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.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Seahorse (Arlington, Va) on 07/06/2012
★★★★★
My daughter who is 6 had lice my son then got them and my husband the only reason I think I did not is because I dye my hair. I used mayonaise with olive oil in it you can buy it that way, left it on their heads for the day, and washed the hair a couple of times used a conditioner that I mixed with tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint, rosmary and eucalyptus oil. I also made a misture that I spray and leave in the hair too with those oils and either argan oil or olive oil just a cap full in one of those bottles of detangler spray. Then, I make sure to put gel in and no more lice! This killed them and prevents them!
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.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Heather (Leicester) on 06/22/2012
★★★★★
Hi, this always works. You need a couple of bottles of tea tree hair conditioner from chemist- or any conditioner if that's not available but tea tree is the best due to it's smell and it being mildly antiseptic. You need one wide tooth comb to get rid of tangles and a couple of the small lice/ nit combs from the chemist in the White colour as these show up the nits so you can see them coming out. Wash hair as normal then towel dry hair til it is no longer dripping and just slightly damp. Then use the conditioner and use say half the bottle on
The whole head of hair. Use the wide tooth comb to help distribute the conditioner and to get rid of the knots and tangles so that when you use the small nit combs it won't hurt!
Next when you are tangle free and there is still plenty of conditioner left, work through the whole of the hair from root to tip with the small nit comb using the thicker end first to remove the bigger nits, they become immobile in the thick conditioner. Every time wipe the comb on tissue paper and you will see what you have removed and flush this away as some will come out live. You need to do the whole head to remove live ones then use the thinner side of the comb to remove the eggs, again wiping each time to ensure you don't transfer back to scalp/ hair. Use extra conditioner if necessary. Then rinse out the conditioner and dry hair. That's it!
Try and do everone in your house on same day and tell anyone you have been in contact with to do the same. Repeat again after a couple of days and then again after 1 week. Then take more vitamin c as I think all that nit biting lowers the immune system! Good luck. This works. Every time my daughters had them we got rid of them in this way. X
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Kathy (Lv, Nv) on 06/21/2012
★★★★★
When my niece bought home lice I was crazy!!! After trying so many things I finally went to walgreens and bought an electric zapper type headlice killer. I don't remember the name but you just comb it through dry hair and when the teeth come in contact with the lice they get electrocuted and die. Very easy... I combed her hair twice a day and mine as well.... Took off all of her bed linen but left one pillow with case and 1 blanket and I put them in the dryer on high every day for 30 minutes for two weeks straight. I also vaccumed her bed every morning when she got up. And she could only sit on a kitchen chair not the couch... I didn't want them crawling around the whole house. It takes alot of time... and I vaccumed my car often too...
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Jenny (Sydney, Australiahi) on 04/05/2012
★★★★★
Hi. I agree re the conditioner but would add another step. I put as much conditioner on as possible, covered it with a shower cap and left it for 30 minutes (I did for an hour plus), then combed through. I would also recommend doing it for several days in a row and put clean pillow cases on for sleeping each night. Good luck!
Baby Oil
Posted by Jooey2 (Cedar Lake, Indiana) on 04/03/2012
★★★★★
My daughter got lice and she has long curly hair, I used baby oil. It killed them washed everything and dried on high heat. It worked! I would get a bottle of the oil and some plastic hair wraps to keep the oil off other things. Drench hair and comb out bugs and nits. Wash out then I put more on head and left it on for a day. I was crawly and did me too. LOL
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Heather (Leicester, England) on 04/03/2012
★★★★★
Here's how I always got rid of nits in my daughters hair. Go to the chemist and buy a couple of bottles of tea tree hair conditioner or, failing that peppermint and a couple of White plastic nit combs. Wash your child's hair in shampoo as normal and then towel dry it. Next load the hair up with tea tree conditioner and comb through with a wide tooth comb to ensure no tangles( very important! ) next use the wider part of the nit comb from root to end and wipe on a tissue every time - you will see large adult insects, and little eggs stuck in conditioner on paper, continue right through hair, paying extra attention around ears and back of neck. Then rinse conditioner out as normal. If you found lots of nits then repeat this process next night other wise leave it a couple of days then repeat. This treatment works every time and takes around 30 min depending on thickness and length of hair. Good luck
Neem Oil
Posted by John (Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia) on 02/11/2012
★★★★★
Yeah, neem oil is definitely really good..... Many Asians know about this and is a standard treatment in parts of India.. Neem is a hardwood tree that grows faster than other hardwoods, very oily. The oil can also be used in tootpaste. It is not known to be risky for humans but will attack parasites, bacteria and fungi.
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.
