Guest guest Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 When my kids were in kindergarten last year, there was a huge lice outbreak in their school. Unfortunately all five of my kids became infested. We used so many different remedies including the commercial natural treatments, olive oil, baby oil, vinegar, etc... but none worked for us. Finally I found an essential oil combination that did work. Here's what I used: 2 ounces olive oil (can also use vegetable oil) 20 drops tea tree oil 10 drops rosemary 10 drops lavender 10 drops lemon (can also use peppermint instead) Apply this mixture to the infected person(s) head and cover with a towel (we used a plastic wrap which seemed to stay on better and to avoid dripping) for one hour (I was determined that this would work so I left the wrap on for four hours. Probably overkill but I was tired of dealing with the lice!) Follow with regular shampooing. Rinse hair with 50/50 water and vinegar. The vinegar helps loosen the nits so that they can be more easily removed. It also helps remove the oil. Repeat the next day as well as 7 days later. Even if everyone in the house is not symptomatic, it's a good idea to treat everyone. This worked so well for us - I wish I had tried it first. I would have saved much money, aggravation, and crying by my kids. I used a magnifying glass to go through my kids' hair to find and remove the nits. I have one that I use for needlepoint that has a cord to put around my neck and a light on it. This made it so much easier to find and remove the nits. If you haven't anything like this to use, try to do the " seek and destroy " part in the sunlight or under a strong indoor light. To avoid further infestations, either use a tea tree oil based shampoo and/or conditioner. Since those can get to be quite costly for seven people to use, we just use our less expensive brand and add tea tree oil to the conditioner. We haven't had any further infestations - thank goodness! I think someone else on this list went into how to clean your house to get rid of any lice in your home. Anything you cannot wash or apply heat to, put in a plastic bag (we used a lawn bag for many of the stuffed animals my kids have that were too big to put in the washer), seal and leave for three weeks. Good luck! God's Peace, Gayle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 We've been down the lice path years back before we were environmentally aware so I can't offer you any treatment suggestions but here's some info that I found helpful in calming my nerves during lice outbreaks... if possible keep long hair in a ponytail and Kids with very kinky ethnic hair are less likely to get lice because of the hair oils they use (this one made me the happiest because 3 of my kids are African American so I only had to worry about one daughter rather than all four kids) Peace, Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 Thanks to everyone who replied--hopefully we won't have to try any of those great suggestions. It didn't freak or gross me out--I've done A LOT of reading about dust mites and come to terms with the fact that our bodies are frequent hosts to critters. Now if they were web-spinning spiders... Some of the rinses and shampoos sound good enough to use routinely. I've been doing research into natural cleaning products and am going to look into essential oils, which I've never used. I never realized there was so much you could do with them. Thanks again! Peace, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Hi Laura, I used to tutor a girl who had a pretty bad case of head lice and she gave it to me. Tea tree oil works wonders. You can buy tea tree oil lice shampoo at the health food store, or just add about 15-20 drops into a handful of shampoo. I did the treatment on my hair twice and that cleared them up. It is totally natural and non-toxic treatment. A mama friend of mine uses this treatment on her preschoolers once a month as a preventative. Joanne > " progressive7862 " <allens717 > > > Head lice--yuck! >Wed, 31 Mar 2004 03:18:10 -0000 > >My son's preschool sent home a note today that a child in his class >has head lice. Nothing in his hair so far, but I want to have a plan >in mind just in case. Does anyone have any experience with this? I >haven't checked into any drugstore treatments that have been >recommended, but I'd be willing to bet they are pretty toxic, not >just to the mites. I'd prefer a more natural option if anyone knows >of any. >My husband has started drinking soymilk!! I'm hoping my boys will >want to be like daddy. My older son was drinking it for awhile, but >he has slipped back to regular milk. I will not give up! >Thanks for any advice. > >Peace, >Laura > > > > >For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at >http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to >http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion list and is not intended to >provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a >qualified health professional. > >edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health >professional. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2004 Report Share Posted April 3, 2004 Laura, essential oils are a great investment! A little goes a long way. Essential oils, along with vinegar, baking soda, and castile soap are about all that I use for household cleaning, etc. They are great for skincare, illnesses, petcare, and an abundance of other things. progressive7862 <allens717 wrote:Thanks to everyone who replied--hopefully we won't have to try any of those great suggestions. It didn't freak or gross me out--I've done A LOT of reading about dust mites and come to terms with the fact that our bodies are frequent hosts to critters. Now if they were web-spinning spiders... Some of the rinses and shampoos sound good enough to use routinely. I've been doing research into natural cleaning products and am going to look into essential oils, which I've never used. I never realized there was so much you could do with them. Thanks again! Peace, Laura For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion list and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.