Non toxic LICE treatment, please!

[Mabelen]

Yup. Unfortunately we are dealing with this. I know there is some expertise in this board. What worked best for long girl hair?

 

Thank you so much in advance.

[4wildberrys]

Tea tree oil! I found this 'How To' link also: http://www.ehow.com/how_2188304_treat-lice-tea-tree-oil.html

[simka2]

I think that's a bit difficult, because it has to be toxic to the lice ;). When all else fails, we use permanent hair dye. Now, that's not exactly non-toxic, but it is and *alternative*. :D

[Amy loves Bud]

We used the Cetaphil treatment (you can google it). However, I'm a firm believer that the most important thing you can do is comb it out, tiny section by tiny section, with a nit comb. Every single day for as long as it takes until you see NOTHING that could even resemble a nit.

 

There are a lot of natural treatments but most of them just don't work. Cetaphil works, but you have to do it absolutely right, and you have to follow up because it kills the lice and not the eggs.

 

So hunker down in front of some good movies and start combing. You can use conditioner to help the comb go through the hair smoothly, and really scrape that comb against the scalp, because they lay their eggs right at the base of the hair shaft and you have to get that comb under the eggs to pull them off. Be sure to keep the combed through hair parted and separate from the uncombed hair.

 

I'm sorry you are dealing with this, it's a pain, but it's not the end of the world either!

[Cindy in C-ville]

Lice-R-Gone. http://www.licergone.com/

 

Yes, we've used it on three different occasions - once when DDs brought lice home from camp, another random time with no tracing, and then when Katya brought them home from Ukraine. IT WORKS! Follow the directions PRECISELY. Do NOT combine it with another treatment.

 

Unfortunately, unless someone distributes it in your area, you have to order it online. Order directly from the company and they will get it to you quickly. Now we keep back-up on hand.

 

Here's a trick I came up with. When you do the treatment, have the kids rinse out in the bathtub with water in the tub and the drain closed. This way you can tell for sure if they actually have bugs in their hair.

 

I LOVE this product because it enzymatically destroys the exoskeleton of the nits and you do NOT have to nit-pick. AND there are NO harsh chemicals.

 

Obviously, I can't recommend it highly enough. :) :) :)

[justamouse]

tea tree oil.

 

And then put some in a spray bottle and spray the whole freakin house down. Because they will get somewhere, and then they will come back. So, tea tree oil , so much washing your washer is almost on explode and a vacuum.

[Cindy in C-ville]

Echo the rec for tea tree oil, but as a preventive measure once they're gone. Put a few drops in every bottle of shampoo. Lice hate the smell.

[teamturner]

Lice-R-Gone. http://www.licergone.com/

 

Yes, we've used it on three different occasions - once when DDs brought lice home from camp, another random time with no tracing, and then when Katya brought them home from Ukraine. IT WORKS! Follow the directions PRECISELY. Do NOT combine it with another treatment.

 

Unfortunately, unless someone distributes it in your area, you have to order it online. Order directly from the company and they will get it to you quickly. Now we keep back-up on hand.

 

Here's a trick I came up with. When you do the treatment, have the kids rinse out in the bathtub with water in the tub and the drain closed. This way you can tell for sure if they actually have bugs in their hair.

 

I LOVE this product because it enzymatically destroys the exoskeleton of the nits and you do NOT have to nit-pick. AND there are NO harsh chemicals.

 

Obviously, I can't recommend it highly enough. :) :) :)

 

I've used this and believe it works. I bought a fancy nit comb and never found anything in the comb after the initial treatment. Lice did come out after using the shampoo and they may have just been stunned as it removes the lice but does not kill them. It makes them easy to remove and a few did come out in the bath water. I don't think my dd had very many of them to begin with, though. I need to order some more because I always want to keep Lice R Gone on hand.

[Mabelen]

Thank you for all the recommendations. I really like the sound of the licergone, but there is no local distributor and I want it gone now, lol!

 

I just bought something a local friend recently used on her young child, it is called Fairy Tales Lice Good-Bye. I am about to apply, unfortunately you basically have to comb through, so it will be time consuming.

 

The same company makes a leave in spray conditioner with rosemary which will act as preventative afterwards. When this is finished, I will try the tea tree oil as you recommend, it might be cheaper than the store bought conditioner.

 

I'll come back with reviews at a later date.

 

Thank you so so much to all of you who replied.

[Ferdie]

You can smoother the lice with mayo, (or olive oil). Just put the mayo all over the hair and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave it on several hours. I treated all my children at the same time and let them watch TV. Wash hair and comb out the dead lice with a metal lice comb.

 

The mayo will smoother the live lice, but you still need to comb out their hair with a metal nit comb once a day for over a week. I think the eggs can take up to 10 days to hatch.

 

You also need to clean anything that touched your kids heads, (bedding, clothing, hats, hairbrushes, scarves). I even vacuumed the couches and car upholstery. Lice can not jump or fly so you only need don't need to go crazy and clean the entire house just the spots that have had contact with their head. Good luck!

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I had a friend who just went through this recently and used listerine. It worked the first time.