Olive Oil, Vinegar and Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Kimberly (Fl, Usa) on 02/02/2012
★★★★★
My niece came and stayed all night at our home, we did not know she had head lice. I found it in my grand-daughters hair about a week later. Her hair hangs all the way to her waist. I also got the little "darn" things. I too, have hair not quite as long as hers. We did the olive oil, wrapped out heads in saran wrap and tied a plastic bag around our heads. Slept all night, in the morning I rinsed our heads first with vinegar. I then put some tea tree oil in the shampoo and washed our hair. I sprayed some no more tangles on our hair and then combed it out with a nit comb. One week later I repeated the process all over again. Did not see any nits or bugs the second time. We used the shampoo all week with the tea tree oil in it. Still in the shampoo to date.
P. S. Got them out of my nieces hair too however I used the alcohol and vinegar mixture with the tea tree oil and wrapped her head with saran wrap and plastic bag. (didn't have olive oil) She kept it one for 2 hours, combed her hair out with nit comb. Sent her home with shampoo with tea oil in it. One week later I repeated except this time I used the olive oil, vinegar and tea tree oil-she was nit and bug free.
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Chargir (Cleveland, Ohio) on 01/21/2012
★★★★★
I used cedarwood oil for lice. It is a essential oil that can be bought from most soap making supply companies, I got mine from a local soap and candle supply company. Keep in mind. It must be The real essential oil to work well. The cedarwood oil kills the lice, and dissolves the nit glue easily and also kills the eggs. It is totally non-toxic. I coated my granddaughter's head, left it on for 30 min. (Test a nit egg to make sure it releases easily) Worked like a charm, after fighting for a month with over the counter treatments. This put an end to the cycle.
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!
Pure Alcohol, Aka Rubbing Alcohol
Posted by Joe (Starkville, Ms) on 12/20/2011
★★★★★
Easy, inexpensive remedy that completely eliminated lice after 3 treatments. Mix equal parts of 91% rubbing alcohol and white vinegar into a spray bottle. Add 1 drop of tea tree oil for every fluid ounce of mixture. 3-4 ounces will be sufficient to treat a head of long hair. Thoroughly wet hair with mixture, and comb out in sections with metal nit comb. After every few strokes, rinse the comb in a container of water to see what is coming out of the hair and to track progress. Wash and condition hair afterwards with coconut based products. Blow dry hair on high heat. Repeat treatment every other day to break the reproduction cycle until lice are gone.
Peppermint Oil and Coconut Conditioner
Posted by Tammy (Bridgeport, New York) on 12/10/2011
★★★★★
I used about 4 drops of peppermint oil used in candy flavorings and coconut conditioner- mix together coat head really well, cover with shower cap for about 30 minutes. The peppermint and coconut oils kill lice on contact and after you rinse it out, the nits comb right out with ease.
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!
Olive Oil, Dish Soap, Vinegar, Tea Tree and Neem Oils
Posted by Joy1234 (Ravenna, Ohio) on 09/21/2011
★★★★★
I tried the Olive Oil, and White Vinegar remendy and IT WORKED!!!! My daughter is in first grade and she has been getting head lice from other students at school since Kindergarten it got to the point where we were spending $100.00 a month on medicine and laundry to get rid of the head lice, we even bug bombed the house several times and she was still getting it. I started to Google how to get rid of head lice naturally and found this site. I can't believe we actually found something that works.
Listerine
Posted by Bugs Be Gone Soon Please (Pittsburgh, Pa) on 08/12/2011
★★★★★
48 hours and no itching, no bugs. Going to do it for 2 hours with shower cap tomorrow just to be ultra safe but looks like listerine worked for us! Finally, a solution.
Listerine
Posted by Bugs Be Gone Soon Pleaes (Pittsburgh, Pa) on 08/11/2011
★★★★★
I had called our ped after nix and rid did not work completely (found one bug and still had occasional itching, ugghh! ). They told me to do the mayonaisse overnight, but we had plans to do a family zoo trip the next day. After internet research , thought I would try the listerine first and then do teh mayonaisse the next night when we would have more time in the morning to wash it out. I left the listerine in all night though, had the shower cap on her from 10pm -3am. Washed her hair as usual in am and cannot find anything in her hair, no itching, much easier than mayonaisse and not a scratch the entire day. So will see what tonight brings, if no itching may just repeat the listerine again to be certain.... just seems much easier to wash out and much easier for younger child to tolerate than the thick, mayo.
Mayonnaise
Posted by Iowama (Pella, Ia) on 07/16/2011
★★★★★
I just wanted to follow up on my previous post. Although I do continue to check for nits from time to time, both my Granddaughter and I are now free from headlice. I alternated treatments between mayonaise, a generic OTC lice treatment containing pyrethrin, and olive oil. Assuming that her head contained lice of several hatch dates, I treated us both whenever I caught her scratching, which turned out to be 4 times a week. A friend suggested that the lice might be hatcing and alive in my carpet, surviving on skin cells they found there. I began to think of a newly hatched louse as being light as a speck of dust and easily transported and so I turned off the air and did a more thorough vacuum of every bit of the carpet and upholstry along with hot-mopping the flooring. Early on, I had ordered a good quality metal comb and I boiled it and all hair implements after every use. I hope someone finds this helpful.
