Lice Treatments

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With children back to school, I'm wondering if you could recommend any non-toxic lice treatments.

Michelle Lynde · alive Expert Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

Contrary to popular belief, anyone can get lice. These tiny but visible insects and their eggs (called "nits" ) don't spread disease and don't indicate a lack of personal hygiene. Lice are easily transmitted from person to person through the shared use of personal items such as hairbrushes, hats and headphones, and by direct contact with contaminated surfaces such as clothing, bedding, carpets and upholstered furniture.

Once lice are discovered, it's important to take action quickly to keep them from spreading. All affected clothing and linen should be washed in hot water and dried in the dryer on a hot setting. Combs and brushes should be washed in hot, soapy water, rinsed and left to soak. Items that cannot be laundered such as bicycle helmets, pillows, stuffed animals and headphones should be sealed in plastic bags and left untouched for at least three weeks. Carpets and furniture require a thorough vacuuming and steam cleaning.

Numerous prescription and over-the-counter products are available to help rid the hair and scalp of lice and nits, but many of these are potentially toxic–especially to young children and those with sensitive skin. Fortunately, there are a variety of effective natural alternatives to choose from, many of which are available at health food stores.

The tea or diluted fresh plant tincture made from the leaves of the Ledum groenlandicum (Labrador tea) plant can be applied as a rinse to help kill lice. Apple cider vinegar used as a rinse after shampooing will help to loosen the nits from the hair shafts, allowing for more ease in combing them out.

Mix together one teaspoon (5 millilitres) of tea tree oil and one teaspoon (5 ml) of rosemary or eucalyptus essential oil with three tablespoons (45 ml) of olive oil and add a small amount of your regular shampoo. Massage into the hair, cover with a shower cap or plastic bag and leave on for at least 30 minutes. Rinse well.

"Nit picking" is an efficient process of manually removing the live and dead lice and nits using a metal nit comb (a fine-tooth comb especially for this purpose). It is best to separate the hair into small sections and rinse the comb in soapy water after each stroke. All of these non-toxic natural remedies need to be repeated daily to ensure that all the adult lice and nits have been removed.

Nat · Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 2

I wash my children's hair with tea tree shampoo to prevent them from getting lice if I hear about any problems in the school.