The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Combing
Posted by Deborah A. (Newton, MA) on 01/02/2022
★★★★★
Combing for lice missing from your info. It is the best form of screening, early detection, proper identification and safe removal.
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Anonymous (Fl, Usa) on 05/01/2011
★★★★★
Try Denorex Coal Tar 2.5% shampoo. Moisten hair (but not to the point of saturation), put the shampoo first at the base of neck where the hair starts and also concentrate on the hair around the ears. Leave it on for 30 minutes with a towel on your head. It will BURN and be somewhat uncomfortable for that 30 minutes, but when you see all those dead bugs in the water, you will be glad you tried it. I think, as another poster said, the shampoo "cooks" the lice and nits. Also, before treatment I visibly had nits on my hair line and the day after treatment, they were gone. Apparently, the shampoo works well with lice. You have to repeat the treatment every day for a week to make sure you're OK and you also have to be diligent about cleaning your clothes and environment.
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Kristy (Lansing, Michigan) on 11/01/2008
★★★★★
My daughter and I both wound up with a 'rash' on our necks, upper backs and shoulders. Our doctor prescribed some cream that didn't work. Other people suggested heat rash, since it was summer and we both had really long hair. And still others thought it might be a shampoo allergy.
During the two months this lasted, I had gotten a lice comb and checked her hair, just as she checked mine, but we didn't see any bugs or eggs. (I think they just didn't show up in her hair and she wasn't sure what she was looking for in mine!)
Anyway, I read something online that lice move very quickly but that hair conditioner will paralyze them temporarily so I finally got some and tried it and, sure enough, my daughters hair was chock full of bugs! So was mine!!!
We tried lice shampoo, we tried oil and I don't even remember everything else, to no avail.
Finally I found something about Denerox and thought, why not.
We scrubbed it in, left the shampoo in our hair and wrapped our heads with towels for 30 minutes, per the instructions. And the lice was gone, never to return.
I believe that it worked because Denorex on your towel wrapped head gets REALLY warm. Almost uncomfortably warm. And my theory is it not only 'cooks' the bugs, it 'cooks' the eggs, too! Kind of a disgusting thought, but whatever!
So I wouldn't mess with anything else, should this ever become a problem for my family again.
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Kimberly (Fairmont, West Virginia) on 03/31/2007
★★★★★
Denorex shampoo it must be the Denorex that has coal tar. The salicylic acid one does not work. This kills live lice on the first time you are lice free. I wash my hair in it and let it set a few minutes maybe 5 then rinse and wash once again. I then use it once a day for 14 days just to make sure I did not miss any or eggs that may have hatched.
Enzyme Shampoo
Posted by Sarah (Seattle, Wa) on 06/30/2012
★★★★★
The only remedy I will ever use again for lice is enzyme shampoo. It is harmless to you and deadly to lice. It doesn't smell bad and is gentle enough to use on a baby. It doesn't dry out your scalp. You can use it daily if you need to, use it on anything that can get wet. I ordered it on line, but maybe it can be found in a health store.
Replied by Ruta
(Il)
04/09/2018
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Irene (Los Angeles, California Usa) on 02/08/2012
★★★★★
eucalyptis oil, tea tree oil, extra virgin olive oil, dawn dish soap
Finally cured after trying EVERYTHING!!! Just when I thought they were gone... The nits that I had missed started hatching. I immediately bought a bottle of tea tree oil for $11.00, eucalyptis oil for $4.00 at a store having to do with a red arrow aiming at something ha ha! (don't know if I can say on here... And they were not next to eachother I had to do some shelf hunting), also some extra virgin olive oil from a dollar store (warning: I heard if your child or yourself has had a history of epilepsy/seizures it is not good to use eucalyptus oil as it can bring out the seizures) for my 3 year old I used 3/4 tsp tea tree oil, 3/4 tsp eucalyptus oil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, then I mixed it with squirts of shampoo and mixed until syrup like. For my 5 year old and myself I used 1 tsp tree oil, 1 tsp eucalyptus, and 2 tablespoons olive oil and extra squirts of shampoo... I have long hair!!! I used a spray bottle to barely dampen their hair enough just so that it would create suds when I put the mixture on. I didn't want to get in their eyes so I "spooned" it into their hair in sections making sure I rubbed it very close to the roots/scalp (I didn't have any shower caps so I just rubber banded their hair up) let sit for 1 hour no less!! I draped towels on my couches so they wouldn't stain them and let them watch a movie for 1 hour and rinsed with water, after that I put dawn dishsoap in their hair and rinsed I immediately started seeing dead lice fall out... Combed out hair and removed all the bug bodies I could see more bodies as I was blow drying/combing out their hair.. I did see nits but they were all dead so keep pulling out nits just in case!! Been lice free for a whole week!!! When you rinse this stuff out make sure you put a washcloth over their eyes so it won't go in... Also keep eucalyptus oil out of reach of children it is extremely poisonus!! Good luck!!! :) you can even repeat just in case after 7 days.
