My daughter school called one day, saying I had to come pick her up since she caught lice. It had been going around the school for some time and with her long hair, she got a really bad case. I went to Walgreens immediately, picking up the typical kit with a comb, pesticide hair foam, and spray to kill any bugs around the house. When we got home and used the foam, it didn't kill a single bug! I tirelessly picked her hair for those bugs. After seeing no results, buying the shock lice comb (which did work for the adult lice but not the nits), and spending over $60 on OTC products, I gave up. Doing hours of research on the web, here is what I did to get rid of the lice from her and her sisters hair in a few days.
What supplies you will need:
Lice comb
Hair comb
Hair ties or clips
Coconut oil (or Olive)
Hair dryer
Rubbing Alcohol
That is it! Much cheaper than all the OTC products. Start with combing out the lice using the oil. Get everything you see, every speck, every adult, any eggs. Lice can only live close to the scalp, they are usually less than an inch down the hair shaft. Find the queen, kill her and the lice will be gone much sooner. Kill them in a bowl of rubbing alcohol, dipping the eggs, nits and comb into the alcohol after each stroke. Go through each section of hair and clip them off when finished. Adults will run from you and into other parts of the hair. The oil will slow them down. Its overwhelming at first and its ok if you cannot get every little pest out on the first day. Coconut oil actually kills the bugs from dissolving their exoskeleton, so you may leave the oil on for a few hours or overnight with a plastic cap. After going through the hair, shampoo (more than once) and condition the hair.
Now with the hair still sopping wet, get out the hairdryer. Hair drying the lice will kill them as they cannot survive the heat. It makes them infertile and kills nits and 95% of the eggs. Be very careful while drying the hair, to make sure the scalp doesn't get too hot. Alternate areas, and use the cool button often. You can also use a spray bottle of water to keep the scalp wet. Everyday repeat this process of oil, combing, and drying. I have also heard of using the hair straighter to kill lice, but this was just too risky for the girls at their age. Even after your sure they are gone, go through the hair each day just to inspect for at least 2 weeks. We though they were gone may times just to see another round of bugs.
Also clean up around the house. Start by wash bedding in hot water and dry on high heat. Throw away any hair ties, brushes than cannot be boiled. Anything you cannot wash place in a plastic bag and into the garage for 2 weeks. Make sure your child wears their hair up 24/7, in a pony tail. This prevents spreading and re infection. Using hairspray or hair gel also makes it difficult for lice to hang on.
I hope this helps some families who cannot spend hundreds of dollars on OTC dangerous pesticides and natural shampoos that simply do not work. We did try all of them available at the store too. Professional services can run over $400+ but have a greater success than the OTC options. Give the blow dryer a try, I am glad we did and I haven't seen any more lice since then!
