Home Remedies for Head Lice

Ever seen people, especially children, scratching their head persistently? Well, they certainly put you on guard, for you know the only reason why one would do so is because of that pesky little thing called head louse that makes the scalp its home.

dry-hair-home-rememdy

If you think this is gross, just see the head louse picture and you’d understand why this infestation is so repulsive. However, the good news is there are plenty of treatments available and you need not confine yourself to over-the-counter ones. There are some swell home remedies for treating head louse too.

Head lice infection

The bad news is lice can infest people of all ages and prefer clean hair to lay its eggs in! This is because the head louse nits or eggs, stick better to cleaner hairs than oily ones. You’d believe they’re spread by direct physical contact with an infected person; the truth is they can step aboard through the use of shared personal items, like comb, hair brush, towels, bed linen, and the like.

The head lice symptoms, of course, are unmistakable – an intense itching on the scalp and the back of the neck. If you examine an infected person’s scalp, the nape of the neck or above the ears, you would find small white nits attached firmly to the hair shafts. This is a sure giveaway of lice infestation. The bad news is these nits cannot be dusted off like dandruff. Adult head lice can cause severe irritation through the action of its saliva.

Home remedy for hair lice

The shampoos and lotions available with the pharmacists are best avoided, as these have harmful chemicals that can adversely affect your scalp and hair. Head louse home remedy treatment is time tested, safe and effective. Let’s see what all it includes:


ghr-lice2

a. Mayonnaise:

Apply mayonnaise thoroughly to the scalp and cover the hair with a plastic bag. Leave it for one hour and heat it with a blow dryer for 5 minutes. Rinse the hair and apply regular hair gel. Use a fine-toothed comb to remove nits and lice.

b. Vinegar:

Vinegar is an excellent home remedy for killing head louse. Simply wash your hair with vinegar and it’ll kill all the lice within two days!

c. Tea tree oil and olive oil:

Mix olive oil with tea tree oil and apply to the hair and rub into the scalp. Wait for half-an-hour or an hour before washing. Now, wash the hair to remove the oil and rinse the hair again with vinegar. This would loosen the ‘glue’ holding the nits to the hair shaft. Finally comb the hair to get rid of any remaining lice.

d. Neem oil or neem leaves:

Work neem oil into the hair and let it remain for an hour or so. Shampoo and comb the hair to remove dead lice. If neem leaves are available, boil a handful and soak the head in the neem water, of course, after the water cools down a bit! Now, rinse with plain water. This ‘bitter’ remedy will clear the lice from the hair.

e. Olive oil:

Soak the hair in olive oil and leave it overnight. Wash hair normally to get rid of the oil. This done, rinse now with white vinegar and let it remain for 5 minutes. Afterwards, rinse the hair with lukewarm water to remove the vinegar. This is an effective home remedy to get rid of head louse.

Head lice is something everyone has to contend with at least once in one’s lifetime. However, if you are careful, you can be spared this embarrassing infestation. But, if you do get it, then instead of scratching your head off, use these home remedies, but consult your physician first.

123 CommentsPosted in Mental Health, Pest Control
← Older Comments
  • Sharon

    I just posted I meant to say got the dreaded call from the school about a week and a half ago. Today we are retreating (and saw a few lice on one of my daughter’s hair.)

  • cathy

    The idea about using tea tree oil is a good one; HOWEVER, IT WILL FADE YOUR HAIR COLOR OUT IF YOU DYE YOUR HAIR.

  • jessica

    olive oil and metal comb – work dilligently until there are no more bugs. wash and blow dry till bone dry, then section the hair into 6 to 8 sections. Hold each section and blow dry on low for at least 3 minutes on each section. that will kill the nits. you will be lice free! dont forget to wash sheets abd vacuum everywhere…sofas, car mattresses etc

  • Darlene

    Many years ago my daughter had a case of lice. Her hair was waist length and tried lice shampoo etc. Finally put vaseline on her hair and scalp then a shower cap. She kept it on overnight . The next day we made a incline board and put her feet up and head downin the shower, gentley poured kerosene on her head . Got rid of vaseline and lice ..

