A Home Head Lice Treatment

An inexpensive home treatment for head lice is using neem oil. Neem oil is a vegetable oil made from the seeds and fruit of the neem. The neem oil does smell horrible but can be mixed with other essential oils to make it smell more pleasant without reducing the effects to kill lice and nits. Neem oil can be purchased from grocery stores, super markets, pharmacies, and whole or health food stores.

When mixing neem oil with an essential oil add a few drops of the essential oil at a time until satisfied with the smell. Treating head lice is the same whether using neem oil directly out of the bottle or if it was mixed with an essential oil. Simply apply the neem oil to the head and work down into the scalp. For longer hair, apply the oil to a face cloth and blot the hair until well covered. Make sure the scalp is well coated since the nits will have been laid at the base of the hair closest to the scalp.

The neem oil should be left in for a few hours. A shower cap can be used to cover the head during this time but is not needed. Prior to washing the hair, comb through the scalp to remove nits. Wipe off the comb before putting it back into the hair so as not to transfer nits from the comb back into the scalp. After washing the hair and towel drying perform another comb through. Nits will have been loosened during this time and must be removed to prevent the eggs from hatching. Hair can also be blown dry as the heat from the blow dryer will shorten the life span of adult lice and causes damage to the nits.

Adult head lice can live for up to a month if left untreated. Female lice lay nits daily. Nits hatch roughly two weeks after being laid. About a week after that the lice become adults and the process starts again. It is important to continue treating until it is certain that all lice are dead and all nits have been removed from the scalp.