Lice are still among humans like so many other insects, and fighting them takes time and dedication. It’s best to do it naturally with products that don’t harm your health or the environment.
The presence of lice in the hair of children and adults is not related to lack of hygiene and poverty, as is popularly said.
Although we are in 2022, these insects continue to affect us because, like others, they are becoming resistant to various chemical treatments. Although money is spent on pharmaceuticals, in the long run they reappear, and the worst part is that they affect our health.
Particularly with children, it is best to use natural products which, applied properly and consistently, are very effective.
Although lice do not transmit disease and are not dangerous, the risk is compulsive scratching and damage to the scalp, which can lead to infections.
The risks of chemical lice
The most commonly used products like head lice contain pyrethroids such as permethrin, which at high exposures can cause headaches, nausea, and muscle weakness.
A study carried out at Cincinnatti Children’s Hospital (United States) even relates them to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, whose incidence is increasing.
Lindane, a neurotoxic organophosphate pesticide banned in agriculture since 2009, is still found in some children’s head care products.
Another similar agent is malathion, to which lice have become resistant, but not children. Pharmaceuticals may also contain ingredients such as piperonyl butoxide, which enhances the effect of pyrethroids and is suspected to be a carcinogen.
Fight lice with homemade products
When the infestation is found, it is important to act quickly and check the heads of the entire family to treat everyone at once. No treatment guarantees 100% effectiveness; so it’s a good idea to combine several and keep them for a long time.
An effective remedy is washing your hair with vinegar:
- Mix with warm water in equal parts and massage the entire head with it. Pay special attention to the back of the neck and behind the ears, as these are the most popular places for lice.
- Also wet a towel with this mixture, leave it wrapped around the child’s head for about four hours.
- Wash your hair normally.
- Immediately afterwards, with damp hair, apply a few drops of olive oil to the hair. Then, with the help of a nit comb, remove dead lice and nits.
- This treatment must be done for at least eight days.
Essential oils against lice
Natural cosmetics offer other good options, many of them with essential oils with lice repellent properties. Shampoos and lotions can be found to prevent a new infestation once the pest is controlled.
As part of natural treatment and prevention, you can apply olive oil with a few drops of pure essential oil to your hair and leave it on for a few hours before rinsing.
This mixture acts similarly to silicone, although its effectiveness may not be as immediate. The most recommended essential oils are tea tree, neem, anise and ylang-ylang. You will have to be very careful not to get them in your eyes.
The nit box or fine comb, useful against lice
Regardless of the method used, having a good nit box is essential as both dead and live lice and nits must be eliminated. And after the unpleasant episode, we just have to cross our fingers that the next one will take a few months to arrive.
Nit combs are combs with fine, long bristles with ribs that are able to catch and remove nits from the hair. The best are metallic.
To pass it correctly, you see strand by strand, start from the root of the hair, from the skull, and take the box of nits to the tip of the hair. Go through each strand twice.
Repeat washing and combing every day. Depending on the severity of the infestation, it can take several weeks for it to go away.
Other natural remedies against lice
The list of natural options is long, infusions can be prepared with some herbs such as paico, quasia bitter, fruits of paradise and others. For them to take effect, they will have to be left to act overnight on the hair that will be covered with a cap.
The method of “smothering” lice and nits can be an effective supplement. There are synthetic silicones on the market that, despite being harmless to health, do not degrade and pollute the environment. This action can be replaced by olive, coconut or almond oil, “staining” the entire hair and scalp and leaving it on for at least 3 hours with a cap. Then you will have to rinse with warm water several times to remove the oil. The hair will also be very hydrated.
As with any natural method, to fight lice you will need to be consistent and repeat these actions in an integral way. In this way it will be possible to cut the reproductive cycle of the insect.