    • Ailor55

      vaseline is the answer next time take dawn dish liquid onher hair without water. Than wash it. Been through foster children my children and now grandchildren.lol

  • marie

    When my children were younger, we had a constant battle with lice, until we figured out the source. now, my girls have been clean and clear for the last 2 yrs. That is, until my sister let her son ad granddaughters move in. Now, 2 of my 3 children have been infested, again! While, they are using the chemical shampoos(and not getting rid of the problem)at my sister’s house, we use olive oil and vinegar. And, making more and more progress by the minute! I used to use mayo on my children’s hair, and it seemed to be the best treatment for them, but I can no longer stand the smell of it. Olive oil and vinegar are the perfect combination with a metal comb. Leave the oil in overnight, using a shower cap to enclose the hair. The next day, rinse with a little vinegar. Then, use the metal comb to comb out the nits and bugs, dipping the comb in vinegar each time you clean it. This always works best for us. I always comb their hair out everynight for the next week, just to make sure we got it all. I think that’s the secret the most people forget about.

  • Susie

    I have 3 children and we’ve been battling lice since the beginning of June. I think we’ve had them longer because my youngest started itching really badly after she was a flower girl in a wedding. I thought it was all the hair gel and hair spray we used in her hair and it was an allergic reaction. So I was giving her benadryl before school and of coarse it wasn’t helping. Then I received the dreaded call from the school nurse that she saw some nits. No live bugs, so she could stay at school if I wanted her to. Well, I used that time while they were all in school to go and buy all the OTC products that didn’t work. I washed, cleaned, put toys in bags for 3 weeks….. all the stuff your supposed to do. Then I fell upon this website and tried listorine, vinegar and denorex extra strength shampoo. The first time I sprayed listorine in their hair and put shower caps on all of us for 3 hours. Then I put vinegar on our hair for another hour. Several dead bugs came out, then I washed our hair with denorex and nit picked everyone. I only found about 5 nits in my sons hair, but lots in my girls. My husband looked through mine and didn’t find anything. So since then I’ve treating a few days after that with listerine for 10 minutes and then shampooing with denorex. Well even though it was helping, I felt it wasn’t aggressive enough, so now I’ve been treating everyday with listerine for 20 and shampooing with denorex and nit picking. I’m finding no bugs and less and less nits. So I’m pretty happy with the results. Since this has started I’ve colored my hair and haven’t had any nits or bugs in my hair either. I’m going to continue to treat until I don’t find anymore nits!!

  • Candy

    HELP!!!!! My grand-daughter is 19 months old. I used to get her every other day and had her EVERY weekend (My first grandchild :) ) Now I don’t keep her as much cause she has lice every time I get her. I used to treat her with Nix or Rid until now I just stop getting her except once a month cause I know its not good to treat her every week.

    THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HOME REMEDIES!!!! Now I will be able to get my baby back like I used to LOL starting this weekend if not tonight.

    What should I start to use first, to get everything out the easiest?

    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!! Everyone one is so helpful.

  • barbrat

    i just tried the rid and it has been 3days and i still see bugs well eggs already was at new daycare 2 days gotit that quik and all kids there are either black or simoli they all have it so YES BLACK PEOPLE DEF CAN GET THEM big myth the poverty stricken african areas and samoli areas have severe lice do your research and i got rid at walgreens was 30 dollars i did not have i am def goin to try the listerine and already have the suave coconut shampoo and cond so thank heavens for the website i found godsend

  • Beth

    Be careful with the tea tree oil on boys, new research has said that tea tree oil can cause breast enlargement in boys. With overweight boys already having the disposition of having large breasts caution should be taken until further research can be done. Gynomastia in boys can be a self esteem issue hard to deal with by oneself or by other boys taunts.

