The All Natural Lice Treatment -- Olive Oil!

Lice -- yuck! If you have kids, it can happen. So if/when it happens to you, will you be prepared?

There are loads of over-the-counter, and prescription lice treatments available, but don’t be fooled! Just because it’s available OTC or prescribed by your child’s doctor doesn’t mean that it’s SAFE! These treatments contain dangerous chemical pesticides that can cause devastating health consequences to your child! But don’t despair! There is an all natural, chemical-free way to treat lice with olive oil, and I'm here to share it with you!

Why olive oil? Olive oil smothers the lice so they can’t breathe -- if those little buggers can’t breathe, they DIE! And olive oil makes the hair shaft too slippery for the lice to hold onto, so they come out easily with a lice comb.

Tools you will need: olive oil (do NOT use baby oil), lice comb, Dawn dishwashing liquid, bucket of hot water, old towels and washcloths, disposable shower cap, old toothbrush, shampoo and LOTS of time and patience. Prepare to become messy; dress yourself and your child in old clothes.

Begin by coating every stand of hair on your child's head with olive oil. I'm not kidding, pour it on and rub it in. Have your child hold a washcloth over his eyes and lean over the bathtub and once the hair is completely coated from root to tip, cover his head with the shower cap, keeping a towel or washcloth handy to wipe away any drips. The olive oil coats the lice so they cannot breathe and the hair shaft becomes too slippery for them to hold onto. Now you wait. Probably a good 1 1/2 - 2 hours wait will do it. If your child is too young/small to lean over the tub, place several towels on your countertop right next to the kitchen sink and have your child lay down on his back with his head mostly over the sink so there is support for the head/neck.

Working in sections, beginning at the nape of the neck, comb thru the hair from scalp to the ends with the lice comb. Rinse the comb off in hot, soapy (Dawn dishsoap) water after each time you run the comb thru the hair, using the old toothbrush to get the stuck lice out of the comb. Comb thru the hair at different angles so there's no where for them to hide. If your child has long hair, use a claw-type hair clip to help keep hair out of your way as you work your way up the head.

Comb thru each section of hair several times from scalp to the end of the hair, rinsing and brushing the comb in the hot soapy water after each pass. Once you’ve been completely thru this section of hair, section off another small amount of hair and repeat the steps until you’ve gone over your child’s entire head. Then start all over and do it again. There’s usually no need to re-apply the olive oil, but if you can still see some live ones wiggling around it wouldn’t hurt to add a little onto those areas. Repeat these steps until you’ve gone thru your child’s hair at least twice without finding ANY lice. This could take you hours to do, especially if your child has long hair, so you may want to do this in an area where the child can watch TV or have some easy to clean toys on hand to keep them occupied.

Next, wash your child’s hair with Dawn dishwashing liquid – it really gets the olive oil out nicely. Rinse well and then wash again with your regular shampoo (note: using a tea tree oil shampoo can be helpful to keep lice away, but keep in mind, some people may be sensitive to tea tree oil). You may want to do another quick couple of comb-thrus after shampooing just to make sure you got them all.

Now that you’ve got the initial hair clean-up taken care of…let’s talk laundry. Wash your child’s clothing and bedding in HOT water and dry on HIGH for at least 45 minutes. The heat will kill the lice. An option so you don’t have to wash your child’s entire wardrobe: Bag it! That’s right, load what you don’t want to wash into plastic garbage bags, seal them tightly and keep it bagged for two weeks--include all stuffed animals and dolls too. Lice need to feed within 45 minutes of hatching or they’ll die, this keeps them locked in and away from their “food source”.

Vacuum all the carpeting and furniture in your home very thoroughly; discard the vacuum cleaner bag immediately. Vacuum the seats and headrests in your vehicles too. NEVER USE LICE SPRAYS/PESTICIDES IN YOUR HOME OR CAR. These products are ineffective and can have dire effects on humans and pets! Thorough vacuuming and laundering is all that’s required.

Check all family members for lice – use your hands to search and wash in between each person. Notify your child’s school, daycare, and parents of play friends so they can be on the look-out.

Check your child’s head every other day for four weeks with a lice comb, some nits may have hatched and you’ll want to get them out before they become mature enough to lay eggs. Replace all brushes and combs, and allow no sharing of brushes, combs, hats, bedding, clothes, towels, etc. while going thru this process to minimize the risk of spreading lice to other family members.

Be diligent. Lice removal is time consuming and tests your and your child’s patience. Your efforts will be rewarded with no relapse and a healthy, natural child!

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Penny Rushing is a WAHM of 3, and self-proclaimed germaphobe; informing parents, sharing experiences. For information about keeping preemies & newborns healthy go to www.healthylittleones.com.

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