tea tree oil for head lice?

[vdhendrix]

ok my anut who used to have mid-thigh length hair recently got lice, and had tried everything to get rid of them but nothing worked, so she cut off her hair to shoulder length and still could not get rid of them so she actually shaved her head(very short buzz cut) and finally got rid of them.

but anyway i was wondering if tea tree oil could have been an effective treatment for lice? has anyone every tried this or heard of useing tea tree oil or other natural remedies for getting rid of lice?

[above_rubies]

Yes, my dd used to go to a small, private school where the girls kept their hair long for religious reasons. There was an outbreak of lice. Disaster!

We used a tea tree oil rinse. I can't remember the amount of tea tree oil to water. We poured it on their hair and then put a shower cap on for 10 minutes (i think). Then we washed with shampoo that had a few drops of tea tree oil in it. I can't remember how often we did it probably every other day until we had gotten rid of them.

The critical thing to do when getting rid of lice is to get rid of the nits using a lice comb. This took hours on my dd's shoulder length hair. I can't imagine doing it on your aunt's thigh length hair. That's so sad, but I can't say I blame her. It is not just a one day process. You have to keep checking everyday for a week or so and then once a week for a while after that. They reproduce very fast so if you miss one you're in trouble.

[above_rubies]

Here is a link (http://www.headlice.org/faq/notnit.htm) to a page that has a good photograph of what lice and nits look like in real life size. The pic of the nit (lice egg) is spot on. It looks exactly like what I pulled out of my dd's hair. The adult lice are easier to find than the nits. I think some of the medicinal shampoos kill the nits too but I wanted to go as natural as I could with my daughter, so I spent the time to pick them out instead.

[Tressie]

Oh how sad! I really feel for your aunt! I know my niece has very thick hair and when she was in school there was an outbreak and my sister thought she'd never get everything back to normal again! She used a commercial product. I forget the name.

[Shirlpunzel]

I think I sort of "accidentaly" used tea tree oil as lice prevention.
Let me explain:
I used to live with roommates who had small/school age children. I was using tea tree oil at the time because I had read somewhere that it had growth encouraging properties similar to miconozal (sp? the anti-fungal stuff). At different points the kids would pick up lice at school (not blaming them, btw, seems to be just one of those things) and the infestation would get passed around the house. Everyone got them at some point(usually repeatedly), except me. It wasn't until later that I read on some household hints type list that lice apparently absolutely hate tea tree oil. I do not know for certain that this is what protected me. I also tried to just generally be careful around the kids, but then again, so did their mother and father, and they both eventually ended up with lice.

anyhoo, that's my two cents

[ChloeDharma]

Neem oil is another good one. When i worked at neals yard remedies there was a very popular remedy we used to mix up. Unfortunately i can't remember the exact recipe now but i think it contained geranium, lavender and tea tree essential oils in a grapeseed oil base.
These days i'd add neem oil to that though, i know i want to run a mile when i smell it so can almost sympathise with nits exposed to that stuff! lol

It's so sad your aunt had to cut her hair though, my eldest sister caught nits as a teenager and in panic cut her bumlength blonde hair off to above her shoulders.

Keeping hair oiled is said to deter nits from attaching in the first place, might be an old wives tale but is a good excuse to keep oily hair.....not that i need one lol ;)

[Autumnberry]

I have read that henna can get ride of lice. About a year ago, there was a great thread that gave many natural options for lice treatment.

[Copasetic]

I have never tried Tea Tree Oil personally, but when I got head lice in elementary school, my mom used a mixture of club soda and white vinegar to get rid of them. She mixed them, (I can't remember the exact ratio, but it was quite strong) covered my hair and scalp with the mixture, and then put saran wrap on my head. I think she left it like that for about 30 minutes and then used one of those knit combs on my head. It worked well.

edit: Also, if you are trying to prevent lice, like if there is an outbreak at your school or something, a few of the members here have mentioned that lice really hate dirty hair. So putting coconut oil, or gel, or some other hair product on your hair can help prevent lice.

[jivete]

Peppermint oil is another oil that helps get rid of lice. If you're worried about an infection, I would just recommend keeping the oils in your shower and adding them to your shampoo and conditioner to help keep the critters at bay.

[LaurelSpring]

I have also heard that henna kills them. Something about the keratin molecules.

[vdhendrix]

yes i am also kind or worried about getting them myself

[HairColoredHair]

Even straight up olive oil can help get rid of lice, but you have to be consistant and patient and keep up with getting rid of the buggies and nits.

[Olivia23]

Okay I looked at the link that was given on what nits look like, but how can you tell the difference between a nit and a regular white spot on your hair (you know the white spot that means breakage not lice)?

[pinchbeck]

Oh gee, that is awful! It is too bad your aunt did not have somebody who was willing to pick the nits out as this is a very effective way of getting rid of them.