    Thanks for this website, it is very good information.
    Been fighting lice for a week now with my daughter. She is 16 and just got her first job. This website, I hope will help us get rid of these nasty bugs.

    Thanks again

  • christina

    I have to little girls they are mixed so they have long thick curly hair 5 and 3 years old my oldest daughter got lice once from school and I used mayo and sauve coconut shampoo to kill them worked great. The best way to keep they gone and not to get them again is if you put afican oil or blue magic coconut greese in hair and braid it before you send them to school they will not come home with it again. They have had many lice outbreaks at scool and in classroom and my daughter has never got it again….It works great and its very cheep. They sell it at wal mart the afican oil is about 2dollars and the coconut greese is about 2dollars. Always wash hair everynight with some coconut shampoo and condition with colester conditioner.

  • Kim

    Hi my name is Kim and ny daughter came home the other day with Lice and I caught it too , bought the rid and still she was itchy , so I went and purchased listerine , and out it in her hair for 2 hrs , then I washed her hair with coconut shampoo and out tea tree oil in the shampoo , then I put coconut conditioner and I combed her hair with a but comb , under hot burning water , every time I stoked her head I would put the comb in hot water , I did the same for my self , and I also put listerine and rubbing alcohol and tea tree oils in a spray bottle and sprayed my house and mine and her hair today !

    It has worked but u have to do this 2 a day on the hair because if u don’t catch all the nits , they will hatch , I also bought denorex shampoo and that helped ! This is very frustrating , when she returns to school I will put gel on her hair every day with a bun , to prevent this from happening and also spray her hair with tea tree oil and listerine just a little bit before she leaves ! I feel bad for us !

  • Noelle Sweet

    Honestly I have tried everything at this point to get rid of head lice and the only thing that has gotten rid of it is wetting the hair down and doucing it in apple conditioner and got2b cashmere hairspray.

  • Lisa

    I have 3 girls with really thick and long hair almost up to their waists. I have been battling with this LICE problem off and on for about 7 months. The first one to have it was my 8 year old, apparently she caught it from a neighbor who slept over our home and she was infested.
    I ofcourse went to Walgreens and everything on the shelf I could find for RID and spent over $200 since I had to treat my 3 girls and myself. This was one of the most terrible things we have gone through. I sprayed all of the bedding and upstairs rug… AND i REALLY THOUGHT WE HAD GOTTEN RID OF THEM … NOPE.
    I guess we didn’t get them all because again we are going through the same problem.
    Today I am going to try putting Listerine and then cover with a shower cap for 2 hours and then heat up Vinegar and after wash all our heads with Suave Coconut Shampoo.

    HOPEFULLY THIS WORKS BECAUSE THIS IS A REAL NIGHTMARE!!

    GOOD LUCK EVERYONE AND I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED AND LET YOU KNOW HOW WELL IT WORKED FOR US.

  • Sandra Seagraves

    When my daughter and 3boys was infested. With them I used dendorex for 30 minutes then use liceshield then rinsed it out then blow dry it.blow dry it every day or it want work and use liceshield everyday. And use leave in conditioner spray do that everyday we haven’t had any since

  • annette

    my daughter has head lice i cant get rid of it..i will try all your details..thanx I jus HOPE i get rid of it sooon because i want her to go school..im sooo feel sorry for her:((( crossing my fingers!!!

  • Rhonda

    Been dealing with this problem for awhile. Best solution so far is using extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Mix together massage in hair and scalp- I warm mine a little in the microwave. Leave on for 15 minutes-or more if you want-then shampoo with dawn dish soap.If you have any tea tree oil add a little to the dish soap . And a metal comb to comb out nits! Don’t give up! I am currently going to try some lysol or combination alcohol/vinegar to spray around house! Just keep working on it-I read somewhere to add vinegar and tea tree oil to dawn shampoo and use for a week. Vinegar is really helping alot! I mix vinegar and a drop of olive oil together and put a few drops on my scalp between shampoos. I’m very happy so far.

