Alternative Treatments To Cure Head Lice Infestation

Many people are opposed to using the medically approved methods of head lice treatment because they contain insecticides that in larger doses could be damaging, if not fatal to humans.

Aside from the old wives tales for ridding yourself of head lice such as not washing your hair for extended periods because the head lice don’t like dirty hair, let’s take a look at a few of the more popular alternative treatments for curing head lice infestations.

Alternative treatments for treating head lice:

For as long as us humans have bee battling diseases and conditions, we have been using natural remedies for what ails us. Over time some of these have been proven successful to one degree or another and are used today.

The following is a list of a few alternative treatments for head lice infestation and the details of how they work. Keep in mind that these alternative treatments are a guide to what is available and is not meant as medical advice.

• Olive oil – If you saturate the hair with olive oil with someone with a head lice infestation then use a fine comb to run through the hair, you can comb out the head lice. However, this technique may need to be repeated done once a day for a few days till all head lice have been removed. And as you can imagine, can be a bit messy and get your hair very oily.
  
• Neem seed oil – Used in India for thousands of years as a natural insecticide, Neem seed oil  has low toxicity levels. Because of this low toxicity level, it is deemed to be a great alternative to using man made insecticides on the skin, or in the case of head lice on the scalp. Neem seed oil works by rubbing it on to the scalp and into the hair then leaving it for a period of time before washing the oil away.
  
• Alcohol – Head lice are quite robust and resilient and can become resistant to certain forms of treatment over time, such as insecticides. However, alcohol is one treatment that they cannot adapt to and as such it kills them quite easily.
  
  By using a fine comb and dipping it in alcohol before combing you can catch a lot of head lice in the comb and the alcohol should catch any that you miss. Again, in order for this treatment to be completely effective, it will have to be repeated a few times.
  
  Note: With alcohol you have to be careful as it can dry the scalp out. Also, you should wear a pair of protective eye goggles as you don’t want any of the alcohol to find its way to the eyes; which could cause damage.
  
  
• Vaseline – Vaseline may seem like a strange form of treatment but if you smear Vaseline deep into the scalp it is believed to stop head lice from being able to feed on the host’s blood. By stopping the head lice from feeding it is reported that the head lice will simply crawl away to find another host; in addition to this method having not been proven, by definition, it doesn’t not actually kill the louse.
  
  
• Tea tree and Peppermint - Another alternative treatment is a shampoo made from two parts tea tree oil and one part peppermint oil, which is believed to kill off the head lice if used as a shampoo every two days for eight days.

Again, be very mindful when it come to the use of alternative treatments and do due diligence with your research on any such subject matter. Also, keep in mind that head lice are prolific egg layers and any treatment that does not kill the louse in a timely fashion may rid the louse but leave the nits (eggs) behind.

See Also:
A Strange Treatment For Head Lice