I don't think tea tree oil is strong enough to penetrate the nits, although it kills the adults. I have read that Neem Seed Oil and Oregano Oil are excellent treatments for killing both.

[pinchbeck]

Okay I looked at the link that was given on what nits look like, but how can you tell the difference between a nit and a regular white spot on your hair (you know the white spot that means breakage not lice)?
A nit is small (pin head sized) and when shone on with a light or the sun they have a shiny surface and come in white, grayish, and brownish colours. In addition, they have to be plucked off in order to remove them by sliding them down the hair strand with the aid of a little oil.

[Flynn]

Tea tree oil is very often insufficient, because the nits tend to survive. It might be useful as a preventative.

Even with sensitive skin, it is worth putting up with the discomfort of a conventional pesticide lice treatment to get rid of the damn things.

[vdhendrix]

lol yes but my aunt, tried the llice shampoo, and combs and even my cats flee shampoo and more, but none of that got rid of them, so i was wondering if therre were anyother ways she may have not tried

[Flynn]

lol yes but my aunt, tried the llice shampoo, and combs and even my cats flee shampoo and more, but none of that got rid of them, so i was wondering if therre were anyother ways she may have not tried

I'm figuring then that she tried more than one brand of lice shampoo. (Not all are created equal!)

Did she go to her doctor about it? Any decent GP should be able to come up with something that will work in most cases...

[vdhendrix]

no she didnt go to the docter because she doesnt have medical insurence (neither do i lol) but she did try a few different kinds of shampoo and even tried useing the flee powder that you put on funiture and carpet and stuff on her head, then she tried a few other ways like covering her head in mayo and lard, but she tried for the longest time to get rid of them before she actually cut her hair and shaved

[ladycatpurrs]

My son's school had an outbreak and we were infested with the little nasty things. I tried all the chemicals, nit combing and all the other myriad of things but what got rid of them was using olive oil (thick application, cap, leave it on for as long as you can--overnight?-- kills the lice) and then washing it out with shampoo. Then a straight vinegar rinse and let that stay on the hair for about 10 minutes then rinse it out. It got rid of the nits by dissolving the sticky stuff they connect to the hair shaft with. It kept me from having to use the comb. We battled this with drugstore stuff for 3 months!! The "salad head" method worked within a week. DH, DS and I all have BSl or longer hair. HTH

[enfys]

When I got lice in school, all my mum used to get rid of them was cheap conditioner.

Smother all your hair in cheap conditioner. It should be cheap because you'll use a lot.
Go through your hair in sections with a nit comb. Start off with a bigger comb and go down to a smaller and smaller one. Less hair, if any, will get broken this way.
Rinse off.
Repeat daily or at most every other day until no more lice or nits are found.
Keep doing it once a week for a good few weeks.

I had and kept my classic length hair using this method, and leaving the conditioner on for a few hours while you did it meant my hair was in very good condition after the ordeal.

At the time there were safety concerns over the pesticides and my mum loved my hair too much to cut it.

[Short2Long2009]

My husband is a psych nurse and at one of the hospitals he has worked at, they used olive oil to get rid of the lice on little girls with long hair. I'm not sure how long they left it on, though.

[Tamara01]

Unfortunately, after 20 years of being free from them, the head lice are back in my head again. And me scratching my head is never a pretty sight. Shampoos don't do well on me. :(

[rosek]

Apparently using a whole heap of conditioner as enfys suggested will stun them - so you can try and pull them out. Doing this in the sun works much better. Your hair will like it much better than a commercial product too.

[lexiflowers]

When I was little I got head lice a lot. Eventually we discovered tea tree oil, and honestly it was fantastic. My Mum used to smother my head with a very strong tea tree oil dilution, then wrap my head up in cling film for at least an hour. Then she'd take the cling film off, add conditioner, and go through every inch of my hair with a (metal) nit comb. We never had much success with the plastic ones. The combing was obviously necessary to remove everything, but the tea tree oil definitely killed all the actual lice. We never combed out a live one after a tea tree oil and cling film treatment!

[jasper]

I've read that olive oil will smother lice. the school nurse sent this link to us http://headliceinfo.com/

[angelthadiva]

I thought I wrote an article on this, but I can't find it...Maybe it was just a thread :shrug:

Natural Lice Remedy (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=8025&postcount=1)

[evelynmosby]

LOL @ "salad head" method :D

[Blue Mermaid]

I have no idea. I have never had them. But when I was in elementary school I always went to school with a ponytail or bun slicked back with so much gel and spray it felt like plastic. No one in my family knew any better to deal with my coarse frizzy hair. That could be why I never caught them, despite going to a sleep over party where half the girls ended up with lice the following week.

[Blue Mermaid]

LOL @ "salad head" method :D

I just realized you necro'd a dead thread