Head Lice Treatment Choices
Head Lice Treatment – A World of Choice
Finding out that you or your child has head lice is not a sign that your personal hygiene is lacking as the louse is just as likely to make its home in the hair of on who washes daily as one who is less frequent in their regime. Furthermore, it can be several weeks before the presence of lice is detected, these creatures are tiny and the itching that is the major symptom has been known to appear after as long as three months, meaning that by the time you make the diagnosis the lice have spread to others.
The various methods of head lice treatment can be wildly different, and while many people prefer to use over the counter, or prescribed, insecticide lotions and shampoos, there are a variety of home remedies for head lice that can be tried.
If you want to search these in depth then run a web search with the words ‘head lice information’ and you will be directed to a wealth of websites dealing in head lice symptoms, the head lice life cycle and more, and even to sites that display some quite amazing head lice pictures.
However, let’s look at a few of the more popular treatments for head lice: one that is essential whether used on its own or in conjunction with others is the wet comb technique, sometimes known as Bug Busting. This involves the use of a special head lice comb, a device with very close teeth that drags the louse from the hair and, hopefully, the nit too.
Another method of treatment is to wash with a shampoo containing the essential oil Tea Tree Oil, which comes from an Australian plant by that name and is known to have certain healing qualities. It is claimed to drive the lice away and, as it is completely harmless, may well be worth a try. Equally harmless is the practice of rubbing vinegar into the scalp, as this loosens the ‘glue’ with which nits are attached to the hair, making it much easier for the nit comb to remove them, but bordering on the bizarre are the smothering methods: in these, a substance such as mayonnaise, or preferably olive oil, is applied to the scalp, and it acts to seal the holes through which the mites breathe, thus suffocating them.
Whichever method you use there is plenty information available on websites, and it is worth reading the testimonies of others before trying out different methods.
How to get rid of Head Lice
How to get rid of Head Lice
The head lice problem is one that affects many millions of people across the world, as these irritating creatures are prevalent across the globe and have been for millions of years. The head louse is a very hardy creature that can be difficult to deal with, although once a routine has been found that appears to be successful the patient can look forward to a louse free existence.
The methods of treatment available differ greatly, but one thing that is always needed is the classic head lice comb: this is a small comb, deeper and shorter than a standard one, that has very closely packed teeth and is designed specifically to drag the lice, and the nits – tiny eggs that are attached to our hairs – from the hair, and whatever alternative method you use there is always the need for a nit comb to play a part.
Further methods involve the use of special medicinal shampoos, and among these one very popular prescription only insecticide shampoo is that known as Ovide; containing the insecticide Malathion in very small quantities, this is a preferred method by many, yet there are those who opt not to coat their children’s hair in chemicals that can have side effects.
The alternative is to use a shampoo that contains a natural substance, and among these Tea Tree oil – an essential oil taken from the tea tree plant native to Australia – is very popular indeed, and many claim it has excellent effect and brings about results.
There are more unusual methods of getting rid of head lice, for a popular head louse treatment method involves smothering them with household products. The head louse breathes through a series of holes on either side of the body, and these can be closed for periods of time to prevent drowning when we wash our hair. However, the louse has to open them at some time, and if we can smother them and prevent them from breathing then they will die.
To do this people use products that may at first seem rather odd – mayonnaise and olive oil are preferred – as these congeal on the lice and prevent it from breathing when it opens the breathing holes. Messy but reportedly successful, a thorough comb through with a nit comb, after a wash of course, is also needed to finalize this effective if unusual treatment regime. Following any treatment, regular inspection is also recommended in order to keep the population from reappearing.
Vinegar for Head Lice
Using Vinegar for Head Lice Treatment
The treatment of head lice, and the remedies that are often suggested, is a hotly contested area: on the one hand we have the readily available medicinal shampoos, complete with insecticides that are designed to kill the head lice at source, and on the other we have a wealth of homemade remedies for head lice of varying styles and methods, many of which are based on ancient herbal treatments and use natural and harmless ingredients.
The methods of using vinegar for head lice treatment fall into the latter category, and if you are thinking it may seem a little odd to put vinegar on the hair, it is far from as bizarre as coating the head with mayonnaise as one alternative method suggests!
Nor, in the eyes of many, is using vinegar as disconcerting as using insecticide shampoos: these contain often dangerous chemicals, and the manner in which head lice have evolved means the creatures appear to have become immune to many such treatments. Vinegar, however, is something that is used for many different purposes, but how is it a home remedy for head lice?
One of the problems with head lice is that the nits – tiny eggs – are attached to the hair follicles by very strong ‘glue’; this makes them extremely difficult to remove. A specially designed head lice comb may remove some, but not all, meaning that further regular combing must be carried out in order to catch the hatching young before they become breeding adults.
What Does Vinegar does on Head Lice?
What vinegar does is loosen this strong attachment to the hair, as the acetic acid acts on the adhesive and renders it useless; this means that when a nit comb is run through the hair – carefully and repeatedly – there is a much greater likelihood of the nits being dislodged and removed, and therefore less chance of new nits hatching and reaching maturity.
Vinegar is not to be used on its own, however, but like many head lice home remedies it works best in conjunction with other methods; head lice treatment needs to include thorough and regular washing of the hair, followed by combing with the head lice comb, after which the vinegar should be applied and the hair rinsed, and the combing process begun again. It is essential that the routine is adhered to if success is to be achieved.
The head louse is an annoying rather than a threatening creature, and its presence does not necessarily indicate an unwashed head, but the use of vinegar can be a very successful method of removing both the adult head lice and their eggs. How to treat head lice? Treat head lice now!
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