if you have a few lice can you use anything non chemical for it?

Question

i have tried rid before but it dont work i have heard olive oil or oils in general. how well do they work and is it safe. would it burn or anything. how long do you keep it on your head. i need some major information about lice and how to get rid of them. there is a little girl in the house that is almost proned to getting them her hair is about to fall out from chemicals. i need major information about lice, how to get rid of them and what makes you get them. i keep a clean house and everything is so clean i feel like a bad mother seeing her get lice so easy. i dont know what to do anymore. am i a good mother when i dont know what to do. i have tried doctors and they say she has the scent to attract them. i feel i cannot go home because of carpet in the home, i need alot of help, please!
i am also pregnant!

Answer 1

Heat The hot dry air produced by standard hand-held hair dryers may suffice to kill lice and their eggs on a person's hair. Use great care if you try this method, as the heated air from these devices can also easily scald the hair and the scalp. No precise values (treatment time, temperature, and distance from hair dryer) are available with which to base an objective treatment protocol. Heated curling irons, hair straighteners or similar devices may kill some lice and eggs, but may not safely be applied to hair nearest the skin where viable eggs are most abundant. A clothes dryer set a high heat or a hot pressing iron may effectively kill any lice or their eggs on pillowcases, sheets, nightclothes, towels and similar items that will not be damaged by this process. Combs, brushes, hats and other hair accessories in contact with an infested person should be washed in hot water each day to dislodge any lice or nits.

Freezing Lice and their eggs on inanimate objects (e.g. toys) may be killed by freezing temperatures. Objects that cannot be heated in a clothes dryer may be placed in a freezer (or outdoors if sufficiently cold). This treatment may require several days to be effective, depending on the temperature and humidity. Such treatment would rarely (if ever) be required.

Haircuts Lice will find little to grasp on a bald or shaved head. Although competitive swimmers who shave their heads generally need not be concerned about head lice, many parents may find this old-fashioned method to be aesthetically unappealing. Short hair is more readily searched for lice and eggs, but does not make the child invulnerable to infestation.

All three types of human lice may occasionally be found on the eyelashes or other facial hair. These lice should be mechanically removed with great care so as not to injure the eye; insecticides should be kept well clear of the eyes as well. Cosmetology practices and regulations often dictate that infested individuals be sent away by the barber or beautician, and any implements that contacted that person be properly cleansed.

Hair soaps, bleaches and dyes Washing the hair each day may dislodge a few active lice; the remaining lice and eggs will be unaffected (but clean). Although hair bleaches and dyes are meant for use on the scalp, they can be caustic. Data is lacking to assess the efficacy of these products against lice. Thus, use of these products in attempts to "treat" lice should probably not be considered. Assertions that dandruff shampoos are effective in removing lice are probably due to misidentification of dandruff as lice.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html#methods

Answer 2

Mayonaise will get rid of lice. Apply it liberally and work it down into the roots. Wrap a piece of plastic around the head (not a plastic bag as this could be a danger to a child) and leave it on for an hour. It will kill all of the live lice but the eggs will hatch out two or three days later so it is necessary to repeat the process in order to kill the newly hatched lice. Much better than chemicals. Completely non-toxic. Can be done as often as necessary to keep the child free of lice without danger. There are also several herbs that repel pests. I like chamomile the best. Buy it bulk and brew it up strong. I put a handful in about 3 cups of water and simmer it for 15 or 20 minutes, covered. Cool and apply. Doesn't smell bad and is very healing. Should help keep the lice away to start with. Also a great mosquito repellant.

Answer 3

Well there are a few things that will work. try Listerine in the hair go buy a large bottle of Listerine and a shower cap pour the Listerine over her hair and then place the shower cap over all her hair and scalp. then you must let it sit for 30 minutes before rinsing it out. it does tingle a bit but doesn't really hurt. and the olive oil one is the same way pour the olive oil in the hair and rub all over hair and scalp cover with shower cap for 30 minutes. what happens is that the olive oil will smother the lice to where they can not breath and they will die. from there you need to use a lice comb to remove the dead lice and eggs from the hair follicles. the Listerine seems to work better in the cases i have seen but they both get the job done and help wonderfully and are a much cheaper solution.

Answer 4

You can just keep combing until they are all gone. Comb out the hair *thoroughly* every day until you don't get any lice at all for at least a week. In fact, even if you *do* use a poison, you need to do this, so it's not even any extra work!!

I've also heard of people who soak the head with oil (any kind), then cover tightly with plastic (either a plastic shower cap, or plastic wrap just placed around and around the head). Leave it for a while (maybe half an hour?), then remove and shampoo. Go back to the frequent combing. Repeat a week later when the nits have hatched.

And I have friends who swear by tea tree oil. Drench the hair with it, leave it on, then comb and comb.

Since you *have to* comb anyway, I'd just go with that one...

Answer 5

Try neem paste and a thousand other herbal remedies you can find on home remedies sites. Most of them work - try whatever you feel comfortable with.

Getting lice is really not a sign of you being unclean. Kids get them from each other all the time, and there is no point blaming yourself. If it is really few lice, you can even try using a fine toothed comb regularly (nits hatch and re populate if you don't keep it up for a while) It can get her irritated though - kids don't seem to like this.

Enjoy the nit-picking!

Answer 6

Lice like clean hair, so don't wash her hair too often. Once you've removed all the lice/eggs with a nit comb, dilute tea tree oil (available from a pharmacy) in water (use a spray bottle and one drop of tea tree to ten of water) and spray all over the head, especially round the back and above the ears. Neat witch hazel sprayed onto the head also works. I used to work with children as a Nanny and they and I always got lice until I started spraying their heads with tea tree. Best to do every morning just before she goes to kindergarten/school, and it's not harmful to your pregnancy.

Answer 7

My son got head lice from a neighbor kid. It was bad. I treated it with rid and picked out the eggs with no success. My doctor said that they have become immune to the lice treatments. So I drenched his head with olive oil (it's thicker) and put a winter knit hat on his head overnight. when he got up I used the little come and removed everything i saw, it was actually pretty easy with all of the oil. And that did it...Good luck with that one...I highly recommend the olive oil...

Answer 8

My Grandma used Listerine ( yes the mouth wash)on me when I got lice from my stepsister. I had to keep it on for 10 min. and it does burn a lot. It worked for me. I don't know about olive oil but I would also consider cutting her shorter so it will be more effective.

Answer 9

There is over the counter stuff you can get at the drugstore to get rid of lice. I think it's called RID, actually.

Answer 10

mayo as in the salad dressing... this is what i used when i had my child come home from school. i was mad, but also i have two step children that always had it when they came over on every other weekend.. its alot of work but i have also used the rid and theres another one that kills lice. neither one worked.