[Mabelen]

I wanted to update on the Fairy Tales Lice Good-Bye treatment for future reference. I bought it at a local family hair salon. It worked very well. Apparently it removes the glue that nits use to attach to the hair so that it is easy to get rid of nits but you do have to comb through thoroughly for it to work.

 

I applied the mousse shampoo then combed through with a very fine nit comb from the same product line. This comb is even finer than regular nit combs you can buy from the pharmacy, highly effective. After that you rinse and comb through again. You can repeat the treatment a second time. I did. After the second treatment I couldn't find anything left but I kept combing through for several days afterwards just in case... nothing was found.

 

I did all of the high heat washing, drying and vacuuming routine. It was like one of you said not the end of the world but oh so time consuming and tiring.

[Wildiris]

Hi,

I copied this older post of mine:

 

Oh, I feel for you. My girls got lice in July. I though I was OK and did not do any kind of prevention. Six weeks later my head was infested. I was horrified.

 

Tea Tree oil is supposed to be a good preventative.

 

If you should find yourself in need, I wrote Head Lice Treatments~A Non-Toxic Remedy. I used this treatment both on the girls and myself. I was amazed at how well it worked.

 

 

P.S. The link to the recipe does work wonders even if you have long hair.

[cindergretta]

We went through lice last summer. ::ugh:: We used TTO and "smothered" them with olive oil.

 

We now add drops of TTO to every bottle of shampoo and conditioner. :D

[mazakaal]

I use the Robi-Comb - not toxic at all; it just electrocutes the lice.

 

See my post about it here...

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191857&highlight=lice

[bettyandbob]

Mayonaise. Cover hair in mayonaise, wrap in plastic wrap and sit for a few hours. Wash and use nit comb to get eggs. You will need to check hair daily for a few days.

[abbeyej]

Here's the recipe I've used on my kids:

 

1 C olive oil

1 C Dr. Bronners Eucalyptus soap

1 T rosemary oil

1 T tea tree oil

Mix it up (this should do 2-3 kids or a couple of kids and an adult), and it will get rather thick like creamy conditioner. Work through the hair thoroughly, then cover with a shower cap for an hour. Rinse, nit comb while wet, and rinse thoroughly again. Then blow dry until completely dry.

 

Wash every soft surface in the house, vacuum stuffed toys and things that can't be washed and, if possible, put them in a sealed ziploc bag for three days. Vacuum (and/or wash) upholstery, curtains, carpets (I used X-Mite powder which is usually used to kill dust mites)...

 

A couple of days after the initial treatment (their hair might look a little greasy in the mean time, but hey, it's better than lice), wash the kids' hair again with tea tree shampoo, nit comb and blow dry thoroughly. Continue daily or every other day for next several weeks.

 

Dh thought I was going overboard, but I had so many (thorough, clean, conscientious) friends who battled this over and over...

 

The other thing to o, after washing and vacuuming, etc, etc, is to leave the house for three days. ;) The lice can't survive without a human host (I think their limit is 55 hours?), so a trip to grandma's is in order if it's possible.

 

... I do agree with other that the ultimate non-toxic route is just to nit-comb and blow-dry religiously. You want one of the good-quality metal combs. I've always found them at Walgreens.

[Mandamom]

Vinegar. I've used both apple cidar and white vinegar and both do a good job of killing the lice. I just end up pouring it over the kids' head. You still end up doing a lot of picking for the nits but I think that the vinegar does better of loosening the nits and killing the kids than the lice shampoo that I was using before. Just make sure it stays out of the eyes or cuts or else it burns.

 

In October we went through it 3 times so I got pretty experienced with nit removal. I'm still constantly checking the kids head because I DO NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN :lol:

[luvtheOzarks]

You can smoother the lice with mayo, (or olive oil). Just put the mayo all over the hair and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave it on several hours. I treated all my children at the same time and let them watch TV. Wash hair and comb out the dead lice with a metal lice comb.

 

The mayo will smoother the live lice, but you still need to comb out their hair with a metal nit comb once a day for over a week. I think the eggs can take up to 10 days to hatch.

 

You also need to clean anything that touched your kids heads, (bedding, clothing, hats, hairbrushes, scarves). I even vacuumed the couches and car upholstery. Lice can not jump or fly so you only need don't need to go crazy and clean the entire house just the spots that have had contact with their head. Good luck!

 

This was the method that many claimed it worked back when my 20 something children were young. We've never had lice, but I keep this method on file in case we ever do get it.

 

This is *the* toxic measure that a friend of mine used on her head alone b/c it was driving her absolutely crazy--Sevin Dust, a bug killer. :smilielol5:

[luvtheOzarks]

Vinegar. I've used both apple cidar and white vinegar and both do a good job of killing the lice. I just end up pouring it over the kids' head. You still end up doing a lot of picking for the nits but I think that the vinegar does better of loosening the nits and killing the kids than the lice shampoo that I was using before. Just make sure it stays out of the eyes or cuts or else it burns.

 

In October we went through it 3 times so I got pretty experienced with nit removal. I'm still constantly checking the kids head because I DO NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN :lol:

 

Thanks for this tip--I keep a lot of vinegar on hand and use it for a LOT of things! It's great to spread on a sunburn, too--it takes out the sting--if you don't mind smelling like vinegar.