lice that have hatched since the first treatment. Even this I tried and found to be a waste of time and money!

The only remedy that I found to work, is good old fashion mayo and apple cider vinegar. Yes, that is all you will need, that and alot of patience!

What you will need to do is, cover your child's hair with the mayo and then cover their hair with a plastic shopping bag to keep the greasy mayo from getting on clothing and bed linens. Cover their pillow with a plastic pillow cover then an old pillow case that you don't mind throwing out after this nightmare is over. Have your child sleep with the mayo in their hair. In the morning rinse the mayo out with apple cider vinegar and wash with shampoo and conditioner. Then take a cup of boiling water and dip the comb in the water and comb any eggs you see out. Heating up the comb first will help disolve the glue that lice use to attach the eggs to the hair shaft. Seperate thin sections of hair and double check to make sure you get as many as you can!

If you do this process while your child's hair is still wet the eggs will show up better, as they appear shiny and are easier to find. Now skip a day, and repeat this process, then skip another day and repeat the process one last time. Your child should be lice free and your nightmare should be over. What this treatment does, is it interrupts the head lice's breeding cycle by killing the adults with the mayo (it smothers them) and the vinegar breaks down their external shell. Removing the eggs keeps new adults from appearing and if they do, you'll be killing them with mayo the next day, so they won't get the chance to breed.

Nymphs are smaller and become adult lice about 7 days after they hatch. Most lice feed on blood about every 4 to 6 hours, and they can survive up to 3 days off the scalp. Fortunately they like to stay on a warm head rather than move into your furniture or rugs. Make sure to wash all bed linens and clothing that's been recently worn by anyone in your home who's infested in very hot water (130 degrees Fahrenheit, or 54.4 degrees Celsius) then put them in the hot cycle of the dryer for at least 20 minutes. Dry clean any clothing that isn't machine washable. Have bed linens, clothing, and stuffed animals and plush toys that can't be washed dry-cleaned. Or, put them in airtight bags for 2 weeks. Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture (in your home or car). Soak hair-care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands, headbands, and brushes in rubbing alcohol or medicated shampoo for 1 hour. You can also wash them in hot water or just throw them away and buy new ones.

Some ways to try and prevent your children from getting head lice are, to tell your child not to share combs, brushes or hair decorations. Tell your children not to try on hats that belong to other children. If your child will be sleeping away from home, be sure to pack his or her own pillow and towels. Ban any sleepovers until all signs of lice are gone. Do a head check everyday even after treatment to ensure they are eliminated.

Some signs of an infestation are, frequent scratching, small red bumps or sores on the scalp, neck and shoulders, bothersome rashes with crusting and oozing may develop. It's also not unusual for kids to develop some swelling of their lymph glands. If you think someone in your family has head lice, it's probably best to check everyone in the family. If you're not sure, then by all means check with your family doctor.

This mayo and vinegar treatment not only works well, but it will also leave your child's hair feeling nice and soft (unlike the chemicals) and is very affordable. So if you ever find your family has become the unfortunate hosts to these nasty little parasites. You can feel more fortunate now that you have found this great home remedy that not only works, but will also save your sanity!