Replied by Nigelle
(Texas)
08/06/2017
Replied by Mama To Many
(Tn)
08/07/2017
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Samantha (Adelaide, Sa, Australia) on 11/22/2011
★★★★★
Whenver we have lice, my daughter and I treat ourelves with 2tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of eucalytpus, 1/4 tsp of tea tree oil and a squirt of shampoo. Mix all together and slather on hair. Wait 30 mins. (We put a disposable shower cap over our heads). The oil suffocates the lice and the eucalyptus and tea tree oil damage their exoskelelons.
Our hair ends up soft and shiny. You need to repeat 1 week and 2 weeks later to completely break the reproductive cycle because it doesn't kill all the eggs.
Now if someone could come up with an oil that washes out more easily the formula would be perfect!
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Cathrine (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) on 03/05/2011
★★★★★
I have been reading the posts here and I have noticed eucalyptus oil has not been mentioned. In the past I have used the oil successfully for head lice and fleas.
I have on occasion sat down with my cats and searched through their fur for fleas and when I spotted one I would just touch it with a oil soaked cotton bud. The flea died instantly. So I am thinking the oil is highly toxic to small insects such as lice and fleas.
I would imagine scabies would be in the same family as these insects. If you do try eucalyptus oil please research the correct dilution with a carrier oil. For head lice I didnt dilute it but I have read warnings that one should always dilute the oil. I also read the oil fries the fleas exoskeleton.
Good luck!
Farm Ivermectin
Posted by Nivchek (Eastern Europe) on 12/07/2021
★★★★★
I made a gel out of agar agar using the package directions. When it was still a liquid, I added 10mL of 1% Ivermectin injectable liquid for farm animals to 70mL of the gel. Then I let it cool in the fridge. Applied liberally to roots, and let dry. Hair looked shiny and beautiful. After a day or two, washed as usual. I did this on my whole family at once and we have now been lice-free for at least 4 months!
This remedy kills nits and lice and does not require combing. They say that the nits might hatch out in small quantities, but not be viable because of the chemical treatment they received while developing.
No odor, no irritation, no problems!
I had tried EVERYTHING else, and because I was trying to treat myself and multiple kids, I simply couldn't make the other solutions work.
Flat Iron
Posted by Angela (Wyoming) on 10/23/2016
★★★★★
My girls and I had lice. I tried the lice md, tea tree oil and coconut oil. We still found lice. I decided to cook the lice with a flat iron. I got as close as I could to the root. I did this 2x's a day for 3 days. I also combed with the flea comb 2x's a day. We never reused anything during this time. New towels, clothes, coats, and we threw out hair ties. We wore shower caps to bed and I put all bedding in the dryer ever morning. I also vacuumed a lot! Over kill probably but I hear people have these for years. Once I used the flat iron I haven't brushed out or seen any bugs. I swear this works. I see the professional lice people use a hot dryer to heat/kill lice. Why not a flat iron? I hope this helps you all.
Garlic Oil
Posted by London3 (Sacramento, Ca) on 01/10/2012
★★★★★
My daughter and I have been fighting to get rid of her head lice for 2 months. I tried rid, nix, 2 different prescriptions, tea tree oil, and mayonaise. None of it worked. Those buggers were resistant to everything! I then remembered how well the garlic oil cleared up my bunnies mites, so I tried it in her hair for almost 15 hours and the next day was her first day nit free in 2 months!! She and I both agree that it was the easiest and only treatment that worked!
Grapefruit Seed Extract
Posted by Mrs A From Uk (London, UK) on 03/22/2015
★★★★★
For head lice, please read everything you can find about Grapefruit Seed Extract (liquid concentrate) - especially users' reviews.
Hair Dye
Posted by Stardrum (Maple Falls, WA) on 05/29/2009
★★★★★
Lice cures: I am a foster parent, and as yet have never had a new child placed with me that didn't have lice. I have tried many remedies, including the tea tree, and the chemical, but the thing that has consistently worked for me the FIRST time is dyeing the child's hair. I use a commercial dye, and dye it the same color as the hair so it's not a dramatic change. Then, after the dyeing, we comb out the dead bugs and all nits. In two days after coming and combing, I use a salt water gel. This gel is applied, use a shower cap to cover for an hour or so, and then rinse. I then use tea tree oil in their shampoo forever, and we don't ever get them back. It leaves their hair soft and shiny too.
Kerosene
Posted by Ana (New Zealand) on 05/11/2024
★★★★★
Persistent lice is very hard to get rid of and some over-the-shelf products don't actually work. I remembered the elderly people talking about using kerosene for hair lice. I googled it and it said to use white kerosene (lamp oil). I filled up a spray bottle with white kerosene and sprayed my hair, being careful not to get any in my eyes. I left it on for 2 hours, then put on eye googles so none got into my eyes in the shower. I used shampoo to wash it off. Then I used a fine-tooth lice comb to remove lice. This worked more effectively than anything else. I started on Friday night and by Monday morning, I was free of lice. Thanks kerosene!
Kerosene
Posted by Sandy (Il, Usa) on 09/02/2020
★★★★★
Growing up in India, whenever I had lice my mom applied kerosene and it worked well. Kerosene also helps any pain in the leg and knees. I always used to massag my grandma's legs with kerosene. It works.
