Head Lice are an inevitable part of life when you have school aged children. While they’re not harmful to health as don’t spread disease, they can be incredibly annoying and sometimes even painful. They can prevent your child from being able to concentrate properly at school due to constant scratching, and once one person in the household gets them it’s not long before everyone else is infested too. So it’s important to have quick and effective methods to remove them, however it only takes one whiff of the traditional products on the market to know that whatever is inside them probably isn’t going to be the best for your child. Thankfully there are some other options instead.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil has natural antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial and even antiviral properties. Not only is it effective in killing head lice and reducing the number of live lice, it has also been shown to have repelling properties too. This is always handy for children who are in constant close contact at school where there is the chance of catching them again. A minimum of 2% tea tree is needed to kill head lice, this is higher than the concentration in most shampoos on the market and so you will need to buy a bottle of tea tree oil- you’ll find this online, or in places like health food shops. You can sprinkle some of the drops of oil onto the scalp before going to sleep (put a towel on the pillow to catch the dead lice) or make up your own high concentrate tea tree shampoo. Afterwards comb through the hair with conditioner and a fine tooth comb to make sure everything is removed. Cinnamon leaf, eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, rosemary and thyme essential oils are also useful in removing and preventing lice, although tea tree has been found to be the most effective.
Electric Lice Comb
An electric lice comb is used on dry hair. It emits a gentle hum when switched on, and detects and kills head lice. The downside to this is that it only kills the live lice and not the eggs, and so is best used in conjunction with another method to make sure the head lice life cycle is completely broken. Nevertheless, it’s a handy gadget to have in the home, and ensures you can quickly remove any lice when you see them before then can lay more eggs. Then you can just use another method to get rid of the eggs.
Non Toxic Head Lice Products
While so many head lice products on the market are teeming with chemicals (and all kinds of other nasties that you don’t want to put anywhere near your child) the good news is that there are some great safer options too. Little Bugs Hair Care for example is free of pesticides, toxic and harsh ingredients. If you don’t want the hassle of mixing up your own essential oil products then these are a good choice.
Treat All Family Members and the House
Finally, it’s important to break the cycle of head lice by making sure all members of the household (as well as the house itself) are well treated which stops re-infestation. Remove duvet covers and pillowcases and wash them on the hottest cycle your machine has. Any removable covers on soft furnishings, as well as the clothes household members were wearing can all go into the hottest wash cycle. This will kill any stray lice that are lurking there.
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