  • annonomys

    one time i was in festied , baaadly, we used ” NIX” it said it was #1 rated. I think that was the last thing we used after “RID” and it seemed to work. You’ll probably be like NO! but if you keep your hair kind of greasy i think that may help because lice cant hold on to the greasy hair. they also have a spray out for furniture and other non-washable things. we used it on my coutches in the house and after that we were fine. the little clear like nits at the live ones i think. ad the brown hard one are dead. because if you find a brown nit and you have it say on your thumb nail take your other thumb nail and press hard youll feel a crack. i also wore my hair up practically everyday. i threw away all hats combs and hair ties / clips. (dont wanna take a second chance.) ill go and look at what the household spray is , that you can also spray on your car seats!

  • Tara Mac

    Well everyone I have 4 biracial girls with super thick long curly hair. We have been battling lice for about a year now. I have tried EVErYThing!!! Except kerosene which scares me. Yes the lice are completely immune to the chemicals in RId and Nix. Even neem didn’t work for us. Maybe dog and cat shampoo work as they are a different chemical that the Luce haven’t become immune to. There is something called a louse buster a heat appliance that kills lice without overheating the head which is dangerous. You have to go to a place where they do it. Look for it online also there are 2 different combs. Nit combs and lice combs. Lice combs are wider spaced so better for curly hair. You won’t get the nits out but you get out the lice each time they hatch. I had not heard if licefreee and we will try that. I think my kids will start wearing funky headwraps! The problem is you get so stressed and work so hard combing and washing making the kids cry and then they get it again from school. I think a spray bottle with essential oils would be good every morning before school and greased braids nay work. Don’t bother with chemicals on heads or in the home for the kids health!! Good luck and God Bless you all.

  • Hannah Gee

    My daughter recently got head lice about 3 weeks ago from her school mates i assume.Tried rid and olive oil i forgot about the vinegar. Gonna try the vinegar rinse on our heads tonight and Deff. going to get some tea tree oil and tea tree oil shampoos today as well i used to used tea tree shampoo and we never had them but never gave thought to that until now. Hopefully some of these things will work for us im going crazy every weekend trying to rid us of these doesnt help we are in the country laundry places are very far and we dont have a dryer at home right now

  • Gina

    My daughter got lice for the first time in her life. I noticed when I was combing her hair last night and I saw a nit, I cried cause I feel like the worst mother in the world. Don’t know how she got it, but this morning I went to Walgreens and bought that lice freeee spray. The spray doesn’t work, the comb took out some nits. I combed her hair for at least 5 hours and as she was getting ready for bed I noticed more nits… I have not seen any bugs only nits, I’m so desperate in taking her to her pediatrician and see what he recommends. I just pray to God we get rid of this problem. I might try the olive oil and vinegar. I like the tips on the coconut shampoo, definitely going to continue to have my daughter use that. Thanks for all of your remedies!!

  • http://www.ayurvediccure.com/neem.htm neem

    I am glad to read such a perfect natural solution for head lice problem. I always prefer to natural and herbal remedies for curing problem because there are no side-effects of the natural remedies. neem oil is really good remedy for hair lice problem.

  • Ailor55

    Years ago I read in a parent book to take vaseline and rub it ON THE SCALP. This may take time bbecause you have to part the hair by strands. Take a comb and comb through the hair,( It combs real easy and makes hair shine.
    This smothers the lice and eggs. They CAN’T  move. Pull up in pony tail if need to leave on as long as you can. The dryer the vaseline gets the better. Rub dawn dish liqid on hair. NO WATER. Than wash hair. I have done it for years and it works. Lice like clean hair because its easy to attach to. THINK ABOUT IT. This makes sense. 

← Older Comments

Search

Loading

Most Commented

Copyright © Grandma's Home Remedies Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us